Cunninghamia Date of Publication: 23 March 2015 A journal of plant ecology for eastern Australia ISSN 0727- 9620 (print) • ISSN 2200 - 405X (Online) The flora of Kosciuszko National Park, New South Wales: Summary and overview M.D. Doherty1, G. Wright2 and K.L. McDougall3 1 CSIRO Land & Water Flagship, Canberra; AUSTRALIA; email:
[email protected] 2Parks Conservation and Heritage, NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, Queanbeyan, 2620 AUSTRALIA
[email protected]; 3Regional Operations and Heritage, NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, Queanbeyan, 2620 AUSTRALIA;
[email protected] Abstract: Although Kosciuszko National Park is one of the largest and oldest in New South Wales, the vascular flora found within it has not been fully documented. An understandable focus on the alpine and subalpine flora has resulted in a lesser focus on the flora of the extensive tracts of forest and woodlands found in the montane, tableland and lower Snowy River zones of the Park. Here we summarise and provide an overview of the entire vascular flora across the full range of floristic zones within Kosciuszko, building upon earlier summaries focussed solely on the alpine and subalpine zones. Our compilation of records resulted in a total vascular flora for Kosciuszko National Park of 1435 taxa, of which 1105 taxa (77%) are native and 330 taxa (23%) are alien, excluding cultivated taxa. Based on 1990 data for the flora of New South Wales, Kosciuszko National Park hosts 24% of the State’s native vascular flora and 26% of the State’s alien vascular flora. There are 25 species of vascular plant that are endemic to the park and all but one (Haloragis milesiae) occur in the alpine and subalpine zones.