Perhaps one of the biggest surprises of a trip to Australia's Outback is how green it can be. Most people can't believe that there are over 416 species of native plants in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park alone. The Aboriginal people have used the plant life of Central Australia for thousands of years to supplement their diet of native things as well as for medicines, weapons, clothing and shelter.
As its world heritage listing indicates, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park ‘contains unique, rare or superlative natural phenomena, formations and features’.
Anangu have, for centuries, divided the flora in the Park into a number of categories: Punu (trees), Puti (shrubs), Tjulpuntjulpunpa (flowers) and Ukiri (grasses).
Kurkara - Desert Oak
Wanari- Mulga
Kaliny - Kalinypa Honey Grevillea "Sweetshops"
Tjanpi - Spinifex "Spiky Donuts"
After heavy rains, small, tadpole-like crustaceans called shield shrimps (Triops australiensis) hatch in temporary waterholes and rock pools in the park.
When the water dries up, the shield shrimp eggs also dry up and can remain dormant for several years until the next big rainfall.