What is the vegetation of Northern Territory?

Answer 1

Australia is very large geographically and a climatically diverse country ranging from tropical to temperate and desert to alpine and everything in between, and there is a wide range of plant life adapted to each environment.

Australia is home to many plant species that grow nowhere else in the world. Even the deserts, which constitute nearly two-thirds of the continent, have a surprising diversity of plant life including the Desert Oak and Spinifex grass which have a strangely simbiotic relationship.

For details of specific plant species, see the related question.

Answer 2

The Australian climate is generally arid to semiarid, and temperate in its south and east and tropical in its north. Agriculturally, Australia produces wheat, barley, sugarcane, and fruit, with an additional focus in raising livestock like cattle, sheep, and poultry.

More information:

There is a great deal of variety within Australia's climate. Most of the continent lies within the temperate zone, but northern Queensland and the Top End of the Northern Territory experience a tropical and sub-tropical climate, with monsoonal rains and cyclones during the summer. By contrast, Tasmania and parts of Victoria can experience both very cool summer temperatures, then sudden jumps to extreme heat.

It is also very dry throughout southern Australia in summer - as witnessed through the tragic bushfires that killed over 170 in Victoria (February 2009). Australia experiences droughts for long periods of time, and associated heatwaves. Yet, at the same time people were losing their lives and homes in Victoria, others along the northern coast of Queensland were losing their homes to floods, with the promise of even more rain to come. Brisbane and regions north along the eastern side of the Great Dividing Range are prone to sudden thunderstorms in summer. Inconsistency is the catchword in Australia - for example, Melbourne and southern Victoria can easily switch from hot and dry one day to cold and wet the next.

Very few places in Australia experience snow, compared to the size of the continent. In Winter, snow falls in the Alpine regions of New South Wales and Victoria, and sometimes even in the central tablelands of NSW, near the Blue Mountains and Orange. Tasmania experiences some snow, as does Canberra, less frequently.

See the related link for more details.

Regarding Australia's vegetation, see the related question.

Answer 3

Australian flora:

Australia has a variety of flora well suited to its dry climate, and which also adapt to the flooding of its vast plains. Some of these species are:

• Eucalyptus - the well-known 'gum trees' with over 600 species in Australia, including Tasmania's emblem, the Tasmanian Blue Gum
• Acacia, known more commonly as the wattle tree - many species exist throughout Australia, in all conditions, as it is a highly adaptable plant; Australia's national floral emblem is the Golden Wattle
• Banksia - named by botanist Sir Joseph Banks who was with Captain Cook when he charted Australia's eastern coast
• Blackboy, or grass trees
• Bunya Pine, Wollemi Pine, Hoop Pine
• Callistemon, also known as the bottlebrush
• Casuarina
• Common heath, floral emblem of Victoria
• Correa, a small to medium sized shrub
• Epacris, also known as Common Heath
• Eremophila, also known as the Emu-Bush
• Dryandra, closely related to the banksia
• Eremophila, also known as the Emu bush
• Ferns - many varieties, particularly common in rainforests
• Fabaceae, also common to rainforests, tropical and temperate zones - includes a variety of herbs, vines, shrubs, trees, and lianas
• Hakea
• Grevillea (spider flower) - related to Hakeas. One example is the Silky Oak (Grevillea robusta).
• Hardenbergias - vines with beautiful pea flowers
• Leptospermum, more commonly known as the tea-tree
• Leschenaultia, a beautiful Western Australian wildflower
• Kangaroo paw, an unusual flower from the western half of the continent, and the floral emblem of WA
• Kurrajong
• Mallee
• Melaleuca
• Mulga
• Native Hibiscus, different to the exotic hibiscus favoured by many gardeners
• Isopogon and petrophile - low growing shrubs
• Melaleuca, another very adaptable and versatile species
• Moreton Bay Fig
• Palm trees, such as the Pandanus Palm, Alexandra (King) Palm, Cabbage Tree Palm and Foxtail
• Sturt's Desert Rose and Sturt's Desert Pea, both desert flowering shrubs, and the emblems of NT and SA respectively
• Vines such as the Strangler Fig
• Waratah (NSW floral emblem)
• Triodia, also known as spinifex grass, which grows in the desert
• Zygochloa, another desert grass

One could also add the Norfolk Island Pine (Auracaria heterophylla) which is in the same genus as Bunya Pine. However, it is not found naturally on the Australian mainland, but is native to the Australian offshore territory of Norfolk Island.

Australian fauna:

Australia's most common native animals are marsupials. These are the pouched mammals (some pouches are nothing more than a flap of skin) and include:

• some sixty species of kangaroo, including wallaroo, potoroo, pademelon, rufous rat-kangaroo and wallaby (note: the rat-kangaroo is quite different to the kangaroo rat of North America)
• koala
• wombat
• possum (not opossum)
• glider
• potoroo
• bandicoot, including the bilby
• quokka
• quoll
• Tasmanian Devil
• phascogale
• dunnart
• cuscus
• bettong
• nabarlek
• numbat
• antechinus
• native hopping mouse

There are many marine mammals, including dolphins, and the very unique dugong, or sea-cow. The only placental mammals native to Australia are bats, of which there are over 80 species, bush rats and native hopping mice (rodents, not marsupials), of which there are several species. Dingoes are not truly native, not having originated here: they came with the Aborigines thousands of years ago, and for this reason are not necessarily considered to be truly native.

Monotremes(egg laying mammals) are also native to Australia. These include the platypus and the short-beaked echidna.

