The sheltered forest on transitional sandstone soils is an open forest or woodland dominated by eucalyptus trees with disjointed subcanopy trees, various shrub layer and a groundcover of ferns, forbs, grasses and graminoids, primarily on soft terrain, with slopes rarely surpassing 10°, and sandstone outcrops occur at parts, compared to areas within well-developed, precipitous gullies. The forest occurs in sheltered gullies and hillsides, on soils based on
Hawkesbury Sandstone with some clay influences, principally centred on Allenby Park in
Allambie Heights. It occupies areas that receive more than 1000mm of average annual rainfall. This is a fairly flat terrain with occasional slopes up to 10°. The sheltered forest been recorded in the local government areas of
Campbelltown,
Liverpool,
Georges River,
Hurstville,
Kogarah,
Sutherland,
Wollondilly and
Wollongong in the
Sydney Basin Bioregion with an extent of less than 45 000 ha, where it is bounded by Hurstville,
Carss Park,
Bundeena,
Otford,
Stanwell Tops, Darkes Forest, Punchbowl Creek and
Menai. ==Ecology==