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Oxley Wild Rivers National
Park (OWRNP) |
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Main Noticeboard.
The walk to the main falls starts behind this. Oxley Wild Rivers National Park is now
120,000 hectares and growing, as people sell off grazing land that
is no longer economic & is purchased by National Parks.
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Wollomombi Wattle
Acacia blakei subspecies diphylla . Feel the
'leaves' - firm, a little leathery, with longitudinal veins. Note
flowers, seedpods if present- typical wattle, with the leaf-stalk
taking over the functions of a leaf, and without the stomates - the
breathing pores through which plants lose water. So wattles can live
in seasonally dry places.
Restricted to
Northern Tablelands gorges.
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Gorge Mock-Olive
Notolea microcarpa subspecies velutinea is a
small bush with opposite +/- velvety leaves that grows in on the
steep sides of gorges in the New England. It is in the same family
as the commercial European olive, and produces similar fruit.
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Green Wattle Acacia irrorata.
Feel the leaves (eyes closed), compare with the phyllodes of
Wollomombi Wattle. This plant keeps its juvenile leaves into
maturity. Sometimes planted in gardens, with golden balls of flowers
in November to January – and sometimes also in winter like most
other wattles
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Lichen on railings
beside track. Note the difference between the top of rail
(flat Crustose lichen) and the side (thick Foliose lichen). Also
look at lichen on nearby dead tree. Which type? Evidence of the
thick mists that sometimes roll up from the gorge, allowing many
plants to survive without putting roots deep into the soil Rainfall
here 30-40 inches (750-1000mm) per year.
Lichen is caused
by moss and fungus taking a liken to each other.
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