Editing Royal National Park (section)

===Valley floors===
[[File:Waterfall Creek - panoramio (2).jpg|thumb|left|Couranga Track view of Waterfall Creek, one of many that run throughout the park]]

With rich soils and good supply of water the valley floors are cooler and more humid than any other part of the park. Large tree species such as [[Toona australis|Australian cedar]] (''Toona cilliata'' prev. ''T. australis'') and the larger [[Eucalyptus|eucalypt]] species dominate. Tree height reach 50 metres or more and a rich understory of [[fern]], [[Acacia|wattles]], and other medium-size plants proliferate. Some small areas are classified as [[Temperate rain forest|temperate rainforest]]. These areas are characterized by dense groves of very large trees including the iconic [[Ficus rubiginosa|Port Jackson fig]] (''Ficus rubiginosa'') and [[Ficus macrophylla|Moreton Bay fig]] (''Ficus macrophylla'') trees. The absence of light leads to a lack of undergrowth other than a profusion of ferns. These are among the more popular areas for visitors to the park. The park service is also very careful to protect these areas due to their general rarity in the hot, arid Australian landscape.

[[File:RNPStream.JPG|thumb|A tributary of the [[Hacking River]], beside [[Lady Carrington Drive]]]]

Impressive groves of turpentine (''Syncarpia glomulifera'') and blackbutt (''Eucalyptus pilularis'') trees may be seen growing straight up into the sky forming an open canopy with widely spaced trunks. In these characteristic areas they are generally considered open forest, they may have a grassy understory, a sclerophyll shrubbery or alternatively they may have a rainforest subcanopy or a rainforest understory with growth being densest nearest to the valley floor or permanent watercourses. In these turpentine forests often hundreds of cabbage palms (''[[Livistona australis]]'') may be seen growing in dense tall thickets which are rarely touched by fire or they may exist as young plants in open grassy spaces which are burnt regularly enough not to form visible trunks. Rainforest pockets are dominated by [[jackwood]] and [[Doryphora sassafras|sassafras]]. The lilli pilli (''[[Acmena smithii]]'') produces a fruit edible raw. Another common species is the coachwood (''[[Ceratopetalum apetalum]]'') which were used extensively from Australian rainforests to manufacture horse-drawn coaches.

Birds distinctive to these rich rainforest habitats include Topknot pigeons (''[[Lopholaimus antarcticus]]''), green catbirds (''[[Ailuroedus crassirostris]]''), rufous fantails (''[[Rhipidura rufifrons]]'') and black-faced monarchs (''[[Monarcha melanopsis]]''). Two interesting birds often encountered in dense scrub or rainforest include the flightless brush turkey (''[[Alectura lathami]]'') and the noise mimicking superb lyrebird (''[[Menura novaehollandiae]]'').

[[Platypus]] once found habitat in the Hacking River.  In May 2023, the [[Species reintroduction|species was returned]] to the national park under a relocation program jointly conducted by the [[University of New South Wales]], NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and the [[World Wildlife Fund]].<ref name="prt">{{cite news |last=Roe |first=Isobel |date=14 May 2023 |title=Platypuses return to Sydney's Royal National Park after disappearing for decades |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-14/platypus-reintroduced-to-royal-national-park-sydney/102344804 |work=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]] |publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] |access-date=15 May 2023}}</ref> The platypus have been fitted with [[Wildlife radio telemetry|transmitters]], so monitoring in their new environment can continue.<ref name="prt"/>