Native plants

Over 1600 individual flora and fungi species have been recorded within the Sunshine Coast's boundaries.

Native plants

The Sunshine Coast has rich biodiversity including native plants, animals and ecosystems. Council is working to preserve and protect native plants and animals on the Sunshine Coast through actions in the environment and liveability strategy.

Plants

Over 1600 individual flora and fungi species have been recorded within the Sunshine Coast's boundaries. This diversity of the coast's vegetation provides feeding, sheltering, breeding and resting resources for native fauna.

Species found on the Coast include eucalypts, banksias, acacias, melaleucas, sheoaks, a myriad of rainforest and health species, and of course the mangroves and pandanus that fringe waterways and coastal areas.

The coast's native vegetation includes many significant species, including some that are found nowhere else in the world. For example:

  • swamp stringybark (Eucalyptus conglomerata) is Australia's most endangered eucalypt
  • Mount Beerwah mallee (Eucalyptus kabiana) is known from only one dispersed population in the Glasshouse Mountains
  • Buderim holly (Graptophyllum reticulatum), a small distinctive shrub, is known from only two localities on the Sunshine Coast.

Generate your own plant species lists for the Sunshine Coast region or your own local area using wildlife online on the Queensland Government's website.

Plant identification

Identify the coast's native plants and some of our worst weeds with council's take another look...our locals are beauties native planting brochures:

Wildflowers

In late winter and spring the coast's wildflowers burst forth in an array of sizes, shapes and colours.

Wildflowers are found across the coast, from the wallum heath to the forests of the hinterland. Go wildflower wandering with the Sunshine Coast wildflowers festival self guided walks (PDF, 4.09MB) or the wildflowers of the Sunshine Coast (PDF, 560KB) brochure.

Join in the annual wildflower festival, a range of activities running over two weeks in August/September. See the Wildflower Festival website for more information.

Biodiversity

Biodiversity, or biological diversity, is the variety of all species on earth. It includes plants, fungi, animals (including humans) and micro-organisms, as well as their genes and the ecosystems that they comprise.

Biodiversity and healthy functioning ecosystems are fundamental to all life, and provide essential services such as:

  • cultural heritage
  • climate change resilience
  • landscape protection
  • air quality
  • waterways health
  • liveability
  • productive landscapes
  • tourism and recreation
  • healthy communities.

More information