WESTERNAUSTMLIAN HERBARIUM RESEARCHNOTES No. 5, 1981: I7I-t34 A CHECKLIST OF THE VASCULAR PLANTS OF THE PERTH REGION,WESTERN AUSTRALIA By N.G. Marchant and Gillian Perry Western Australian Herbariun, South Perth, ll1.A,6151 ABSTMCT 1,46 0 rntiue and 497 rntw,alised plant speci.es aye Listed for the Perth Region ahich is an area of approrinately 10,5a0sq. /on. INTRODUCTION The Pefth Region as defined here is an area of approxinately 10,500 sq. km and includes metropolitan Perth, the Mandurah-Bunbury area and parts of the Darling Range (Figure 1). The boundary has been drawn so as to exclude the species-rich areas north of the Moore River, the wandoo woodland flora of the eastern part of the Darling Range and the wetter Janah forest south west ofDwellingup. The eastern boundary conveniently follows a nore or less straight line drawn between sone of the highest points of the Darling Range. The lj.st of native and naturalised alien plants presented here is a preliminary one. Additional inforrnation and corrections are invited. The checklist is a precursor to a proposed handbook of the vascular plant flora of the Perth Region. THE ENVIRONMENT Most of the Perth Region falls into two distinct geomorphol ogi caI zones which are separated by a north-south Scarp and the associated Darling Fault. East of the Scarp lies the dissected western margin of the Great Western Plateau, an area of ancient crystalline rocks with an extensive coverinp of, laterite. West of the Scarp is the Swan Coastal plain, a deep sedinentiry basin with superficial deposits of recent origin. A snall pait of the region, near Gingin, forns the southern portj-on of the Dandaragan plateau, an area of exposed Mesozoic sedirnents. Detailed infornation on the geology of the region is given by Seddon (L972) and Biggs et aL. e9S0). The soils of the Great Western plateau range frorn sand to heavy clay and the laterites nentioned above. Shallow soil areas over acidic or basrs r' Lt2 N.c. Marchant& G. Perry No. 5 GUILDERTON GINGIN O YANC}IEP BULLSBROOK. \ woonoloo & I FREMANTLE \ +I I MT. DALE \\ U MT. COOKE WAROONA. MT. WILLIAlvrtl 0 10 20 scale kn . HARVEY BUNBURY I iun. LENNARD /- ---.;*^*uo Figure 1, Map showing the botmdary of the Perth Region as defined for the r--r----nrnnncal ^---3.fr n-. No. 5 Checkli st of Perth Flora 113 rocks are conmon, especially near the scarp edge. The soils of the Swan Coastal Plain are nostly yelIow, grey or grey-white infertile sands. Surface clay or subsoil clays are comrnonlyencountered near river channels and in the foothills of the Darllng Range. Snall areas of peat_rich soils occur in wetlands and contribute to the habitat diversity of the Region. Linestone areas with calcareous sands occur along the narrolu coastal zone. The landforms and soils of the Darling Systen have been described by Churchward and McArthur (1980) and the soj-ls of the coastal plain by Bettenay et aL. (L960). Clinatically the Region is Mediterranean with hot, dry surnrnersand cooI, wet winters. Rainfall decreases frorn south to north and east of the Scarp. The highest rainfall area within the Region is near the Scarp edge, south east of Perth where a small area is delimitated by a 1,400 nm annual isohyet. The driest areas in the region are in the north and