Daintree Rainforest By: Eileen Wu

The Daintree The Daintree is a tropical rainforest in Queensland, Australia. It is listed as a World Heritage Area, and has over 700 species of plants and animals that can only be found there. Mammals, such as tree kangaroos, bats and tropical bettongs live in the Daintree. Birds, including the cassowary, also live in the Daintree. Some of the reptiles in the forest include snakes, crocodiles, geckos and lizards. Frogs are amphibians that live in the Daintree. Rainbow fish are freshwater fish that can also be found there.

Ferns In the Daintree there are approximately 40 species of ferns that are only found there. Ferns are an unique plants called vascular plants which means they circulate water internally. Some of these are : King fern : This fern grows by spreading out on the ground, resembling a palm. It has the longest fronds ( the leaves of ferns ) of any fern in the world. Tree fern : This has a narrow trunk and long fronds. This fern has been around for millions of years. Tassel fern : There are two varieties of the tassel fern. One grows on other plants and the other grows on the ground.

Palms Palms first came from India. They have been in Australia, however, for millions of years. Fan palm : The fan palm thrives in the wet season, and loves muddy flooded areas. This palm can grow up to six metres tall and can have a diameter of four metres. Wait - a - while palm : This palm is a climbing palm that has sharp hooks. Water that we can drink is found in the stems of this palm. The Daintree is home to many different plants and animals. Many of the species are endemic to the rainforest, which means they can only be found here.

Conifers The Daintree has six types of conifer and one of these is the biggest in the world. Bull kauri : This is the biggest conifer in the world. It is one of six species of conifer in the north Queensland rainforest. Two very tall bull kauri can be seen in the Daintree today. One of them measures 41.5 metres in height and the other is 44.2 metres. See image 2 Bunya pine : The bunya pine can grow up to 40 metres in height. This plant has sharp leaves that are very stiff. Plum pine : This pine produces seeds that look like plums.

Bibliography  Websites used : http :// www. skwirk. com / p - c_s - 1 _u -20 _t -205 _c - 688/ nsw / hsie / global - environments - rainforests / flora - and - fauna / the - daintree - a - tropical - rainforest  Images from : Google images Made by : Eileen Wu