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 Australia's
Rainforests today cover approximately 800 sq km in broken pockets
stretching from the tip of Cape York to South West Tasmania. This is about
one quarter of the original rainforest which existed in 1788. Most was
cleared for agriculture, grazing and by timber getters. The pockets which
remain are mainly in more inaccessible areas or those of poor quality
soils.
Rainforests are found in the temperate,
subtropical and tropical regions where they occur as wet or dry, in
highland, lowland and coastal areas. The flora diversity includes ferns,
palms, orchids and pines. Rainforest trees are a haven for birds as most
trees bear attractive fruits to encourage fruit bats and birds to disperse
the seeds.
Some of our most famous native trees, the
Silky Oak (Grev robusta) and the Illawarra Flame (brachychiton acerifolius)
belong to the rainforest as well as our world famous and only commercial
native nut, the macadamia (macadamia tetraphylla). The list of world class
timber trees is endless, who hasn't heard of the Australian Red Cedar,
Kauri Pine,
 Brush
Box, Coachwood just to mention a few.
There are many smaller shrubs, climbers,
groundcovers, ferns, stags and elks which all have a place in the
rainforest under the canopy of the larger trees.
When the term RAINforest is applied to our
native tress and shrubs most people believe they will require copious
amounts of water to survive. This is far from the facts, once established,
rainforest trees and shrubs can survive for long periods with very little
water.
Most rainforest plants can adapt well
outside their environment and usually don't attain the sizes of those in
their natural environment.
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