Blue Gum High Forest, St Ives -
Flora and Fauna

Blue Gum High Forest has the structural form predominantly of tall open-forest to open forest. Originally it was composed of large trees, in some places over 40 m in height. Its canopy trees are Sydney Blue Gum (Eucalyptus saligna) and Blackbutt (E. pilularis), with Sydney Blue Gum particularly abundant on the lower slopes and depressions, and Blackbutt more prevalent on the ridges.

Blackbutt (E. pilularis) (photo: Jane Gye)		Grey Ironbark (E. paniculata)

Other tree species are Smooth-barked Angophora (A. costata), Grey Ironbark (E. paniculata), White Stringybark (E. globoidea), Turpentine (Syncarpia glomulifera) and Forest Oak (Allocasuarina torulosa) (D. Benson and J. Howell, 1990, Taken for Granted: The Bushland of Sydney and its Suburbs, Kangaroo Press, Kenthurst).

The Blue Gum High Forest in St Ives has a complex understory of shrubs, herbs, vines, grasses and ferns, and provides habitat for over 100 species of birds, 11 species of bats, 2 species of possums, 1 species of glider and 3 species of lizards. A swamp wallaby has also been seen, indicating that wildlife corridors are being used.

Click here for a list of fauna observed and recorded in the forest.

Brown Thornbill          (photo: Peter Roberts)		Whipbird                    (photo: Peter Roberts)
Beetle on Acacia floribunda		Caterpiller on Sigesbeckia
Maidenhair fern (Adiantum aethiopicum)		Hardenbergia violacea

Blue Gum High Forest only occurs in the Sydney Basin bio-region, only on soils derived from Wianamatta Shale, and is restricted to high rainfall ridgelines which receive more than 1100 mm rain per year.

Other Blue Gum High Forest reserves in Ku-ring-gai include Sheldon Forest at Turramurra, Maddison Reserve in Pymble, and in Wahroonga, Turiban, Clive Evatt, Mona Street and The Glade.