Duffys Forest Ecological Community in the Sydney Basin is an open-forest or woodland that occurs in association with shale lenses and lateritic soils. Floristic composition and structural diversity is now influenced by the size of the area due to the loss and fragmentation of this community through previous land clearing for farming and urban development.

This vegetation community is dominated by Corymbia gummifera (red bloodwood), Eucalyptus sieberi (Black ash), Angophora costata (Sydney red gum) and Eucalyptus capitellata (brown stringybark). Shrubs and smaller trees in the Duffys Forest community include Grevillea caleyii (Caley’s grevillea), Zylomelum pyriforme (woody pear) and Ceratopetulum gummiferum (Christmas bush), Persoonia hirsuta (hairy geebung), Tetratheca glandulosa (glandular pink-bell), Pimelia curviflora var. curviflora (curved rice flower), and Epacris purpurascens (Port Jackson heath).

Duffys Forest can be found on ridgetops, plateaus and upper slopes on the Northern Beaches and is in bushland reserves and road verges in Terrey Hills, Duffys Forest, Frenchs Forest, Allambie Heights, Seaforth and Bilgola Plateau.

Image © Ben Fallowfield