Editing Royal National Park (section)

===Valley sides===
[[File:Eucalyptus luehmanniana.jpg|thumb|Many species of [[Eucalyptus]], such as the ''[[Eucalyptus luehmanniana]]'', thrive in the Royal National Park.]]
On the sides of the steep river valleys that punctuate the uplands the terrain changes to exposed rock with collected pockets of soil. Although still fairly rocky, a large number of [[eucalyptus]] and other tree species are prevalent. Small streams are to be found reasonably frequently and understory plants cohabitate with the larger trees, although the terrain is still fairly open and easy to move through. Tree heights in this area reach an average maximum of about ten metres. The plant mix and geography conditions in this area are typical of much of the terrain in the coastal areas of [[New South Wales]] but with many widespread [[wiktionary:genus|genera]] having highly localized species in the Royal National Park. This sort of habitat is one of the most floristically diverse in Sydney Basin.

This environment is classed as sclerophyll open forest and is divided into "dry" and "wet" sclerophyll forest. Factors that shape this habitat are primarily bushfires, low phosphorus/nitrogen levels, intense summer heat and low water levels. Resulting in a diverse floristic assembly of flora and fauna with apparently divergent paths in similar habitats, for example scribbly gums (''Eucalyptus racemosa/sclerophylla/haemastoma'') have smooth barked trees in a manner which reduces their chance of catching on fire while stringy barks (''Eucalyptus sp.'') have bark which easily catches alight clearing the way for its fire-stimulated seedlings.

[[File:The Forrest Island - panoramio.jpg|thumb|left|The "Forest Island", a section of forest in the park's south mostly flanked by the [[Hacking River]]. In raised valley floors such as these, many more species of flora thrive than in other environments of the park.]]
Commonly encountered vegetation in this environments include but are not limited to; Sydney redgums (''Angophora costata''), Sydney peppermints (''Eucalyptus piperita''), Port Jackson pine (''Callitris rhomboidea''), red bloodwoods (''Corymbia gummifera''), ''Pomaderris sp.'', old man banksia (''[[Banksia serrata]]''), hairpin banksia (''[[Banksia spinulosa]]''), rock banksia (''Banksia oblongifolia''), Sydney boronia (''Boronia ledifolia''), native sarsaparilla (''Smilax glyciphylla''), violet twining pea (''Hardenbergia violacea''), dusky coral pea (''Kennedia rubicunda''), the traditional narcotic hop bush (''Dodonaea triquetra''), native pea (''Dillwynia sieberi''), sometimes dwarf apple (''Angophora hispida''), parasitic devils twine (''Cassytha sp''.), native panic (''Entolasia stricta''), ''Lepidosperma sp.'' grass, forest grass trees (''Xanthorrhoea arborea''), Sydney waratah (''Telopea speciosissima''), flannel flowers (''Actinotus minor'' as well as ''Actinotus helianthi''), blueberry ash (''Elaeocarpus reticulatus''), silky hakea (''Hakea sericea''), variable bossiaea (''Bossiaea heterophylla''), bonnet orchids (''Cryptostylis erecta''), hyacinth orchids (''Dipodium variegatum/punctatum/roseum''), ''Pomax umbellata'', native parsley (''Lomatia silaifolia''), edible native currants (''Leptomeria acida''), broad leaved geebungs (''Persoonia levis''), Sydney golden wattles (''Acacia longifolia''), gymea lilies (''Doryanthes excelsa''), various sheo-oaks (''Allocasuarina littoralis/distyla/verticillata'' etc.), flax leafed wattle (''[[Acacia linifolia]]''), bracken (''Pteridium esculentum''), grey spider flower (''Grevillea buxifolia/sphacelata''), red spider flower (''Grevillea oleoides''), pink spider flower (''Grevillea sericea'') and native iris (''Patersonia sericea/glabrata/longifolia'') to literally name a few of the hundreds of beautiful flora encountered in this diverse and widespread habitat. Even certain hybrid species may be encountered such as the common ''Banksia ericifolia x spinulosus'' or the rarer ''Angophora costata x hispida''.

Birds that frequent this habitat include [[Golden whistler]]s (''Pachycephala pectoralis''), [[yellow-tailed black cockatoo]]s (''Calyptorhynchus funereus''), [[laughing kookaburra]] (''Dacelo novaeguineae''), [[eastern whipbird]]s (''Psophodes olivaceus''), [[New Holland honeyeater]]s (''Phylidonyris novaehollandiae''), [[eastern spinebill]] (''Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris''), [[rufous whistler]]s (''Pachycephala rufiventris''), [[willie wagtail]]s (''Rhipidura leucophrys''), [[superb fairywren]]s (''Malurus cyaneus''), [[crimson rosella]]s/mountain lowry (''Platycercus elegans''), [[yellow-rumped thornbill]]s (''Acanthiza chrysorrhoa)'' and [[white-browed scrubwren]]s (''Sericornis frontalis'').

Other commonly encountered animals in this habitat include native honeybees, wallaroos (''Macropus robustus''), common echidnas (''Tachyglossus aculeatus'') as well as other far rarer species such as the koala (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), the dingo (''Canis lupus dingo'') or the predatory native marsupial the spotted quoll (''Dasyurus maculatus spp. maculatus'').