Ord Victoria Plain

Ord Victoria Plain Australia
The interim Australian bioregions, with the Ord Victoria Plain in red
Area	125,407.03 km2 (48,419.9 sq mi)
Localities around Ord Victoria Plain: Northern Kimberley Victoria Bonaparte Daly Basin Central Kimberley Ord Victoria Plain Sturt Plateau Great Sandy Desert Tanami Tanami

The Ord Victoria Plain, an interim Australian bioregion, is located in the Northern Territory and Western Australia, comprising 12,540,703 hectares (30,988,750 acres).

The bioregion draws its name from the Ord River and the Victoria River.

This is an area of large plains of dry grassland lying between the Tanami Desert to the south and the wetter, greener grassland to the north towards the coast. Sandstone outcrops rise from the grassland, the most famous of which is the Bungle Bungle Range in Purnululu National Park. The grasslands have long been used for cattle grazing. The climate is wetter in the north (ave annual rainfall 1200mm) which receives some coastal monsoonal rain, and drier in the south (ave 600mm). The rainy season is between November and March and the whole area is almost completely dry for the rest of the year and the climate is hot with maximum temperatures between 25 °C and 35 °C year round.

The plain is largely covered with Mitchell grass scattered with bloodwood Eucalyptus / Corymbia trees, native bauhinia (Bauhinia cunninghamii) and large patches of lancewood acacia (Acacia shirleyi) woodland. The sandstone outcrops have thinner cover of eucalyptus over hummock grass or heathland scattered with Grevillea and Acacia trees. Riverine ecosystems around permanent water courses consist of paperbark (Melaleuca), river redgum (Eucalyptus) and river pandanus (Pandanus).