Buttresses:

A number of the trunks of the trees in sub-tropical rainforest form a flange protruding from the base. The picture on the right shows the buttress of a blue quandong (Elaeocarpus grandis) only 15 years old and far right shows the buttresses of two white booyongs (Argyrodendron trifoliolatum)

Vines:

Woody vines or lianas are a feature of sub-tropical rainforests, these vines use the trees for support to climb towards the light.

Epiphytes:

Epiphytes are plants that are perched on other plants for support but they are not parasitic plants.

There are a number of ferns in the subtropical rainforest that have adapted to an epiphytic life on the trunks of trees. There are three common epiphytes shown on the right and below.

Bird's nests fern (Asplenium australasicum)

Rainforest Colour:

Fruit and leaves and flowers provide colour in the rainforest. The fruit of lilly pilly Syzygium sp. (below top) and the flax lily Dianella sp. (below middle) and the leaves of the blue quandong Elaeocarpus grandis (middle) and riberry Syzygium luehmannii (right) flower of the coolamon Syzygium moorei (bottom left) and the pink euodia Melicope elleryana (bottom right).

A common feature of the subtropical rainforest is the strangler fig. There are a number of species of fig trees in the Big Scrub and many of these start as an epiphyte growing on another tree in the hollows. The roots grow down to the ground and surround the tree (see photos on the right). Eventually after many years the fig becomes the dominant tree and competes for nutrients and the host tree dies.

Ferns:

Ferns (right) and herbs (such as the grasses below) are common on the ground of the rainforest

Palms:

Palms are a feature of the subtropical rainforest. The endemic palm species found in the Big Scrub Rainforest are bangalow palms (Archontophoenix cunninghamiana) (right),

Walking stick palms (Linospadix monostachya) (below middle)

Cabbage tree palms (Livist-ona australis) (below left).