north east near Gullderton and south east of Gingin which lie between the 600 and 700 nunper annurn isohyets (Map, Heddle et aL. !980). The vegetation of the Perth area has been studied by Heddle et aL. (1980) . The plateau of the Region supports an extensive forest of Eucalyptus mangi.neta and E. calophylla. A vari-ed shrub layer is always present in uncleared areas; srnall areas of low shrubland are developed on shallow soils. The sandy soils of the Swan Coastal Plain support extensive, 1ow open woodlands mostly of Banksia and,Eucalgptus with a species-rich shrub 1ayer. Tracts of 1ow shrubland occur in coastal areas over linestone. Heathlands with different species cornposition are comnonly seen in winter-wet depresslons where subsoil layers retain noisture during dry periods. The Perth Region has the greatest concentration of the State's Dopula_ tion and urban development. The major land uses of the area are agriculture, forestry, mining and quarrying. These activities have resulted in tarse tracts of land of the Swan Coastal Plain and the clay-rich soils of thI valleys of the Great Western Plateau being cleared or partly cledred. Fortmately some uncleared areas are still extant and the authors consider it is unlikely that many native plant species have been lost to the region since the beginning of European settlement in 1829. 0n the other hand. clearing and associated land uses have resulted in the establishment of rnanyalien plant species. The proportion of naturalised plant species in the Perth Region is far greater than in l4estern Australia as i whole- (G. perry, unpubl ishedl . METHODS .fron The list of species presented here has been compiled records of the western Australian Herbariun (PERTH). Further checks were nade fron publi-shed species lists; however, records have not been used unless supDorr- ed by voucher specinens lodged in the Herbariun. Many specrnens examined were collected in what are now suburbs of perth, as for example by botanists such as C. Andrews, W.V. Fitzgerald, M. Koch and A. Morrison in the period 1900-1910. Further collections in the citv area were nade by W.M. Carne, E. DeIl and B.T. Coadby in the following t;o decades. 0n1y recently, for the purpose of the present project, has intenslve collecting been re suned. As far as possible the nollencLatut:e of naturalised aliens has been II4 N.G. Marchant Q G. Perry No. 5 checked with the literature up to January 1981. In addition, advice has been obtained fron specialists who are currently engaged in revisionary studies but whose findings have not yet been published. Naturalised aliens are here regarded as species not native to the Perth Regj-onbut thought to have established themselves. However. there have been few field studies to assess whether or not a species is naturallsed or nerely adventive. The following list includes 126 fanilies and,629 genera. The total nunber of species recorded is 1,957 of which 497 (approxinately 25%) are naturalised aliens. Table 1 shows the total nrnnber of native and naturalised species in each of the rnajor plant groups. Table 1. Nunber of Species in the Perth Region. Native Naturalised Tot al s Ferns and Fern AIlies 19 2 27 Cvmnn sna?in c 5 0 5 Angiosperns Monocotyledons 396 168 564 Dicotyledons 1 ,040 327 