Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia, 87(2), June 2004 
Figure 1. Location of the study area and distribution the 54 quadrats along the Mt Manning Range (solid triangles). Most of the uplands 
(and the quadrats sampled) fall in an enclave of Unallocated Crown Land within the Mt Manning Nature Reserve. 
Interzone close to the border with the Murchison 
botanical region (Beard 1990). The Interzone is generally 
dominated by eucalypt woodlands and shrublands on 
yellow sandplains and it marks the transition in 
vegetation from the species-rich south west to the more 
arid communities of the desert regions. The Murchison 
region is dominated by mulga ( Acacia aneura) low 
woodlands. 
Beard (1972) described the major structural formations 
of the Jackson 1:250 000 sheet which lies immediately 
south of the Mt Manning Range. He consideres the Die 
Hardy vegetation system on the northern edge of that 
map sheet to be similar to that occurring on the banded 
ironstones of Mt Jackson and Koolyanobbing Range, but 
slightly different due to its lower rainfall. Brachychiton 
gregorii and Dryandra arborea are occasional trees on the 
range crest, with the northern slopes dominated by open 
scrubs of Acacia aneura , A. linophylla , A. acuminata , A. 
tetragonophylla and Dodonaea sp. The southern slopes 
support dense thickets of AUocasuarina acutivalvis and A. 
campestris with some acacias and eucalypts. 
Keighery et al. (1995) ascribe the vegetation of the Mt 
Manning Range to this vegetation system. They identify 
30 major structural vegetation units as occurring along 
the range. The ridges of the range support five structural 
units; Acacia aneura tall shrubland, Eucalyptus ebbanoensis 
mallee. Acacia quadrimarginea tall shrubland, Dryandra 
arborea tall shrubland, and AUocasuarina acutivalvis tall 
shrubland. The E. ebbanoensis mallee is a stunted version 
of the vegetation of the lower slopes. The two Acacia 
shrublands have similar composition but differing 
dominance and the Dryandra shrubland occupies lateritic 
patches on the ridge crests. Pure Acacia aneura low 
woodlands occur on lower slopes on deep colluvial soils 
while the valleys are dominated by Eucalyptus salubris 
and/or £. salmonophloia woodland or by Casuarina pauper 
(syn C. cristata) low woodland around the base of the Mt 
Manning Range and on small rises of greenstone on the 
plain. The surrounding sandplain is dominated by 
Eucalyptus formanii over Plectrachne rigidissima. 
The aim of the present work was to undertake a 
detailed floristic survey of the Mt Manning greenstone 
belt. This involved the compilation of a detailed flora list, 
and the description of the vegetation patterning of the 
area based on a series of permanently located quadrats. 
Methods 
Fifty-four 20 m x 20 m quadrats were established on 
Mt Manning Range, side slopes and outwash plains 
surrounding the range (Fig 1). These quadrats attempted 
to cover the major geographical, geomorphological and 
floristic variation found in the study area. Care was taken 
to locate quadrats in the least disturbed vegetation 
36 
