Flora at Mt Hart.

For students of flora, the gardens and bush surrounding the Mt Hart Homestead provide a wealth of fascinating Northern Australian and exotic plants. 

The original homestead gardens were laid out in the early 1960s by Charlie Telford and his employees, incorporating truckloads of plants brought up from Adelaide in forty-four gallon drums.  Subsequent owners have since made their mark on the gardens, planting, amongst other exotics; Mussaendas, Acalyphas, Hibiscus, The South African Sausage Tree, African Tulip Tree, and a marvellous array of tropical fruit trees.

Recent (2004) additions to the gardens include:

• Various new Heliconias
• Various new Gingers including Darwin Dream
• Vanilla beans
• Galphimia glauca
• Mussaena - "Capricorn Dream",  with brilliant scarlet bracts
• Various new Crotons  including Love Crotons
• Various new Cordylines
• Bismarkia Nobilis palms
• Travellers' palms
• Cycads
• Hibiscus "Rose Flame"
• Hibiscus "Monique maria"
• Cleradendron
• Licuala grandis (a fan palm)
• Hemigraphos - a ground cover
• Dianella species
• New Zealand flax

Click here for pictures of the garden at Mt Hart.

Native Flora of Mt Hart.

The King Leopold Range Conservation Park straddles over 135km of the length of the King Leopold Ranges, one of the oldest geological formations in the world.  The former "Mt Hart Station" covers a variety of ecosystems and plant habitats, including quartz and sandstone peaks, black soil plains, pindan clay, Eucalypt woodland, and remnant rainforest pockets.  The tropical monsoons bring an abundance of new life to the country in the "Wet Season" (usually November to April), regenerating country that has previously felt the hand of fire. 

The Department of Environment and Conservation purchased Mt Hart Station in 1990, in order to protect and preserve the unique flora and fauna.  The remnant rainforests of the Kimberley are of particular significance, as they are the only occurence of rainforests in Western Australia, and support fauna not found anywhere else. 

Plants found at Mt Hart include:

(* denotes wet season)
Bauhinia cunninghamii
Boab (Adansonia gregorii)
Bombax
*Crinum angustifolium (Bush lily)
Dipodium stenochilum
Eucalyptus camaldulensis (River red gum)
Eucalpytus Corymbia cadophora (twin leafed bloodwood)
Eucalyptus tectifica (Grey box or Darwin box)
Grevillea pyramidalis (Caustic tree)
Gossypium australe (Native Cotton)
Kapok bush
Pandanus spiralis
*Tacca maculata
Terminalia fernandiana (Gubinge)
various wattles

See also the Kimberley Development Commission's flora page. http://www.kimberley.wa.gov.au/index.cfm?menu=283&page=ff_flora_endemic