Get to know your local plant neighbourhood.
Find the long-time locals of any site in Victoria or Greater Sydney: the plants of the communities that grew there before colonisation, and the ecologies next door.
Whose Country is this? Find the Traditional Owners for your site
Whose Country is this? Find the Local Aboriginal Land Council for your site
01Site
Search for the site, or drag the pin. Tap or click the map to see which plant community, or Ecological Vegetation Class (EVC), was mapped there before colonisation, and add it. The circle shows the search radius.
Search for the site, or drag the pin. Tap or click the map to see which plant community, or Plant Community Type (PCT), was mapped there before clearing, and add it. The circle shows the search radius.
Pick a spot to meet the neighbours: drag the pin to move the site.
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands and waters across VictoriaNew South Wales, and pay our respects to Elders past and present.
02Plant communities near the site (EVCsPCTs)
These are the plant communities that once made up the neighbourhood. Choose the ones your site belongs to, and its neighbours.
From DEECA's modelled map of Victoria's plant communities, called Ecological Vegetation Classes (EVCs), before colonisation, around 1750. Distances come from square search areas around the site, so they are approximate. The map is modelled: confirm the communities on site. Tick the communities to use, and the reference-list variant for each.
From the NSW State Vegetation Type Map (Pre-Clearing), DCCEEW, which maps New South Wales's plant communities, called Plant Community Types (PCTs), before clearing. The map is modelled at regional scale: confirm the communities on site. Status shows how much of each community has been cleared across NSW, and whether it is associated with a threatened ecological community. Reference lists are loaded for the communities of the Sydney Basin bioregion.
| Use | EVCPCT | Name | Nearest | Conservation statusStatus | Reference list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Choose a site and select Find plant communities. | |||||
03Reference species lists (EVC benchmarksBioNet PCT species lists)
Who typically lives in each community, according to DEECA's benchmarksthe survey plots that define each NSW community.
Native species recorded in the survey plots that define each PCT (BioNet Vegetation Classification, DCCEEW), with growth form and the share of plots each was found in. A species in 90% of plots is a backbone of the community; one in 2% is occasional.
Benchmarks are matched to the bioregion of each EVC polygon: Victorian Volcanic Plain, Gippsland Plain, Highlands – Southern and Northern Fall, Central Victorian Uplands and Otway Plain so far, plus the statewide wetland benchmarks (September 2024). Lists marked extracted · check source were extracted automatically from the DEECA documents; confirm against the source before professional use. Lists you add are saved in this browser only.
Add or replace a benchmark list
04Local sightings (Victorian Biodiversity AtlasBioNet Atlas)
Who's actually been seen around here: plant sightings from the Victorian Biodiversity AtlasNSW BioNet Atlas.
Victorian Biodiversity Atlas flora records (unrestricted) around the site. They support Category B and the locally indigenous column. Restricted taxa are not included in the public data.
BioNet Atlas plant sightings around the site (public data). They support Category B and the locally indigenous column. Records of sensitive species are withheld or generalised in the public data.
05Species list
Your site's long-time locals, gathered into one list.
Every species named in the selected reference lists, once each under its current name, grouped by layer from canopy to ground. Local sightings from step 04 show which have been recorded near the site. Tick species to put them in the zone's palette; the palette builder, quantities and exports follow the ticks.
Palette builder
The suggestion shares species between layers in the same proportions as the reference lists, and prefers species that suit the zone, have been recorded near the site and appear in more of the lists. Unsuited species and known weed risks are never picked first. Adjust by ticking and unticking below.
NSW reference lists include every native recorded in a community's survey plots, many of them only occasionally. 10% keeps the regular members.
| In palette | Species | Life form | Size (H × W) | Conditions | Site fit | Qty | Reference lists · plot freq. | Local sightings | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Select plant communities in step 02 to build the list. | |||||||||
Planting schedule
Plants per square metre for each layer in this zone. Layers stack: trees, shrubs and the ground layer are each spread across the whole zone area. Each layer's plants are shared equally between its palette species. The schedule lists every zone.
| Zone | Layer | Species | Common name | Size (H × W) | Spacing | Qty |
|---|
Traits come from the Master Trait List: VicFlora, AusTraits and Gardening with Angus, with gaps filled from Claude's botanical knowledge. Values with a dotted underline are those estimates; hover any value for its source.
06Check a palette
Already have a list? See which of your plants are long-time locals of the site.
Paste your own species, one per line, to check each against the selected reference lists and local sightings. Cultivars in quotes, hybrids (×) and genus-only entries are kept and flagged. The names below are examples; replace them.
| Taxon (as supplied) | Cat. | Reference lists | Life form | Size (H × W) | Fit (active zone) | Local sightings | Notes | Check |
|---|
- A
- Named in the reference species list (EVC benchmarkBioNet PCT species list) of a selected plant community, matching the species or a listed synonym.
- B
- Not in a selected reference list, but recorded as native in local sightings (Victorian Biodiversity AtlasBioNet Atlas) around the site.
- C
- Not established from the selected reference lists or loaded sightings.
- D
- Taxonomic or horticultural qualification: cultivar, hybrid, genus-only entry, or a reference list that names the genus only.
- weed
- Listed as a typical weed in a selected reference list. Check before planting.