Colluvial Plains and You Yangs Plains indigenous plants

These indigenous plants can be found throughout the You Yangs and east of the Brisbane Ranges.

Zone 14 Consists of gently sloping hills to flats including gullies with a complex mix of sedimentary soils which include poor fertility non-marine gravels, sands and clays which are prone to erosion and moderately fertile marine (limestone) deposits with poor to moderate drainage. The average rainfall is 42 - 50 centimetres.

The area northeast of the You Yangs was grassy open woodland with grassland dominating on the drier sites.

South of the You Yangs the vegetation would have been an open woodland characterised by Drooping Sheoke, Grey Box and Yellow Gum with occasional stands of Bulloke. Swamps in seasonally wet depressions were common throughout the area and were dominated by River Red Gum, Blackwood and Tangled Lignum.

The north-west of the You Yangs was an open woodland intermixed with grasslands of Kangaroo Grass on the drier sites and Tussock Grass along watercourses and wetter areas.

There are many plant species that were once present in these areas but today are no longer found. These include the White Cypress-pine.

Tree species
Common name Botanical name Size
(height by width in metres)
1 2
Lightwood Acacia implexa 5-15 4-7 Y -
Black Wattle Acacia mearnsii 8-25 6-10 Y Y
Blackwood Acacia melanoxylon 5-30 4-15 - Y
Golden Wattle Acacia pycnantha 3-10 2-5 Y -
Buloke Allocasuarina luehmannii 5-15 5-10 YU -
Drooping Sheoke Allocasuarina verticillata 4-11 3-6 Y -
River Red Gum Eucalyptus camaldulensis 15-35 15-35 - Y
Yellow Gum Eucalyptus leucoxylon ssp connata 10-20 6-20 Y Y
Yellow Box Eucalyptus melliodora 10-30 8-25 - Y
Grey Box Eucalyptus microcarpa 10-25 10-15 Y -
Red Box Eucalyptus polyanthemos 7-25 5-15 YU -
Manna Gum Eucalyptus viminalis 10-20 8-15 - Y
Cherry Ballart Exocarpos cupressiformis 3-8 3-5 Y X
Shrub Species
Gold-dust wattle Acacia acinacea 0.5-2.5 2-4 X -
Hedge Wattle Acacia paradoxa 2-4 2-5 Y -
Sweet Bursaria Bursaria spinosa var macrophylla 2-6 2-3 Y Y
White Cypress-pine Callitris glaucophylla  5 20 X -
Drooping Cassinia Cassinia arcuata 1-3 1-2 X  
Rock Correa Correa glabra 1-3 1-3 X -
Gorse Bitter-pea Daviesia ulicifolia 1.5 1-2 Y -
Smooth Parrot-pea Dillwynia glaberrima  1-2 1-2 X -
Wedge-leaf Hop-bush Dodonaea cuneata 1-3 1-3 X -
Shrub Violet Hymenanthera dentata var. angustifolia 2-4 1-2.5 Y Y
Australian Indigo Indigofera australis 1-2 1-2 X -
Prickly Tea-tree Leptospermum continentale 1-4 1-2 - Y
Turkey-Bush Eremophila deserti 1-4 2 X -
Fragrant Saltbush Rhagodia parabolica 0.8-2 0.5-1.5 X -
Kangaroo Apple Solanum laciniatum 1-3 1-3 Y -
Groundcover and Tussock Species
Berry Saltbush Atriplex semibaccata 0.1-0.3 1-3 Y -
Common Everlasting Chrysocephalum apiculatum 0.3 1-2 Y -
Black Anther Flax-lily Dianella revoluta 0.5 1.5-2 Y -
Tussock Grass Poa labillardieri 0.8 0.8 - Y
Kangaroo Grass Themeda triandra 0.3 0.3 Y -
U - uncommon
X - species once occurred in this area
Y - species is present in areas of remnant vegetation

1=Drier areas / crests; 2=Wetter areas / watercourses


Local Indigenous Nurseries 


Further Contacts


Acknowledgements: David Perry DSE and Mark Trengove

This information sheet is also available in PDF format.





Page last updated: Wednesday, 16 August 2023

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