Central Bellarine Hills indigenous plants

Zone 3 is a complex mix of soil types, including, clays, sands and gravels on gently sloping hills with poor to moderate fertility and which are poor to well drained. The average rainfall is 55 - 60 centimetres.

This area was predominantly a woodland community with a highly diverse shrub and grass understorey. Tree species would have included Manna Gum and Drooping Sheoke with populations of Moonah and Yellow Gum.

Common shrub species were Silver Banksia, Sweet Bursaria and Smooth Parrot-pea.

Kangaroo Grass was present in patches across most of the inland area while Tussock Grass grew along the region’s watercourses.

The central area of the Bellarine Hills and parts of Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale have large areas of poor sandy soils which are remnants of old dunes.

Heathlands dominated by Dwarf Sheoke, Prickly Tea-tree, Heath Tea-tree and Austral Grasstree occurred on these areas.

Areas of grassland would have also occurred in the areas of richer soil in this zone

Tree species
Common name	Botanical name	Size (height by width in metres)		1	2
Lightwood	Acacia implexa	5-15	4-7	Y	-
Black Wattle	Acacia mearnsii	8-25	6-10	Y	-
Blackwood	Acacia melanoxylon	5-30	4-15	Y	Y
Golden Wattle	Acacia pycnantha	3-10	2-5	Y	-
Black Sheoke	Allocasuarina littoralis	4-8	2-5	Y	Y
Drooping Sheoke	Allocasuarina verticillata	4-11	3-6	Y	-
River Red Gum	Eucalyptus camaldulensis	12-35	15-35	-	Y
Yellow Gum	Eucalyptus leucoxylon ssp bellarinensis	10-20	6-20	Y	-
Swamp Gum	Eucalyptus ovata	8-30	8-20	Y	Y
Manna Gum	Eucalyptus viminalis	10-20	8-15	Y	Y
Cherry Ballart	Exocarpos cupressiformis	3-8	3-5	Y	-
Moonah	Melaleuca lanceolata	1-8	3-6	Y	Y
Shrub Species
Gold-dust Wattle	Acacia acinacea	0.5-2.5	2-4	Y	-
Hedge Wattle	Acacia paradoxa	2-4	2-5	Y	-
Sweet Wattle	Acacia suaveolens	1-3	2-5	YS	-
Varnish Wattle	Acacia verniciflua	3-5	3-5	YS	-
Dwarf Sheoke	Allocasuarina misera	0.5	1-2	YS	-
Silver Banksia	Banksia marginata	1-10	1-5	YS	-
Showy Bossiaea	Bossiaea cinerea	1-2	1-2	YS	-
Sweet Bursaria	Bursaria spinosa var macrophylla	2-6	2-3	Y	-
Dogwood	Cassinia aculeata	2-4	1-2	Y	-
Hop Bitter-pea	Daviesia latifolia	1-3	1-3	Y	-
Grey Parrot-pea	Dillwynia cinerascens	0.6	1.5	Y	-
Smooth Parrot-pea	Dillwynia glaberrima	1-2	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	YS	-
Heath Tea-tree	Leptospermum myrsinoides	0.5-2.5	1	YS	-
Coast Beard-heath	Leucopogon parviflorus	1-4	2-3	Y	-
Common Beard-heath	Leucopogon virgatus	0.3-1	0.2-0.6	YS	-
Common Boobialla	Myoporum insulare	1-6	3	Y	-
Sticky Boobialla	Myoporum viscosum	0.5-2	1.5-2	Y	-
Snowy Daisy-bush	Olearia lirata	2-5	2-3	Y	-
Shrub Everlasting	Ozothamnus ferrugineus	2-6	1-3	Y	Y
Prickly Geebung	Persoonia juniperina	0.3-2	0.6-0.8	Y	-
Coast Pomaderris	Pomaderris oraria	1-1.5	1-5	Y	-
Snowy Mint-bush	Prostanthera nivea	3	2.5	Y
Sea Berry Saltbush	Rhagodia candolleana	2	1-2.5	Y	-
Kangaroo Apple	Solanum laciniatum	1-3	1-3	Y	-
Golden Spray	Viminaria juncea	2.5-5	2	Y	Y
Grass-tree	Xanthorrhoea australis	to 3 metres high		YS	-
Groundcover and Tussock Species
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	Y	-
Tussock Grass	Poa labillardieri	0.8	0.8	-	Y
Kangaroo Grass	Themeda triandra	0.3	0.3	Y	-
Y - species is present in areas of remnant vegetation
X - species once occurred in this area
S - species that prefer sandy soils