Odyssey Tours & Safaris
Flora
Kakadu National Park
Sandy Creek Falls
The exact extent of this diversity is as yet unknown. As a result of continual botanical surveys the number of known plant species is still increasing. As with the fauna of the Top End, the flora is dependent on the area's geology.
The flora associated with the sandstone escarpments is particularly diverse, with many species endemic to their respective areas. However, the greater part of theTop End is savannah, dominated by open eucalypt forests and grassy understoreys. The coastal areas and tidal estuaries are home to a rich and diverse community of mangroves.
As we move inland along the water courses we find enormous floodplain areas ringed by Melaleuca or paperbark trees. Then, as we approach the escarpment country, we find stands of ancient monsoonal rainforest - home to huge Allosyncarpia trees.
A botanist could spend a lifetime here and barely scratch the surface. Aboriginal Australians have lived here in excess of 40,000 years and survived on the abundant "bush tucker" and the amazing healing qualities of local bush medicine.