Flora of Kakadu National Park

Last updated August 25, 2019

Pandanus spec. Kakadu National Park Pandanus Tree.jpg — Pandanus spec. Kakadu National Park

This is a list of plants commonly found in Kakadu National Park , Northern Territory of Australia. Where known, common names are given in English and in Gun-djeihmi, a commonly spoken indigenous language in the area, are given in parentheses.

Kakadu National Park is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia, 171 km southeast of Darwin.

Barringtonia actuangula (Freshwater Mangrove / An-galnggi) – a small, spreading tree that grows on the banks of freshwater creeks, rivers and swamps. It develops hanging, bright-red flowers between September and December. It is also known as the 'itchy tree': small caterpillars feed on the leaves during the wet season and cause localised skin irritation if touched.
Allosyncarpia ternata (Allosyncarpia / An-binik) – a large, hardy evergreen that is restricted to the stone country of Kakadu and Arnhem Land.
Banksia dentata (Tropical Banksia / Guibuk) – the only Banksia found in the Top End. It has distinctive serrated leaves and the characteristic banksia flower, which appears between January and April.
Brachychiton paradoxus (Red-flowered Kurrajong / An-marrenarnak) – a small, often straggly tree that is widespread on the lowlands. It is deciduous in the dry season, when bright-red bell-shaped flowers appear on short stems from the branches.
Buchanania obovata (Green Plum / An-dudjmi) – a medium-sized tree with large, thick leathery leaves. Bunches of green grape-sized plums appear in October to December; they are considered to be some of the best bush tucker around.
Calytrix exstipulata (Turkey Bush / Anbarndarr) – common throughout the lowlands. It bears masses of pink-purple flowers between May and August.
Cochlospermum fraseri (Kapok Bush / An-djedj) – deciduous in the dry season, from May to August, and has distinctive bright-yellow flowers. Its large, fragile pods are filled with a dense, soft cotton-like material.
Curcuma australasica (Native Ginger) – an attractive leafy annual that grows from a tuber. Its hot pink flowers can be seen at Ubirr and Nourlangie Rock in the wet season. It is also related to the turmeric plant, a native of Asia.
Erythrophleum chlorostachys (Cooktown Ironwood / An-dubang) – a tall, spreading tree with distinctive rounded dark-green leaves. Late in the dry season it puts out new leaves that are a bright lime-green. The tree's timber is extremely hard and termite resistant. All parts of the tree are highly poisonous to mammals.
Eucalyptus miniata (Darwin Woollybutt / An-djalen) – grows to 10–20 metres; it has dark, rough bark on the lower half of its trunk and smooth, white bark on the upper half. Bright-orange flowers appear between May and August.
Ficus virens (Banyan / An-borndi) – a large spreading tree with aerial roots and large prop roots from the major branches. It is a strangler fig with edible fruits and makes a great shade tree.
Grevillea pteridifolia (Fern-leafed Grevillea / An-dadjek) – a medium-sized slender tree with long, narrow silver foliage. The flowers are bright orange and appear from May to August. The nectar from the flowers attracts many birds.
Hibiscus tiliaceus (Beach hibiscus) – a small tree, 5 to 8 metres high, commonly found in monsoon pockets along the coast and river banks. It has a large yellow flower with a dark maroon centre.
Livistona humilis (Sand Palm / An-gulalurrudj) – a slender fan palm with small yellow flowers on long spikes. Aboriginal people use it for medicines, fibre, dye and food.
Melaleuca argentea (Silver-leafed Paperbark / Gun-god) – a large, spreading tree commonly seen along the waterways. Its pale-yellow flower spikes appear mainly between June and October and produce a sickly sweet fragrance that attracts many animals.
Nelumbo nucifera (Red Lily / Wurrmarninj) – grows in lowland wetlands. Its leaves are very large and stand erect above the water. Large, fragrant deep-pink flowers appear between March and November.
Nymphaea violacea (Blue Lily / Barradjungga) – commonly seen along the margins of billabongs. Its violet-tipped white flowers appear between January and July. The seeds and stems can be eaten raw; the tuberous underground bulbs can be eaten after cooking.
Pandanus aquaticus (Water Pandanus / An-djimdjim^[1]) – commonly grows along the banks of permanent freshwater streams. Its fruit is inedible.
Pandanus basedowii (Sandstone Pandanus / An-more) – grows only in the sandstone areas of Kakadu and Arnhem Land.
Pandanus spiralis (Spiral Pandanus / An-yakngarra) – grows in a broad range of habitats, often in dense stands. Aboriginal people use it for medicines, fibre and food.
Pityrodia jamesii – a shrub that grows on rocky areas in pockets of sandy soil. Pink-white flowers appear in September to December. The shrub's sticky, fragrant leaves are the main food of Leichhardt's grasshopper.
Sorghum spp. (Spear Grass / An-ngulubu) – grows to over 2 metres and becomes the dominant understorey plant towards the end of the wet season.
Terminalia ferdinandiana (Billy Goat Plum / An-morlak) – harvested commercially outside of Kakadu and marketed as the Kakadu plum. It is a medium-sized tree with large broad leaves. It is deciduous in the dry season and between March and June and bears edible fruits known to have exceptionally high levels of vitamin C.
Utricularia fulva (Yellow bladderwort) – a small orchid-like plant that grows along sandy creek banks.

