Dalrymple-Hay Nature Reserve is located in suburban St Ives

St Ives, New South Wales

St Ives is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. St Ives is located 18 kilometres north of the Sydney Central Business District in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council...

, 15 kilometres from the centre of Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. A eucalyptus

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...

 forest of ten hectares; the most significant remnant of the Blue Gum High Forest which dominated much of the shale

Wianamatta shale

Wianamatta Shale is the uppermost outcropping unit in the Sydney Basin in New South Wales, Australia. It dates from the Triassic Period and generally comprises fine grained sedimentary rocks such as shales and laminites with less common sandstone units...

 based forests north of Sydney. Only 1% of the original forest remains. Average annual rainfall is a relatively high 1400 mm.

Bush regeneration programs have been implemented for many years. Invasive weeds such as privet, large leave privet

Ligustrum lucidum

Ligustrum lucidum is a species of privet native to the southern half of China.-Growth:It is the largest species in the genus, growing as a tree up to 25 m tall...

, trad

Tradescantia fluminensis

Tradescantia fluminensis is a species of spiderwort native to South America. It is one of several plants known by the common name Wandering Jew. It is also known as River Spiderwort, Small-Leaf Spiderwort, Inch Plant, Wandering Trad and Wandering Willie.T...

, lantana

Lantana camara

Lantana camara, also known as Spanish Flag or West Indian Lantana, is a species of flowering plant in the verbena family, Verbenaceae, that is native to the American tropics. It has been introduced into other parts of the world as an ornamental plant and is considered an invasive species in many...

 and camphor laurel continue to be troublesome.

Richard Dalrymple-Hay, proposed that this forest area should be preserved, in the 1920s. The area was originally part of the hunting grounds of the Kuringgai

Kuringgai

Kuringgai is a name referring to an Indigenous Australian people of New South Wales....

 people. Dalrymple-Hay Nature Reserve is listed on the Register of the National Estate

Register of the National Estate

The Register of the National Estate is a listing of natural and cultural heritage places in Australia. The listing was initially compiled between 1976 and 2003 by the Australian Heritage Commission. The register is now maintained by the Australian Heritage Council...

.

Flora

180 native plants have been found in this reserve. Blackbutt

Eucalyptus pilularis

Eucalyptus pilularis, commonly known as Blackbutt, is a common and dominant tree of the myrtaceae family native to southeastern Australia. A large tree, it is identified by the stocking of rough bark, to about half way up the trunk, above this is white smooth bark. The leaves are a uniform glossy...

 is the dominant canopy species, other trees occurring include Sydney Blue Gum, Grey Ironbark

Eucalyptus paniculata

Eucalyptus paniculata is a common eucalyptus tree of eastern New South Wales, Australia. A dark trunked forest tree with grey furrowed bark. When in flower, the nectar is attractive to birds and insects, and is used in honey production.- Habitat :The natural range of distribution is high rainfall...

, Turpentine

Syncarpia glomulifera

Syncarpia glomulifera is a tree native to New South Wales and Queensland in Australia, which can grow to more than 30 metres in height...

 and Rusty Gum

Angophora costata

Angophora costata is a common woodland and forest tree of Eastern Australia and is known by a variety of names including smooth-barked apple, rose gum, rose apple or Sydney red gum. It grows primarily on sandstone soils, usually on headlands, plateaus or other elevated areas. A...

. Many of the Blackbutt are in excess of 40 metres tall. Interesting smaller plants include False Bracken

Calochlaena dubia

Calochlaena dubia, commonly known as soft bracken, false bracken, common ground fern or rainbow fern, is a small Australian fern in the treefern family Dicksoniaceae. It is very common within its range, and often seen growing under eucalyptus forest, often on the poorer quality soils...

, Maytenus

Maytenus silvestris

Maytenus silvestris is a shrub or small tree growing from Picton, New South Wales near Kroombit Tops, near Gladstone, Queensland . It occurs in dry rainforest, eucalyptus and rainforest ecotone areas...

, Downy Chance

Clerodendrum tomentosum

Clerodendrum tomentosum, known as the Downy Chance, Hairy Lolly Bush, or Hairy Clerodendrum is a shrub or small tree occurring in eastern and northern Australia. Distributed from Batemans Bay in southern coastal New South Wales to Cape York Peninsula at the northern most point of the continent...

 and Muttonwood.

Fauna

Ring-tail possums

Common Ringtail Possum

The common ringtail possum is an Australian marsupial. It lives in a variety of habitats and eats a variety of leaves of both native and introduced plants, as well as flowers and fruits. These dietary factors have, over time, aided burgeoning introduced populations in New Zealand...

, Sugar Glider

Sugar Glider

The sugar glider is a small gliding possum originating from the marsupial family.The sugar glider is native to eastern and northern mainland Australia and is also native to New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago.- Habitat :Sugar gliders can be found all throughout the northern and eastern parts of...

s, Brushtail possum

Brushtail possum

The brushtail possums are the members of the genus, Trichosurus, a genus of marsupial in the Phalangeridae family.It contains the following species:*Northern Brushtail Possum, Trichosurus arnhemensis...

s and Grey-headed Flying Fox

Grey-headed Flying Fox

The Grey-headed Flying-Fox, Pteropus poliocephalus, is a megabat native to Australia.Members of the genus Pteropus include the largest bats in the world. The Pteropus genus has currently about 57 recognised species....

es are common. Birds such as Rainbow Lorikeet

Rainbow Lorikeet

The Rainbow Lorikeet, is a species of Australasian parrot found in Australia, eastern Indonesia , Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. In Australia, it is common along the eastern seaboard, from Queensland to South Australia and northwest Tasmania...

s, Australian King Parrot

Australian King Parrot

The Australian King Parrot is endemic to eastern Australia. It is found in humid and heavily forested upland regions of the eastern portion of the continent, including eucalyptus wooded areas in and directly adjacent to subtropical and temperate rainforest...

s, Crimson Rosella

Crimson Rosella

The Crimson Rosella is a parrot native to eastern and south eastern Australia which has been introduced to New Zealand and Norfolk Island. It is commonly found in, but not restricted to, mountain forests and gardens. The species as it now stands has subsumed two former separate species, the Yellow...

s, Currawong

Currawong

Currawongs are three species of medium-sized passerine birds belonging to the genus Strepera in the family Artamidae native to Australasia. These are the Grey Currawong , Pied Currawong , and Black Currawong . The common name comes from the call of the familiar Pied Currawong of eastern Australia...

s, Variegated Wrens, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes, Superb Fairy Wrens and Silvereyes are some of the many birds found here.