Flora
Stone Country and Outliers
Plants growing in the stone country and on the outliers must survive extremely hot, waterless conditions for many months each year. Among the best examples of plants well adapted to these harsh conditions are the resurrection grasses, which dehydrate in the absence of moisture and spring back to life within 24 hours of rain.
Monsoon forests often develop in the cool, moist gorges that dissect the stone country. They are generally dominated by Allosyncarpia, a large, spreading, shady tree restricted to the Kakadu and Arnhem Land region.
More widespread and easily recognisable stone country and outlier plants are spinifex and the sandstone pandanus; both can be found at Nawurlandja.
Common flora
- Allosyncarpia Allosyncarpia ternata An-binik
A large, hardy evergreen that is restricted to the stone country of Kakadu and Arnhem Land. - Native ginger Curcuma australasica
An attractive leafy annual that grows from a tuber. Its hot pink flowers can be seen at Ubirr and Nourlangie in the wet season. It is also related to the turmeric plant, a native of Asia. - Pityrodia jamesii
A shrub that grows on rocky areas in pockets of sandy soil. Pink-white flowers appear in September to December. The shrub's sticky, fragrant leaves are the main food of Leichhardt's grasshopper. - Sandstone pandanus Pandanus basedowii An-more
Grows only in the sandstone areas of Kakadu and Arnhem Land.
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