Sydney's bushland: more than meets the eye By Jocelyn Howell and Doug Benson Published in 2000 by Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, colour, soft cover gatefold, 128 pages Price $A29.95 plus $A12 postage within Australia [up to 3 kg], overseas postage please request a quote ISBN 0731393422 or ISBN 9780731393428

Sydney is a city of wildflowers, surrounded and infiltrated by expanses of bushland with attractive acacias, beautiful bottlebrushes and wonderful waratahs. It's also home to Geebungs, Burrawangs and Bangalays. What are these plants and where do they grow? Find out this and more as you explore the forests, woodlands and heaths of the harbour city. This book takes you back before the age of the dinosaurs to glimpse the forces that shaped the Sydney bushland scene. And it brings you up to date to join scientists in discovering some of the surprises Sydney's bushland plants have in store:

• how some of our largest plants have survived in secret until just a few years ago
• which of our tiniest plants turn the tables on animals and make a meal of them
• what happens when some plants encourage ants to help them survive fires via the fungal internet!
• where plants have invisible liaisons underground

Keen to see some of these wildflower ways for yourself? The book's last section takes you on a tour of readily accessible places where you can experience bushland landscapes and their beautiful plants. Not everything is known - there is still lots to learn. Experience Sydney's bushland in a spirit of discovery - you will enjoy finding out there's more than meets the eye!

About the authors

Jocelyn Howell and Doug Benson are ecologists in the Plant Sciences Branch of the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. Their work has concentrated on the natural vegetation of the Sydney region, where, despite Australia's greatest concentration of people, much bushland survives. The authors have many years of experience in describing bushland areas and their significance, and produce books and maps on vegetation. They have written the well known book 'Taken for granted: the bushland of Sydney and its suburbs', and edit the scientific journal Cunninghamia: a journal of plant ecology for eastern Australia. Doug Benson is co-author of the continuing series Ecology of Sydney plant species, published in Cunninghamia. The authors apply their knowledge of Sydney's vegetation to problems of bush management, and encourage further enquiry and research.

Table of contents

• A closer look at Sydney's bushland: geology, climate, vegetation patterns, rainforest, Eucalypt open-forests, Riparian scrub, Eucalypt woodlands, heath, in the estuaries, on beaches and heathlands, freshwater wetlands
• Bushland ecology - the ways of wildflowers: fascinating ferns, charismatic conifers, made in Gondwana, plant survival tactics, plants and fire, plants and soil partners, plants and other wildlife, bushland seasons, weeds and aliens, Sydney people and their bush
• Out and about in Sydney's bushland: Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney Harbour National Park, Olympic site, Lane Cove National Park, Botany Bay National Park, Royal National Park, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, Scheyville/Cattai National Parks, Windsor Downs Nature Reserve, Mount Annan Botanic Garden, Blue Mountains National Park, Mount Tomah Botanic Garden
• To find out more
• Index