7,367 TOTALS 1,460 497 1,,9s7 ACKNOl1lLEDGEMENTS The authors wish to acknowledge the assistance of R. Cranfield, L Fetwadjieff, J. Goff and C. Lynch who helped to cornpile the 1ist. We are also grateful to M. DrAntuono for conputer programrning. REFERENCES Bettenay, E., McArthur, W.M. and Hingston, F.J. (1960). The soil associa- tions of part of the Swan Coastal Plain, Western Australia. CSIRA Austy'alia Diuision of Sotls, Soi,Ls and Land Use Series No. 35. Biggs, E,R., Leech, R.E.J. and Wi1de, S.A. (1980). Geology, Mineral Resources and Hydrogeology of the Darling Systern, Western Australia, Chapter 1, pp. 3-20 and naps. In: A|;Las of Nattu'al Resources Darli.ng Sgstem Western Austr,alia. Departrngnt of Conservation and Environnent: perth. Churchward, H.M. and McArthur, W.M. (1980). Landforns and Soils of the Darling System, Western Australla, Chapter 2, pp. 25-33 and naps. In: Atlas of Nattu,al Resources DaTLirq SAsten WeslteTnAustTalia, Department of ConseTvation and Environrnent: Perth. Heddle, E.M., Loneragan, 0.W. and Havel, J.J. (1980). Vegetation Complexes of the Darling Systen, Western Australia, Chapter 3, pp, 37-72 and. naps. In: Atlas of Natural Resources Darli,ng Sgstem Western AustraLia, Departnent of Conservation and Environment: Perth, Seddon, G, (L972). Sense of Place: a Response to an Enti.norvnent, the Suan Coastal Plain, tlestenn Australia. 274 pp. University of W.A. Press: Nedlands, W.A. No. 5 Checklist of Perth Flora I .tJ LycopoDrAcEAts RUPPIA POLYCARPA IiIASON RUPPIA TUBEROSA J.L.DAVIS 6 TOIII,INSON I,YCOPODlUI.l SERPENTINUM KUNZE pHylloclossuM DRUuMoNDII KUNZE FOTAUOGETONACEAE (LABILI.ISONDER TsoETAcEAE AMPHIBOLIS ANTARCTICA 6 ASCIIERS. EX ASCHERS. (J.I{.aLACK) IsoETEs DRUuIroNDrr A.ERAUN AMPIIIBOLIS GRIFFITI{II DEN HARTOG (I'IARTENS SELAGTNET,j ACEAE HETEROZOSTERA TAST ANICA EX AscHERs. )DEN nARtoG SELAGINELLAGRACILLMA(KUNZE)AISTON LEPILAENAPREISSII(LEHU.)F.IiIUELL. POSIDONIA ANGUSIIFOLIA M,L.CAIBRIDGE 6 OPHIOGLOSSACEAE J. KUO POSIDONIA AUSTRAIIS J. D.IIOOKER OpHIOGLOssUIt LuSITANICUU L. POSIDONIA OSTENFELDII DEN liARtOG POSIDONIA SINUoSA tt.L.CAITBRIDGE € J.KUo SCIIIZAEACEAE POTAMOGETON DRUUI{ONDII BENAS. POTAI{OGETON OCHREATUS RAOUL SCHIZAEA FISTULOSA LABILL. PoTAIOGETON PECTINATUS L. POTA!{OGETON TEICARINATUS F.IIUEI,I,. E A. BENN, CYATSEACEAA Ex A.BENN. THAI,ASSODENDRON PACHYRHIZUU DEN IARTOG t CYATHAA COOPERI (HOO(ER EX F .IIUELL . ) DOMIN ZOSTEIA ITUCRONATA DEN HARTOG DENNSlAADTIACEAE NAJADACBAE ASPLENIUII ADIANTOIDES ( l. I LAIIARCR NAJAS !{ARINA I. CYCLOSONUS GONGYIODES (SCHr(UI'R)LINR PLEUROSOAUS SUTIFOLIgS ( R. BR. )FEA APOTiIOGEAONACEAE PTERIDIUM AQUIIINUT' ( L. JKUHN PTERIS VITTATA L. APONOGEION HEXAAEPALUS VAN BRUGGEN LINDSAEACEAE JUNCAGINACEAE LINDSAEA LINEARIS SWARTZ TAIGLOCHIN CALCITRAPA IIOOKER TRIGLOCllIN CENTROCARPA IIOOKEF ADIANAACEAE TRIGLOCHIN MINUTISSII4A F. }IUELL. taier,ocsrr MUcRoNAaAR. BR. ADIANTUM AETHIOPICUI' L. IRIGLOCHIN lIUEI,LERI BUCHENAU ANOGRAIII{A LEPTOPHYLLA (L. )LINK TRIGLOCHIN PROCERA R, BR. criEtr,ANtSEs DlsTAlls (R.BR. )tEaa. TRIGLOCITIN STRIATA RUIZ E PAVON C!|EILANTSES TBNUIAOLIA { N. ! . AURUAN) SwARTz TRIGLOCHIN TRICIiOPHORA NEES Ex ENDL. IIARSILEACEAB ALISI{ATACEAE '} UARSIIEA DRUI{I.IONDII A.BRAUN ALISMA PIANAAGO-AQUATICA ',. PITUIARIA NOVAE-HOILANDIAE A.