# Sydney Sandstone Ridgetop Woodland

The Sydney Sandstone Ridgetop Woodland, also known as Coastal Sandstone Ridgetop Woodland and Hornsby Enriched Sandstone Exposed Woodland, is a shrubby woodland and mallee community situated in northern parts of Sydney, Australia, where it is found predominantly on ridgetops and slopes of the Hornsby Plateau, Woronora Plateau and the lower Blue Mountains area. It is an area of high biodiversity, existing on poor sandstone soils, with regular wildfires, and moderate rainfall.

## Geography

The Ridgetop Woodland is a low eucalypt forest having a diverse sclerophyll shrub layer, mallees and open groundcover of sedges that sit on the Triassic Hawkesbury sandstone plateaux, which encircle the Sydney Basin. The community is found in areas where the average annual rainfall ranges from 850mm to 1650mm.
Around one-quarter of this community has been cleared for urban development, though many areas still remain in conservation reserves. 75-90% of the vegetation zone remains.

### Scope

It incorporates Coastal Sandstone Ridgetop Woodland, which is found up to 600m above sea level in areas receiving an average annual rainfall ranging from 850 to 1650 mm. It then grades into heath (e.g. Coastal Sandstone Plateau Heath) where soils become more shallow.
In the upper Blue Mountains it is supplanted by Blue Mountains Ridgetop Woodland on the more raised Narrabeen Sandstone, on sandy loams, where there it will grade into the Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands Basalt Forests further west. Coastal Sand plain Heath occurs at Wottamolla, Royal National Park.

## Flora

The area is dominated by Corymbia eximia and Eucalyptus sieberi, which shape a sporadic overstorey enclosed with large shrubs such as Banksia serrata, Leptospermum trinervium and Hakea dactyloides. Smaller shrubs including Leucopogon setiger and Dillwynia floribunda are salient towards the edge of the rock shelf.
Selected plant species of Sydney Sandstone Ridgetop Woodland :
| Common name | Botanical name | Approx. height | Plantnet |
| Tree species ||||
| Narrow-leaved Apple | Angophora bakeri | to 6 metres | details |
| Sydney red gum | Angophora costata | to 15 metres | details |
| Yellow bloodwood | Corymbia eximia | to 15 metres | details |
| Red bloodwood | Corymbia gummifera | to 15 metres | details |
| Scribbly Gum | Eucalyptus haemastoma | to 12 metres | details |
| Dwarf Apple | Angophora hispida | to 5 metres | details |
| Sydney peppermint | Eucalyptus piperita | to 15 metres | details |
| Scribbly Gum | Eucalyptus racemosa | to 15 metres | details |
| Scalybark | Eucalyptus squamosa | to 15 metres | details |
| Stringybark | Eucalyptus oblonga | to 12 metres | details |
| Grey gum | Eucalyptus punctata | to 15 metres | details |
| Stringybark | Eucalyptus oblonga | to 15 metres | details |
| Narrow-leaved Stringybark | Eucalyptus sparsifolia | to 15 metres | details |
| Sunshine wattle | Acacia terminalis | to 6 metres | details |
| Black she-oak | Allocasuarina littoralis | to 6 metres | details |
| Old man banksia | Banksia serrata | to 8 metres | details |
| Silver banksia | Banksia marginata | to 8 metres | details |
| She-oak | Allocasuarina distyla | to 4 metres | details |
| Shrub species ||||
| Sweet scented wattle | Acacia suaveolens | to 2.5 metres | details |
| Heath banksia | Banksia ericifolia | to 5 metres | details |
| Hairpin banksia | Banksia spinulosa | to 3 metres | details |
| Sydney boronia | Boronia ledifolia | to 1.5 metres | details |
| Bossiaea | Bossiaea rhombifolia | to 2 metres | details |
| Bossiaea | Bossiaea lenticularis | to 1 metre | details |
| Long Leaf Smokebush | Conospermum longifolium | to 2 metres | details |
| Eggs and Bacon | Dillwynia retorta | to 3 metres | details |
| Wedge pea | Gompholobium grandiflorum | to 1 metre | details |
| Red spider flower | Grevillea speciosa | to 3 metres | details |
| Tea tree | Leptospermum trinervium | to 4 metres | details |
| Pink kunzea | Kunzea capitata | to 2 metres | details |
| Mountain devil | Lambertia formosa | to 2 metres | details |
| Red rusty petals | Lasiopetalum rufum | to 1 metre | details |
| Phebalium | Phebalium squamulosum | to 7 metres | details |
| Crinkle bush | Lomatia silaifolia | to 2 metres | details |
| Stalked Conestick | Petrophile pedunculata | to 2.5 metres | details |
| Purple mirbelia | Mirbelia speciosa | to 1 metre | details |
| Ground covers ||||
| Flannel flower | Actinotus helianthi | | details |
| Sedge | Cyathochaeta diandra | | details |
| Sreading flax lily | Dianella revoluta | | details |
| Wiry panic | Entolasia stricta | | details |
| Scale rush | Lepyrodia scariosa | | details |
| Pale mat rush | Lomandra glauca | | details |
| Twisted mat rush | Lomandra obliqua | | details |
| Silky Purple-flag | Patersonia sericea | | details |
| Other species (amongst hundreds of others) ||||
| Actinotus minor Monotoca elliptica Acacia myrtifolia Acacia hispidula Hovea linearis Monotoca elliptica Isopogon anemonifolius Leucopogon muticus Persoonia levis Persoonia linearis Hovea linearis Kunzea rupestris Schizaea bifida Eucalyptus luehmanniana Eucalyptus sieberi Angophora hispida Persoonia levis Petrophile sessilis Phebalium squamulosum Ptilothrix deusta Caladenia minorata Cryptostylis hunteriana Phyllanthus hirtellus Grevillea buxifolia Hakea sericea ||||