Lesueur National Park

When the question of flower-rich Western Australian national parks arises, three names are cited: Fitzgerald River, Stirling Ranges - and Lesueur. Most eastern Australians who are interested in natural history know of the first two, rather less are familiar with the last. Unlike the better-known two parks, Lesueur is north of Perth, 250km up the coast on the sandplains inland from Jurien. In its 27,000 hectares some 900 plant species are known - this is 10% of all the species in this vast plant-rich state. In some places 80 species can be found in just 10 square metres; moreover, in a similar site a kilometre away half the species may be different. Given such figures, we might reasonably expect to be talking about tropical rainforests or coral reefs; instead this is sandy gravelly plains country, with much of the scrubby vegetation being less than a couple of metres high. These sandy heathlands are known as Kwongan in the west. The soil nutrient levels are horribly low, by European agricultural standards. It seems that in such apparently harsh conditions plants can't afford to compete with neighbours for scarce nutrients, so must change, albeit slightly, to use subtly different resources; this has driven rapid evolutionary responses and produced some of the highest plant diversity in the world. 

Mount Lesueur; named for Charles Lesueur, a brilliant self-taught painter-naturalist on the
unhappy and ill-fated Baudin expedition of 1801, the third and grandest of the French scientific expeditions
to Australia, sponsored by Napoleon.

 Moreover these low soil nutrient levels have saved the place; in 1850 colonial botanist James Drummond collected plants and rhapsodised over the area, but agriculturalists and pastoralists dismissed it as useless and it lay undisturbed until the mid-20th century when the coal-mining industry started taking an interest. The community response was fierce, and in 1992 it was finally declared national park. 

Until recently it could only be accessed by 4WD vehicle, but now a superb 18km circuit drive, with walking tracks and facilities, means that anyone can revel in its riches.

Calytrix leschenaultii, Family Myrtaceae.
The magnificently named Jean-Baptiste Louis-Claude-Theodore Leschenault de la Tour
was chief botanist to the Baudin expedition.

Verticordia grandis, Family Myrtaceae.
The wonderful Verticordias ('heart turners') warrant their own posting, and they'll get it one day.

Sphaerolobium pulchellum. Family Fabaceae.

Darwinia virescens, Family Myrtaceae.

Conostephium pendulum, Family Epacridaceae.

Hakea neurophylla. Family Proteaceae.

Isopogon linearis. Family Proteaceae.

 And of course the nectar-sippers will follow the flowers.

White-cheeked Honeyeater.
This is a remarkable species, from the heaths of the south-west, with a disjunct population o the east coast,
3,000km away, and another in mountain rainforests of the Queensland tropics.

It also provides a key breeding area for Carnaby's (Short-billed) Black-Cockatoo, a species in tragic decline.

 Another animal group richly represented in the kwongan is reptiles; the Australian deserts have perhaps the world's greatest diversity of lizards, but the kwongan is not far behind.

Western Bearded Dragon, Pogona minor.

So, next time you're in the west, don't miss this very special park.