Banksia dentata, commonly known as the tropical banksia, is a species of tree in the genus Banksia. It occurs across northern Australia, southern New Guinea and the Aru Islands. Growing as a gnarled tree to 7 m (23 ft) high, it has large green leaves up to 22 cm (8.7 in) long with dentate (toothed) margins. The cylindrical yellow inflorescences, up to 13 cm (5.1 in) high, appear over the cooler months, attracting various species of honeyeaters, sunbirds, the sugar glider and a variety of insects. Flowers fall off the ageing spikes, which swell and develop follicles containing up to two viable seeds each.

Brachychiton paradoxus, commonly known as the red-flowered kurrajong, is a small tree of the genus Brachychiton found in northern Australia. It was originally classified in the family Sterculiaceae, which is now within Malvaceae.

Buchanania obovata is a small to medium-sized understorey tree in woodlands native to northern Australia. Common names include green plum and wild mango.

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In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous (/dɪˈsɪdʒuəs/) means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, after flowering; and to the shedding of ripe fruit.

In Australian Aboriginal mythology, Mamaragan or Namarrkon is a lightning god who speaks with thunder as his voice. He rides a storm-cloud and throws lightning bolts to humans and trees. He lives in a puddle.

Diospyros lotus, with common names date-plum,Caucasian persimmon, or lilac persimmon, is a widely cultivated species of the genus Diospyros, native to subtropical southwest Asia and southeast Europe. Its English name derives from the small fruit, which have a taste reminiscent of both plums and dates. It is among the oldest plants in cultivation.

Terminalia ferdinandiana, also called the gubinge, billygoat plum, Kakadu plum, green plum, salty plum, murunga or mador, is a flowering plant in the family Combretaceae, native to Australia, widespread throughout the tropical woodlands from northwestern Australia to eastern Arnhem Land. It has a high concentration of vitamin C in its fruit: recorded concentrations of 2300–3150 mg/100 g wet weight and occasionally as high as 5300 mg/100 g, compared with 50 mg/100 g for oranges, ranks among the highest known of any natural source.

Alligator Rivers is the name of an area in an Arnhem Land region of the Northern Territory of Australia, containing three rivers, the East, West, and South Alligator Rivers. It is regarded as one of the richest biological regions in Australia, with part of the region in the Kakadu National Park. It is an Important Bird Area (IBA), lying to the east of the Adelaide and Mary River Floodplains IBA. It also contains mineral deposits, especially uranium, and the Ranger Uranium Mine is located there. The area is also rich in Australian Aboriginal art, with 1500 sites. The Kakadu National Park is one of the few World Heritage sites on the list because of both its natural and human heritage values. They were explored by Lieutenant Phillip Parker King in 1820, who named them in the mistaken belief that the crocodiles in the estuaries were alligators.

<i>Grevillea longifolia</i> species of plant

Grevillea longifolia, the fern-leaf spider flower, is a plant of the family Proteaceae, formerly known as Grevillea aspleniifolia. Commonly growing in the Sydney basin of central New South Wales, Australia Grevillea longifolia is recognizable by its deep red "toothbrush" flowers which appear in spring, and narrow, sawtoothed leaves. It is fairly readily grown in gardens.

Ficus virens is a plant of the genus Ficus found in India, southeast Asia, through Malaysia and into Northern Australia. Its common name is white fig; it is locally known as pilkhan and in the Kunwinjku language it is called manbornde. Like many figs, its fruits are edible. One of the most famous specimens of this tree is the Curtain Fig Tree of the Atherton Tableland, near Cairns, a popular tourist attraction.

Allosyncarpia ternata, commonly known as An-binik, is a species of rainforest trees constituting part of the botanical family Myrtaceae and included in the Eucalypts group. It is the only species described in its genus Allosyncarpia, in 1981 by Stanley Blake of the Queensland Herbarium. They grow naturally into large, spreading, shady trees, found only (endemic) in the Northern Territory of Australia. They grow in sandstone gorges along creeks emerging from the Arnhem Land plateau.

