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Fluted Cape State Reserve
| Source: |
Go to the Register of the National Estate for more information. |
| Identifier: |
11913 |
| Location: |
Adventure Bay |
Local
Government: |
Kingborough Municipality |
| State: |
TAS |
| Country: |
Australia |
Statement of
Significance: |
Spectacular dolerite cliffs reaching their maxium development at Fluted Cape. 274 metres almost sheer from the sea, the coastal scenery afforded by these cliffs has a high aesthetic value. Also associations with early navigators.
(The Commission is in the process of developing and/or upgrading official statements for places listed prior to 1991. The above data was mainly provided by the nominator and has not yet been revised by the Commission.) |
| Description: |
Fluted Cape is a massive dolerite cliff bounding the southern edge of Adventure Bay.
The cliffs rise sheer from the sea to 274 metres on the southern side, with a more gently sloping northern face sweeping down to Adventure Bay. Penguin Island is on the easterly tip of the place.
It is a rocky knoll rising to 67 m, separated by 100m of water although accessible across rocks at low tide.
The place includes a strip of land along the cliffline for some 25 kilometres to Pyramid Bay.
The Adventure Bay area has many historic associations and early botanical significance.
Furneaux anchored in Adventure Bay on March 11 1773 and named Penguin Island.
The type specimen of EUCALYPTUS CORDATA was collected on Penguin Island and named by botanist Labilladiere.
On January 26 1777 Captain James Cook anchored here and named, among other sites, Grass Point adjacent to Penguin Island where feed for the animals was collected. Tussocks of native POA spp. grass are still found at the point.
Botanists on the voyage collected plants in the area and named type specimens of several well-known plant species.
Although the precise sites are not known, it seems likely that these early botanists explored the nearby forests on the lower slopes of Fluted Cape.
The dramatic profile of Fluted Cape cliffs from the seaward side was painted by William Ellis, amateur artist and surgeon on Cook's voyage. This painting is now in the State Library of Victoria. The cliffs are a well-known and spectacular landmark from the seaward side as well as from other viewpoints in southern Tasmania.
The gentle slopes of the northern side of the Reserve are clothed in woodlands dominated by eucalypts. These are typically E. OBLIQUA/E. GLOBULUS blue-gum forest, with white peppermint E. PULCHELLA grassy woodland nearer the shoreline.
E. PULCHELLA is indicative of the underlying dolerite rocks of the place.
The coastal strip is she-oak (ALLOCASUARINA) forest with a sparse understorey.
The damp eucalypt forest extends right to the cliff-line on the exposed southern side, while the fissures in the dolerite cliffs on the shaded southern side provide pockets of suitable habitat for species usually associated with wet sclerophyll forest. All these vegetation communities contain a number of Tasmanian endemic plant species associated with coastal habitats. |
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