The partly fenced area in the centre of Victoria Park / Pakapakanthi contains unusual remnant native grasses, which provide habitat for a rare species of butterfly.
The native grasses here have survived in this small patch, despite more than 185 years of European settlement. They include species such as Spear grass, Early Nancy, Tiny Star, and Garland Lily. This is one of the very last places on the Adelaide plains where these remnant native grass species have survived.

The South Park Lands Creek traverses the width of the southern Park Lands, from Victoria Park (Park 16) across the neighbouring Parks to the west: Parks 17, 18, 19, and 20.
The creek is not a natural watercourse but an artificial drainage channel that was built in 1917 to channel water away from the Greenhill Road – Fullarton Road intersection, and through the South Park Lands.
The wetlands, opened in May 2022, include interpretive and education facilities, boardwalks and a range of nature play and recreation opportunities. Native plants have been restored to a widened creek bed.

The urban woodland in the south of Victoria Park was originally mapped as a reserve, Park 16A, that was separate to the racecourse precinct of Victoria Park.
Way back in 1889 this urban woodland (in what was then Park 16A) was the site of the inaugural Arbor Day in Australia. This was a predecessor to the Landcare movement. The first Arbor Day featured a massive communal act of tree planting.
About 5,000 schoolchildren were involved in a march from Victoria Square to this site in Park 16A, They were accompanied by the Police Band. Today, this woodland undoubtedly includes some of the trees that were planted by schoolchildren on that day in 1889, as well as many others that were planted later.

Running along the eastern side of Victoria Park adjacent to Fullarton Road, is an impressive line of thirty or more River Red Gum trees, along with many old olive trees
Some of the trees in this avenue (both red gums and olives) date from before 1880.