Flora of Bare Sand Island
Click on each photo for more information.
Photo Credit: Peter Jackson
Ipomea pes- caprae
Common name:Goat's foot convovulus. Dominates the seaward dunes of BSI.A prostrate perennial vine. Leaves consist of two green smooth lobes. Flowers are pink to purple trumpet shaped with darker throat. Roots often compromise the development of marine turtle eggs.
Fimbristylis sericea
Tufted grass-like sedge. Inhabits the interior of the island in sparse clumps.Canavalia rosea
Common name: Coastal jack-bean. Foliage is tri-foliate with pink peaflowersA trailing, herbaceous vine that forms mats of foliage.
Spinifex longifolius
Common name: Beach SpinifexA perennial grass that grows as a tussock up to a metre high.
Cassytha filiformis
Common name: Dodder Laurel.A leafless parasitic vine. Has fine hairy yellowish to orange stems twining and attaching to other plants via suckers. Deadly to hatchlings who become entangled in its 'web'.
Acacia auriculiformis
Common name: Black Wattle. Its population consists of one tree on BSI.Tribulus cistoides
Common name: Caltrop. Listed as a noxious weed in the NT, but considered naturalised in most Australian states. Has a spiny hard fruit which is very painful to walk on (feet). AusTurtle is currently trying to eradicate it from BSI.Sorghum timorense
(Family: Poaceae) Common name: Spear Grass. An annual native grass of northern Australia, dies off after the wet season and is dry straw during the months of the research camps.Sesbania sp.
Sesuvium portulacastrum
Common name:SandfireA prostrate succulent perennial herb. Leaves smooth, narrow, and fleshy. Flowers pink. Has edible leaves which are salty & crunchy.
Vitex rotundifolia
Prostrate wood shrub with blue to pale purple flowers. Roots are especially compromising to turtle eggs. Fortunately sparsely populated on BSISalsola australis
(Family: Chenopodiaceae). Common name: Roly Poly or Pricky Saltwort. The dead plant can break off at ground level and form tumbleweedsShow More