VOLUME 2: Vegetation Community Profiles - Coffs Harbour City ...

ESCARPMENT COACHWOOD - SASSAFRAS -BRUSH BOX WARM TEMPERATE RAINFORESTSCIENTIFIC NAME Coachwood (Ceratopetalum apetalum) – Sassafras(Doryphora sassafras) – Prickly Ash (Orites excelsus) – Brush Box(Lophostemon confertus) Warm Temperate Rainforest of the escarpmentSTATEWIDE CLASS Rainforests – Warm Temperate Rainforests (Keith2006)CH_RF12CH_RF12PLANT COMMUNITY TYPE Coachwood – Crabapple – Booyong– Yellow Carabeen warm temperate rainforest on alluvium or enrichedyellow earths, NSW North Coast Bioregion and South Eastern QueenslandBioregion (NSW75-14)Schizomeria ovata Doryphora sassafrasWarm temperate rainforest (NSW700-390)DescriptionA warm temperate rainforest where Coachwood (Ceratopetalum apetalum), Brush Box (Lophostemon confertus)and Prickly Ash (Orites excelsa) are the most common trees in the upper layer. Bolly Gum (Litsea reticulata),Crabapple (Schizomeria ovata) and Sassafras (Doryphora sassafras) also occur. A mid layer of smaller trees ispresent including Native Gardenia (Atractocarpus benthamianus), Featherwood (Polyosma cunninghamii) Oliver’sSassafras (Cinnamomum oliveri), Steelwood (Sarcopteryx stipitata), Macleay Laurel (Anopterus macleayanus) andTree Heath (Trochocarpa laurina). The ground layer is sparse and comprises Gristle Fern (Blechnum cartilagineum),Walking Stick Palm (Linospadix monostachya), and Tree Fern (Cyathea leichhardtiana). Vines include Lawyer Cane(Calamus muelleri), Anchor Vine (Palmeria scandens), and Berberidopsis beckleri. Epiphytes such as Stag Horn(Platycerium bifurcatum) occur on rainforest tree trunks.This community is located on rolling hills of the Dorrigo and Orara Escarpment and Plateau edge usually betweenabout 500 and 700 metres in altitude on soils derived from metasedimentary geology.Vegetation Mapping of the Coffs Harbour Local Government Area Page 57