Mount Royal (New South Wales)

Last updated

Mount Royal
The overgrown summit of Mount Royal.jpg
rainforest covered summit of Mount Royal.
Highest point
Elevation 1,185 m (3,888 ft)
Coordinates 32°10.454′S151°19.571′E / 32.174233°S 151.326183°E / -32.174233; 151.326183
Geography
Location Hunter Region, Australia
CountryAustralia
Parent range Mount Royal Range
Geology
Age of rock Late Paleocene
Mountain type basalt cap

Mount Royal is situated at the southern end of the Mount Royal Range in the Barrington Tops region of eastern Australia. It is part of the World Heritage Gondwana Rainforests of Australia.

Contents

The lower sections of the mountain are made up of sedimentary rocks such as mudstones. A residual basalt cap appears at 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) above sea level. It originated from the flow of the nearby Barrington Volcano. [1] The mountain is partially in Mount Royal National Park and Barrington Tops National Park.

History

The first European settler to discover and summit Mount Royal was Ludwig Leichhardt in 1843. [2]

Flora

The high elevation rainforest growing on the red/brown soils lacks the Antarctic beech [3] despite apparently ideal conditions. Their place the upper canopy is taken by the golden sassafras. The elevated narrow rainforest features hanging moss, often covered in mist.

The mountain's summit is covered in a low rainforest thicket, composed mostly of the hill water gum. Other noteworthy plants on the mountain include New England blackbutt, chainfruit, prickly ash, grass tree and the mountain walnut. [4] Another interesting feature of Mount Royal is the grassy balds, surrounded by temperate rainforest. Fire caused by lightning is one speculative theory of their origin.

The lower south east slopes of Mount Royal support a well developed sub-tropical rainforest. Significant species include the Australian red cedar, citronella, rosewood and the giant stinging tree.

Fauna

A considerable variety of birds and animals are found in the area. Wedge-tailed eagles, eastern grey kangaroos and tiger snakes are common. Some of the more rare inhabitants include: the rufous scrub-bird, paradise riflebird, wompoo fruit dove, Parma wallaby, rough-scaled snake, stuttering frog, Booroolong frog and the Davies' tree frog. The Hastings River mouse was rediscovered here in the 1980s.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barrington Tops National Park</span> Protected area in New South Wales, Australia

The Barrington Tops National Park is a protected national park in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, Australia. Gazetted in 1969, the 76,512-hectare (189,070-acre) park is situated between Scone, Singleton, Dungog, Gloucester and East Gresford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deua National Park</span> Protected area in New South Wales, Australia

Deua is a national park located in New South Wales, Australia, 320 kilometres (200 mi) south of Sydney, and 100 kilometres (62 mi) east of Canberra. The nearest towns on the coast are Batemans Bay, Moruya and Narooma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D'Aguilar National Park</span> Protected area in Queensland, Australia

D'Aguilar National Park is a national park in Queensland, Australia. It contains the D'Aguilar Range and is located along the northwest of the Brisbane metropolitan area. The park is traversed by the winding scenic Mount Nebo Road and Mount Glorious Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Bartle Frere</span> Mountain in Queensland, Australia

Mount Bartle Frere is the highest mountain in Queensland at an elevation of 1,611 metres (5,285 ft). The mountain was named after Sir Henry Bartle Frere, a British colonial administrator and then president of the Royal Geographical Society by George Elphinstone Dalrymple in 1873. Bartle Frere was British Governor of Cape Colony at the outset of the Anglo-Zulu War.

<i>Nothofagus moorei</i> Species of tree

Nothofagus moorei, commonly known as Antarctic beech, is an important Gondwana relict of the rainforests of the southern hemisphere. It occurs in wet, fire-free areas at high altitude in eastern Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Royal Range</span> Mountain range in New South Wales, Australia

The Mount Royal Range is a mountain range in the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Banda Banda</span> Mountain in New South Wales, Australia

Mount Banda Banda, a mountain of the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, is situated 320 kilometres (200 mi) from Sydney within the Willi Willi National Park. Banda Banda can be seen on the north-western horizon from Port Macquarie, as well as on the south-western horizon 39 km from the town of Kempsey. At 1,258 metres (4,127 ft) AHD it is the highest mountain in the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boorganna Nature Reserve</span> Protected area in New South Wales, Australia

The Boorganna Nature Reserve is a protected nature reserve located northwest of Taree on the Comboyne Plateau in New South Wales, Australia. The 396-hectare (980-acre) reserve, managed by the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service, was gazetted in 1904 and is the second oldest nature reserve in the state. The reserve features various forest types, including stands of sub tropical rainforest of which the large rosewood, yellow carabeen and small leaf fig are particularly noteworthy. The reserve is a remnant of the former extensive rainforest on the Comboyne Plateau. The plateau was cleared between 1900 and 1925. Australian red cedar was logged in the area in the nineteenth century. Originally proposed to be part of the world heritage rainforest group. The exploration, knowledge, uses and history of this area by Indigenous Australians is not well known in the present day. Boorganna Nature Reserve was proposed, but rejected for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage, due to being geographically isolated from other rainforests in the group.

