Early Tertiary Forest

During the first part of the Tertiary Period, Australia and Tasmania were warmer and wetter than they are today and the land surface was often covered in rainforest.  Plants that had survived the end of the Cretaceous populated these forests with a mixture of types that are not seen growing together today.  Conifers including Araucarians, Kauri, Huon and Celery-top Pines were common alongside ferns and flowering plants such as Nothofagus (Antarctic Beech) and members of the Proteaceae, and Winteraceae (Mountain Pepper) families. Over time the flowering plants became more dominant and whole new families such as Myrtaceae (Myrtles & Eucalypts) and Casuarinaceae (She-Oaks) began to appear.