Native birds include:

• emu and southern cassowary, Australia's only Flightless Birds
• kookaburra
• budgerigar
• magpie
• lyrebird
• brush turkey
• friar bird
• little penguin
• bowerbird
• many varieties of lorikeets, rosellas and parrots, including the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Gang-Gang Cockatoo, corella, mulga parrot and the Galah
• Australia's most well-known native eagle is the Wedge-tailed Eagle. It is considered to be in the same "superspecies" as the Golden Eagle, but has some distinguishing characteristics (especially the shape of the tail).

There is a wide variety of native reptiles uniquely adapted to the country, such as:

• Thorny Devil
• Blue-tongue Lizard
• Frill-necked lizard
• goanna
• native geckos
• Saltwater or Estuarine crocodile
• Australia is also home to many of the world's most venomous snakes, such as the Inland Taipan, Death Adder, Mulga or King Brown, Red Bellied Black, Black Tiger, Copperhead, Gwardar, Collett's, Fierce, Eastern Tiger and Eastern Brown.

There are no native species of toads, but plenty of native frogs, such as green tree frogs, corroboree frogs and pobblebonks.

Answer 4

Australia has numerous natural vegetation regions. They include:

• grasslands - tussock, hummock, etc
• desert - spinifex, saltbush, bluebush
• mallee scrub and woodlands
• eucalyptus forests and woodlands
• rainforest and vine thickets tropical and temperate
• acacia forests and woodlands
• casuarina forests and woodlands
• melaleuca forests and woodlands
• coastal heath
• mangroves
• other bushland/woodlands
• semi-arid woodlands, e.g. pilliga
• Alpine forests

Answer 5

Of course there are plants in Australia. There are a variety of native and non-native plants and trees found in the country.

• Eucalyptus - the well-known 'gum trees' with over 600 species in Australia, including Tasmania's emblem, the Tasmanian Blue Gum
• Acacia, known more commonly as the wattle tree - many species exist throughout Australia, in all conditions, as it is a highly adaptable plant; Australia's national floral emblem is the Golden Wattle
• Banksia - named by botanist Sir Joseph Banks who was with Captain Cook when he charted Australia's eastern coast
• Blackboy, or grass trees
• Bunya Pine, Wollemi Pine, Hoop Pine
• Callistemon, also known as the bottlebrush
• Casuarina
• Common heath, floral emblem of Victoria
• Correa, a small to medium sized shrub
• Epacris, also known as Common Heath
• Eremophila, also known as the Emu-Bush
• Dryandra, closely related to the banksia
• Eremophila, also known as the Emu bush
• Ferns - many varieties, particularly common in rainforests
• Fabaceae, also common to rainforests, tropical and temperate zones - includes a variety of herbs, vines, shrubs, trees, and lianas
• Hakea
• Grevillea (spider flower) - related to Hakeas. One example is the Silky Oak (Grevillea robusta).
• Hardenbergias - vines with beautiful pea flowers
• Leptospermum, more commonly known as the tea-tree
• Leschenaultia, a beautiful Western Australian wildflower
• Kangaroo paw, an unusual flower from the western half of the continent, and the floral emblem of WA
• Kurrajong
• Mallee
• Melaleuca
• Mulga
• Native Hibiscus, different to the exotic hibiscus favoured by many gardeners
• Isopogon and petrophile - low growing shrubs
• Melaleuca, another very adaptable and versatile species
• Moreton Bay Fig
• Palm trees, such as the Pandanus Palm, Alexandra (King) Palm, Cabbage Tree Palm and Foxtail
• Sturt's Desert Rose and Sturt's Desert Pea, both desert flowering shrubs, and the emblems of NT and SA respectively
• Vines such as the Strangler Fig
• Waratah (NSW floral emblem)
• Triodia, also known as spinifex grass, which grows in the desert
• Zygochloa, another desert grass

One could also add the Norfolk Island Pine (Auracaria heterophylla) which is in the same genus as Bunya Pine. However, it is not found naturally on the Australian mainland, but is native to the Australian offshore territory of Norfolk island.

Some of the non-native plants include popular ornamental garden flowers such as gerberas, nasturtiums, marigolds, rhododendrons, carnations, roses and so on. Lantana is a pervasive introduced species. Trees which are non-native include frangipani, jacaranda, poinciana, poinsettia, oak, elm and Monterey pine, to name a few.

Answer 6

Common vegetation in Australia's mountain ranges, depending on the locality, can include any of the following:

• Eucalyptus - the well-known 'gum trees' with over 600 species in Australia, including Tasmania's emblem, the Tasmanian Blue Gum
• Acacia, known more commonly as the wattle tree - many species exist throughout Australia, in all conditions, as it is a highly adaptable plant
• Banksia
• Blackboy, or grass trees
• Native pines such as Bunya Pine, Wollemi Pine, Hoop Pine
• Callistemon, also known as the bottlebrush
• Common heath, floral emblem of Victoria
• Dryandra, closely related to the banksia
• Eremophila, also known as the Emu bush
• Ferns - many varieties, particularly common in rainforests
• Fabaceae, also common to rainforests, tropical and temperate zones - includes a variety of herbs, vines, shrubs, trees, and lianas
• Hakea
• Grevillea (spider flower)
• Hardenbergias - vines with beautiful pea flowers
• Leptospermum, more commonly known as the tea-tree
• Kurrajong
• Native Hibiscus, different to the exotic hibiscus favoured by many gardeners
• Isopogon and petrophile - low growing shrubs
• Melaleuca, another very adaptable and versatile species
• Waratah