Banksia aquilonia, commonly known as the northern banksia, is a tree in the family Proteaceae native to north Queensland on Australia's northeastern coastline. With an average height of 8 m (26 ft), it has narrow glossy green leaves up to 20 cm (7.9 in) long and 6 to 10 cm high pale yellow flower spikes, known as inflorescences, appearing in autumn. As the spikes age, their flowers fall off and they develop up to 50 follicles, each of which contains two seeds.

The Australian flowering shrub Grevillea alpina has several common names, including mountain grevillea, alpine grevillea, and cat's claws. It is not limited to alpine environments, and in fact is less common at high elevation than low. The species is variable in appearance, with five general forms described: small-flowered, Grampians, Northern Victorian, Goldfields, and Southern Hills forms. It is found in dry forests and woodlands across Victoria and into southern New South Wales. Some forms of the plant are low to the ground, and some become a spreading shrub. The flowers come in many colours, from white to green to shades of red and pink, or a pattern of several colours. The curled flowers are 1 to 3 centimeters in length. It is attractive to nectar-feeding insects and birds.

The black wallaroo, Bernard's wallaroo or Woodward's wallaroo, is a species of macropod restricted to a small, mountainous area in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia, between South Alligator River and Nabarlek. It classified as near threatened, mostly due to its limited distribution. A large proportion of the range is protected by Kakadu National Park.

Anbangbang Billabong lies in the shadow of Nourlangie Rock within Kakadu National Park and is a good place to view a wide range of wildlife. Large numbers of water fowl and wading birds inhabit the billabong and many wallabies can be found grazing around the water’s edge. There is a walking trail around the circumference of Anbangbang billabong with many picnic areas.

The Jim Jim Falls is a plunge waterfall on the Jim Jim Creek that descends over the Arnhem Land escarpment within the UNESCO World Heritage–listed Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory of Australia. The Jim Jim Falls area is registered on the Australian National Heritage List.

Grevillea armigera, also known as prickly toothbrushes or thorny grevillea, is an erect shrub or tree which is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. The species was formally described by Swiss botanist Carl Meissner in 1856.

Flacourtia jangomas, Indian coffee plum, is a lowland and mountain rain forest tree in the Salicaceae or Willow Family. It is widely cultivated in Southeast and East Asia, and has escaped cultivation in a number of places. Its wild origin is unknown but is speculated to be tropical Asia, most perhaps India. This tree is very common in the Southern India and carries immense culinary and medical significance, especially in Kerala where it is commonly known as lubica or lovlolika. Fruits are eaten both raw and cooked as a jam, and the bark is sometimes used medicinally. It is sometimes harvested for its lumber. The plant is considered one of the primary host plants of the Queensland fruit fly

Cenarrhenes is a monytypic genus in the family Proteaceae containing the single species Cenarrhenes nitida, known as the Port Arthur plum or native plum. Cenarrhenes nitida is an evergreen shrub to small tree endemic to the rainforests and scrublands of western Tasmania. It bears white flowers in late spring followed by the development of fleshy fruit.

Crassula ovata, commonly known as jade plant, lucky plant, money plant or money tree, is a succulent plant with small pink or white flowers that is native to the KwaZulu-Natal province and Eastern Cape of South Africa and Mozambique, and is common as a houseplant worldwide. Much of its popularity stems from the low levels of care needed; the jade plant requires little water and can survive in most indoor conditions. It is sometimes referred to as the money tree; however, Pachira aquatica also has this nickname.

North American azaleas are flowering shrubs in the genus Rhododendron, section Pentanthera, subsection Pentanthera, so named because they all have five stamens. Most are in the United States, with one species found in Canada and one being found in Mexico. North American azaleas are commonly confused with azaleas of Asian origin, the evergreen azaleas. North American azaleas are deciduous and produce two types of buds. One is a larger and produces about 20 flowers while the other bud produces a leafy shoot. The flower color, fragrance, and number of stamens vary among species.

References

↑ Garde, Murray. "mandjimdjim". Bininj Kunwok Dictionary. Bininj Kunwok Regional Language Centre. Retrieved 30 June 2019.

This information can be found at its original source, The Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.:Kakadu National Park flora

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[1] Garde, Murray. "mandjimdjim". Bininj Kunwok Dictionary. Bininj Kunwok Regional Language Centre. Retrieved 30 June 2019.

Flora of Kakadu National Park

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