4 
The Queensland Naturalist 
Feb., 1942 
THE VEGETATION OF RUNNING CREEK VALLEY, 
SOUTH-EAST QUEENSLAND, AND SOME 
NEIGHBOURING AREAS. 
By S. T. Blake, M.Sc., Biology Department, 
University of Queensland. 
INTRODUCTION. 
Running Creek is a tributary of the Logan River, 
rising in the McPherson Range near the western edge of 
the Lamington Plateau, running approximately westward 
almost to Glenapp, where it turns approximately north, 
and finally discharges into the Logan River near Rath- 
downey. On the plateau it is composed of two branches, 
the North Branch and the South Branch. The South 
Branch was not studied, but it is said to descend from the 
plateau in a series of cascades; it joins the North Branch 
at a point whose altitude is 1,100 feet. The North Branch 
spills over the edge of the plateau in a magnificent fall 
300 feet high (Fig. 8), and shortly below the fall is joined 
by a small tributary, England Creek, which is also said 
to descend from the plateau in a series of cascades. From 
thence to Glenapp there are no tributaries other than small 
narrow shallow streams or gullies, which are often dry or 
only a string of waterholes. 
In the lower part of its course Running Creek is 
flanked' by a relatively broad alluvial plain largely given 
over to agriculture and dairying, but in the area studied, 
from about six miles upstream from Glenapp (altitude 
approximately 600 ft.) to the foot of the falls (altitude 
approximately 1,800 ft.), the valley is narrow, and in 
the upper part gorge-like (cf. Fig. 8) with steep or pre- 
cipitous sides. On the south the watershed is formed by 
the steep-sided McPherson Range which, varying in height 
from about 1,100 ft. at Richmond Gap to 2,400 ft. at Mt, 
Gipps, and perhaps higher further east, is only f-1} mile 
from the creek bed. The divide between the North and 
South Branches is apparently a tableland (an extension 
of the Lamington Plateau) of at least 2,000 ft. altitude, 
with very precipitous sides (this can be seen in the extreme 
background of Fig. 7). To the north, Running Creek is 
separated from Christmas Creek and its tributary, Chmg- 
hee Creek, bv a steep divide varying in altitude from 1,100 
to well above 2,000 ft., the crest of which varies from |-1 
mile from the creek bed. 
