Within the Kings Park bushland, three major plant communities are supported - limestone heathland; Banksia woodland with B. attenuata, B. grandis, B. menziesii and B. prionotes; and low moist areas with Banksia ilicifolia. Prior to European settlement, the Kings Park bushland would have been dominated by tall Tuart (Eucalyptus gomphocephala), Jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) and Marri (Corymbia callophylla) with Banksia species and Allocasuarina fraseriana sub-dominating.
Today the woodlands are often dominated by Banksia species, Allocasuarina fraseriana and Dryandra sessilis. There are 324 species of local native plants growing in the bushland, which represents about 15% of the native flora of the Perth Region. Of particular importance is the limestone escarpment. Only three relatively large areas of cliff-side vegetation, Kings Park, Blackwall Reach and Mt Henry can now be found along the Swan River. The mixed closed heaths of the escarpment contain a diverse and unique assemblage of shrubs, herbs, sedges and grasses normally associated with limestone heaths of nearer coastal areas. The mixed closed heaths in Kings Park are one of the most inland occurrences of these estuarine cliff communities and are contiguous with adjacent bushland areas.
'Perth Plants: a field guide to the bushland and coastal flora of Kings Park and Bold Park', by Russell Barrett and Eng Pin Tay, provides a comprehensive photographic guide to all plants known to occur in the bushlands of Kings Park and Bold Park, both native plants and naturalised weeds. This edition was published by the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority and is an essential reference for anyone interested in the plants of south-west Western Australia, and particularly the Swan Coastal Plain.