5. Heathland

Heaths are composed of low to medium high shrubs with small, hard (ericoid) leaves and generally occur on low nutrient soils, such as coastal sands and the shallow sandy soils of sandstone areas. The canopies may be closed (dense) to open, with or without emergent shrubs and with or without a sparse herb or gramminoid ground cover.

Near the coast, heaths occur on exposed coastal sands, dune systems and headlands.

Heath on the coastal aeolian sands near Redhead

Wet heath on periodically inundated coastal sands near Belmont

Further inland, heaths occur in other formations, particularly in the Open-forest and Woodland - shrubland subformation, on exposed or seasonally wet and poorly drained areas and on thin skeletal soils of the Triassic sandstone and granite areas. Here dry heath occurs as an understory in ironbark woodland-shrubland.

Near Bulga in the central part of the Hunter Valley

Species are predominantly of the Proteaceae, Fabaceae, Mimosaceae, Myrtaceae and Epacridaceae families. Emergents in coastal heaths are often Banksia and mallee-like eucalpyts, while inland these are replaced by species of Leptospermum and Acacia.