Plants of The Ranges
Many plants in the Kimberley are specifically adapted to life in the ranges. The rock fig has long roots that seek moisture in the crevices. The kapok bush has adapted to life on the hill sides by losing its leaves in the dry season to reduce moisture loss. The boab and the red-flowered sticky kurrajong are two other distinctive plants of the ranges that employ the same adaptation to the Kimberley's contrasting seasons. However, it is the hardy spinifex that can grow on the thinnest of soils on the rocky ranges. Its cylindrical spine-like leaves reduce water loss from transpiration, and the hummock growth form, mulches the ground surface.
The fires that frequently ravage the grasslands of the Kimberley are often constrained by the ranges where there is less vegetation to provide fuel. Most Australian and Kimberley plants have adapted to fire, regenerating from insulated trunks, underground tubers and woody seeds that germinate after fire.
Rainforests
Of the more than 20 types of rainforest found in Australia, three are found in the Kimberley. Rainforests are distinguished by a profusion of vines and plants only found in rainforest communities. In Western Australia, tropical rainforest is only found in the Kimberley, and only where there is adequate rainfall, and humidity. Small patches of monsoon rainforest are sprinkled along the northwest coastline between Broome and Kununurra in a belt less than 150 kilometres wide. They are distinguished from "evergreen" jungles in that they are mostly leafless (deciduous) during the dry season, "raingreen" during the wet season, and less tall than "evergreen" rainforest. They are often described as semi-deciduous vine thickets.
Trees and Soil
The woodland community usually has two or three dominant trees, which vary with the type of soil. With many different types of soil over the extensive range of tropical woodland, many types of trees can be found. Most common on the sandy soils of the East Kimberley are the woollybutt , with its smooth, white upper trunk and fibrous, brown stocking at its base.
On the sandplains of the West Kimberley, the wattles (acacias) form dense thickets of pindan vegetation. Where there is an emergent tree layer of eucalypts and grevilleas, these thickets are called "pindan woodland".
Learn about the TOP 20 plants in El Questro Wilderness Park (PDF)