Red Gum Woodland

The Red Gum Woodland ecosystem developed on a range of soil types, but generally preferred the moist heavier loams & clays The community was once widespread throughout the south eastern Port Phillip Bay region, including Glen Eira. It is likely that Red Gum Woodland fringed & intermingled with Low Open Forest, boarded wetland areas and lined the water courses. They also graded into other forested & drier communities towards the hills of what is now eastern suburban Melbourne. This once widespread community was heavily cleared and grazed by the early white settlers of the region. Some good remnants of this woodland type can still be found.

Tree & Shrub Structure

The Red Gum Woodland sub-community was Open Forest or Woodland in its structure. The River Red Gums dominated throughout; very large old trees were sparsely distributed. Yellow Box and Rough-barked Manna Gum may have replaced the red gums in the adjacent higher & drier areas. Swamp Gum would have been found in the wetter areas, parsley intermingled with the Red Gums. The Blackwood and Late Black Wattle and Sweet Bursaria may have been present. These too would have been sparsely distributed, or absent altogether in the long living mature stands of Red Gum Forests. Shrubs are thought to have been uncommon or absent altogether. In the wetter areas, Cherry Ballart, Prickly Tea- tree, Hedge Wattle and Golden Spray may have been present.

Ground Storey Structure

Grasses were plentiful in this community Kangaroo Grass and Wallaby Grass species were common. Poa Tussocks, Sedges and Mat-Rushes dominated the moist depressions. A wide variety of Lilies and Orchids such as Flax Lily, Milkmaids & Yellow Rush-lily flowered through spring and into early summer, with some species dying back again for winter. Flowering herbs carpeted the ground between the grasses, like Native Bluebells & the Common Rice-flowers. Scramblers and creepers such as Twining Glycine, Twining Fringe-lily and Running Postman twined throughout the tussocks and herbs. The Red Gum Woodland was a very rich and diverse plant community.

See other plant community's of glen eira ...... click here......

Remnant River Red Gums with no understorey at Boyd Park Murrumbeena