GSWW Section 6 – Moleside Camp to Battersbys Camp

Watch for the endangered Red-tailed Black Cockatoo feeding on Brown Stringybark seeds.

Living cycles – boom to bust

Some plants send out new shoots and leaves after frost, drought or bushfire. Others have to start fresh from the seed, usually after bushfires trigger the beginning of their life-cycle in the new ash bed.

More than 700 plant species thrive here where West Australian plant varieties meet with those from the east. At least 60 species of plants reach their western most range in this park.

Watch carefully. You may see the endangered Red-tailed Black Cockatoo feeding on Brown Stringybark seeds (Eucalyptus baxterii).

Stringybarks (Eucalyptus obliqua/baxteri) are gumtrees (eucalypts) with long fibrous strands of bark along the whole trunk and branches. They are in the same plant genus as gums, boxes and peppermints – all of which have a flower bud covered by a small cap which falls off as the flower opens. They grow shorter in the sandy heathland due to low soil nutrient levels. Messmate grows much taller in the fertile Cobboboonee soils and stringybark favours the limestone soils of the Glenelg River country.

More than 50 species of orchids abound in the heath and fringing forest areas. A sharp eye may not spot a variety of spring flowering native orchids. Their specialised roots systems sustain them through long dry periods. The leaves may only be present through winter and spring. Most of these grow less than 30cm tall. Orchids here include greenhoods, spider orchids and sun orchids.