Eastern Bellarine Plains indigenous plants

Zone 1 consists of recent alluvial loam soils of moderate fertility which are gently sloping and well drained. The average rainfall is 62 centimetres.

This area was once predominantly an open woodland community that also included an understorey made up of various shrubs and grasses. Dominant tree species of Manna Gum and Drooping Sheoke grew alongside other species including River Red Gum Yellow Gum and Cherry Ballart.

Shrubs such as Hop Goodenia and Silver Banksia formed most of the taller understorey community. Smaller species included Kangaroo Grass Common Everlasting and Black Anther Flax-lily.

In sandy areas understorey species of Hop Bitter-pea Prickly Tea-tree and Varnish Wattle were found while in damper areas Tussock Grass grew. Creeklines were characterised by dense stands of River Red Gum and Blackwood.

Tree species
Common name	Botanical name	Size (height by width in metres)		1	2
Lightwood	Acacia implexa	5-15	4-7	Y	-
Golden Wattle	Acacia pycnantha	3-10	2-5	Y	-
Black Wattle	Acacia mearnsii	8-25	6-10	Y	-
Blackwood	Acacia melanoxylon	5-30	4-15	Y	Y
Black Sheoke	Allocasuarina littoralis	4-8	2-5	YS	-
Drooping Sheoke	Allocasuarina verticillata	4-11	3-6	Y	-
River Red Gum	Eucalyptus camaldulensis	12-35	15-35	Y	Y
Yellow Gum	Eucalyptus leucoxylon ssp bellarinensis	10-20	6-20	Y	-
Swamp Gum	Eucalyptus ovata	8-30	8-20	Y	-
Manna Gum	Eucalyptus viminalis	10-20	8-15	YS	-
Cherry Ballart	Exocarpos cupressiformis	3-8	3-5	Y	-
Moonah	Melaleuca lanceolata	1-8	3-8	Y	-
Shrub species
Hedge Wattle	Acacia paradoxa	2-4	2-5	Y	-
Sweet Wattle	Acacia suaveolens	1-3	2-5	XS	-
Varnish Wattle	Acacia verniciflua	3-5	3-5	X	-
Silver Banksia	Banksia marginata	1-10	1-5	Y	-
Sweet Bursaria	Bursaria spinosa var macrophylla	2-6	2-3	Y	-
Hop Bitter-pea	Daviesia latifolia	1-3	1-2	Y	-
Giant Hop-bush	Dodonaea viscosa	1-3	1-3	Y	-
Hop Goodenia	Goodenia ovata	1-2.5	1-3	Y	-
Prickly Tea-tree	Leptospermum continentale	1-4	1-2	Y	Y
Coast Beard-heath	Leucopogon parviflorus	1-4	2-3	Y	-
Common Boobialla	Myoporum insulare	1-6	3	Y	-
Shrub Everlasting	Ozothamnus ferrugineus	2-6	1-3	Y	Y
Kangaroo Apple	Solanum laciniatum	1-3	1-3	Y	-
Groundcover and tussock species
Dwarf Sheoke	Allocasuarina misera	0.5	1-2	YS	-
Berry Saltbush	Atriplex semibaccata	0.1-0.3	1-3	Y	-
Common Everlasting	Chrysocephalum apiculatum	0.3	1-2	Y	-
Black Anther Flax-lily	Dianella revoluta	0.5	1.5-2.0	Y	-
Common Beard-heath	Leucopogon virgatus	0.3-1	0.2-0.6	YS	-
Tussock Grass	Poa labillardieri	0.8	0.8	-	Y
Kangaroo Grass	Themeda triandra	0.3	0.3	Y	-
Sea Berry Saltbush	Rhagodia candolleana	2	1-2.5	Y	-
Y - species is present in areas of remnant vegetation
X - species once occurred in this area
S - species that prefer sandy soils