NATIVE / INDIGENOUS / ENDEMIC
These three terms are readily confused due to their broader use outside the ecological realm. In ecology, these terms have quite specific definitions.
Native: A native plant, sometimes referred to as an Australian native, is a species that occurs naturally in Australia. It may occur in one or more locations. For example, Kangaroo Paw Anigozanthos spp., are iconic Australian natives. They are naturally confined to the south-west of Western Australia. They do not naturally occur in the eastern states of Australia, however they are an Australian native. Some native species that have been planted outside their natural range, such as Cootamundra Wattle Acacia baileyana (from a small area in NSW), have become environmental weeds, spreading rapidly, competing with naturally occurring flora and hybridising with local species.
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Kangaroo Paw Anigozanthos spp. are native, but not naturally occurring outside W.A.
Indigenous: Indigenous plants are those that occur naturally within your local area. A walk within the Hepburn Regional Park, Wombat Forest, Creswick Regional Park or indeed patches of intact grassland on the roadsides in Clunes, will reveal scores of species that are indigenous within the Hepburn Shire. Indigenous species are well adapted to particular niches within the local landscape. They have lived and evolved side by side with the local wildlife and are often intimately associated with other fauna, flora and fungi within local ecosystems.
Endemic: An endemic species is one that naturally occurs ONLY within a specified area, nowhere else. For example, the Wombat Leafless Bossiaea Bossiaea vombata is a species endemic to the Wombat Forest, it is not known to occur anywhere else on earth. It is one of only a few flora species that are endemic to the local area.
Tall Sedge Carex appressa is indigenous to the Hepburn Shire region and is relatively common on wet soils and adjacent waterways. It is a critical food plant for the larvae of the rare Bright-eyed Butterfly which has been recently recorded in Daylesford and Trentham. Tall Sedge is also indigenous to many other regions around Australia.
Wombat Leafless Bossiaea, endemic to the Wombat Forest (image courtesy Gayle Osborne Wombat Forestcare)