Werribee plains, rivers and watercourses indigenous plants

This information sheet details the indigenous plants found in and around the Werribee plains, rivers and watercourses.

Zone 18 consists of moderate to highly fertile sandy loam, with some silt and clay soils. Mostly flat and well drained it includes some escarpments and areas of erosion. Some areas are saline. The average rainfall is 40 to 45 centimetres.

This zone applies to all the major watercourses across the Werribee Plains zones (for example: the Werribee and Little River, Skeleton and Lollypop Creeks).

The vegetation on the escarpments of the major watercourses was originally more diverse than what now occurs. Tree species included Blackwood, Drooping Sheoke, Lightwood and River Red Gum.

Rock Correa and Shrub Violet were shrub species restricted to these drier areas.

Tree species such as Blue Box and River Red Gum and shrub species including Woolly Tea-tree, Silver Wattle and River Bottlebrush may have occurred near permanent water.

Tussock Grass occurred along the edges of watercourses.

Tree species
Common name	Botanic 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	-
Blackwood	Acacia melanoxylon	5-30	4-15	X	Y
Drooping Sheoke	Allocasuarina verticillata	4-11	3-6	Y	-
White Cypress Pine	Callitris glaucophylla	2-3	3-20	YU	-
Blue Box	Eucalyptus baueriana	10-20	20	-	Y
River Red Gum	Eucalyptus camaldulensis	15-35	15-35	YU	Y
Cherry Ballart	Exocarpos cupressiformis	3-8	3-5	YU	-
Moonah	Melaleuca lanceolata	1-8	3-6	YU	-
Shrub species
Gold-dust wattle	Acacia acinacea	0.5-2.5	2-4	YU	YM
Silver Wattle	Acacia dealbata	6-30	5-10	-	Y
Hedge Wattle	Acacia paradoxa	2-4	2-5	-	YS
Wirilda	Acacia retinodes	4-8	3-5	YW	YW
Varnish Wattle	Acacia verniciflua	3-5	3-5	-	YW
Sweet Bursaria	Bursaria spinosa var macrophylla	2-6	2-3	Y	YM
River Bottlebrush	Callistemon sieberi	3-10	2-6	-	Y
Rock Correa	Correa glabra	1-3	1-3	Y	-
Giant Hop Bush	Dodonaea viscosa	1-3	1-3	Y	YM
Turkey Bush	Eremophila deserti	1-4	2	YU	YM
Shrub Violet	Hymenanthera dentata	2-4	1-2.5	Y	-
Prickly Tea-tree	Leptospermum continentale	1-4	1-2	-	YW
Woolly Tea-tree	Leptospermum lanigerum	2-6	1-3	-	YWS
Swamp Paper-bark	Melaleuca ericifolia	2-9	3	-	YRL
Tangled Lignum	Muehlenbeckia florulenta	2	2	YL	YM
Common Boobialla	Myoporum insulare	1-6	3	YW	-
Sticky Boobialla	Myoporum viscosum	0.5-2	1.5-2	Y	YM
Mutton-wood	Rapanea howittiana	3-10	2-4	-	YR
Kangaroo Apple	Solanum laciniatum	1-3	1-3	-	YS
Groundcover and tussock species
Berry saltbush	Atriplex semibaccata	0.3	1-3	Y	YS
Tussock Grass	Poa labillardieri	0.8	0.8	-	Y
L - Little River
M - mudflats of creeks
R - rare
S - Skeleton Creek waterholes
U - uncommon
W - Werribee River
Y - species is present in areas of remnant vegetation