<i>Doodia aspera</i> Species of fern

Doodia aspera, commonly known as prickly rasp fern, is a widespread and common plant, growing in eastern Australia. Often seen in rainforest margins or eucalyptus forest in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, it is a terrestrial fern with reddish new growth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Australian temperate forests</span> Ecoregion in Australia

The Eastern Australian temperate forests is a broad ecoregion of open forest on uplands starting from the east coast of New South Wales in the South Coast to southern Queensland, Australia. Although dry sclerophyll and wet sclerophyll eucalyptus forests predominate within this ecoregion, a number of distinguishable rainforest communities are present as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Cabrebald</span> Mountain in New South Wales, Australia

Mount Cabrebald is a mountain located within the Barrington Tops National Park, in the Upper Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. With an elevation of 1,017 metres (3,337 ft) above sea level, the mountain is situated 200 kilometres (120 mi) north of Sydney, near Singleton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minyon Falls</span> Waterfall in New South Wales, Australia

The Minyon Falls is a plunge waterfall on Repentance Creek in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. The waterfall descends more than 100 metres (330 ft) over the huge rhyolite cliffs which were once part of the Tweed Volcano. The water flow eroded the rocks to create the waterfall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garawarra State Conservation Area</span> Protected area in New South Wales, Australia

The Garawarra State Conservation Area is a protected conservation area that is located on the southern suburban fringe of Greater Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The 949-hectare (2,350-acre) reserve abuts the Royal National Park and is situated 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of the Sydney central business district, near Helensburgh. Garawarra was gazetted as a park in 1987, and added, together with the Royal National Park, to the Australian National Heritage List on 15 September 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Careys Peak</span> Mountain in Australia

Careys Peak is a peak in the Williams Range, part of the Mount Royal Range, located in the Upper Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. At 1,544 metres (5,066 ft) above sea level, it is one of the higher points in Barrington Tops National Park, some 200 kilometres (120 mi) north of Sydney. The peak is at the edge of the Barrington Tops plateau, within the declared wilderness of the World Heritage Gondwana Rainforests of Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Barrington</span> Mountain in New South Wales, Australia

Mount Barrington, a mountain that is part of the Mount Royal Range, is located on the Barrington Tops plateau in the Mid-Coast Council within New South Wales, Australia and has an elevation of 1,555 metres (5,102 ft) above sea level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burraga Swamp</span> Swamp in New South Wales, Australia

Burraga Swamp is situated beside Mount Lumeah in the Barrington Tops area in New South Wales, Australia. It is surrounded by Antarctic beech cool temperate rainforest at an altitude of 985 metres above sea level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Copeland Tops State Conservation Area</span> Protected area in New South Wales, Australia

The Copeland Tops State Conservation Area is a protected conservation area located near the Barrington Tops in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. The 2,201-hectare (5,440-acre) is situated 12 km (7 mi) west of Gloucester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ecology of Sydney</span> Geographic aspect of Sydney, Australia

The ecology of Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia, is diverse for its size, where it would mainly feature biomes such as grassy woodlands or savannas and some sclerophyll forests, with some pockets of mallee shrublands, riparian forests, heathlands, and wetlands, in addition to small temperate and subtropical rainforest fragments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Gum Forest</span> Protected area in New South Wales, Australia

The Blue Gum Forest is a forest located in Blue Mountains National Park within the Grose Valley of the Blue Mountains in New South Wales west of Sydney, southeastern Australia. It is one of the best-known bushwalking sites in Australia. The forest is located within the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Greater Blue Mountains Area. The forest survived through the efforts of early Australian conservationists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands Basalt Forests</span> Ecological community in New South Wales

The Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands Basalt Forests are a sclerophyll temperate forest community that stretch from the northern fringes of the Blue Mountains to the Southern Highlands in New South Wales, Australia. Featuring both wet and dry sclerophyll forests, as well as small rainforest pockets, the community features tall (30m+) and open eucalypt forests and woodlands that lie on igneous rock.

References

  1. Floyd, A. G. (1990). Australian Rainforests in New South Wales. Vol. 2. p. 125. ISBN   0-949324-32-9.
  2. "Hunter Region Bushwalks | Mount Royal National Park & Barrington Tops". www.calli.com.au. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  3. New South Wales Rainforests - The Nomination for the World Heritage List, Paul Adam, 1987. ISBN   0 7305 2075 7, page 77-78
  4. Floyd, A. G. (1989). Rainforest Trees of Mainland South-eastern Australia. Inkata Press. pp. 178, 42. ISBN   0-909605-57-2.