Palm Grove/Ourimbah Creek Landcare Inc

Caring for the catchment

Our Landcare group has been active in the Ourimbah Creek valley since its incorporation in 1998.

Below are two tree species of our site, both in the family Myrtaceae and both considered vulnerable in the endangered species list.

This left one is the magenta lilly pilly, Syzigium paniculatum. It's a small tree of subtropical rainforest and characteristic of Ourimbah Creek, although rare elsewhere. One of the least inflammable of trees, it's a good species to plant near your house if you are in a bushfire-prone area. Possums like to browse its foliage, and our powerful owls eat the possums, so it's a case of an endangered tree making an endangered owl less so.

Syzigium paniculatum Ourimbah Creek NSW AustraliaMelaleuca biconvexa Ourimbah Creek NSW Australia

The right-hand one is the Wyong paperbark, Melaleuca biconvexa. It's a tree of the backswamps on the floodplain, where its characteristic canopy stands out in air photographs. It burns readily and, in the past, fire probably aided its spread by getting rid of rainforest competition. If cut to the ground by fire it sprouts again from suckers that form on the roots.

Find out more about our Landcare group, where we are and what we look like by going to our website at:

https://sites.google.com/site/palmgroveourimbahcreeklandcare/home