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Category Archives: Botanical History
Winifred Curtis, matriarch of Tasmanian botany
As an ex-student in the School of Plant Science of the University of Tasmania, I was inducted through a training ground, a first year botany laboratory, which bore the name of Winifred Mary Curtis. Then later when my pursuit of … Continue reading
A meeting with the White Knights
It is common knowledge that the Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) is the worlds tallest flowering tree and that Tasmania has some of Australia’s tallest old growth forests. So magnificent are the Mountain Ashes that significant individuals have earned appellations such … Continue reading
Still here after 174 years, Wurmbea latifolia rediscovered
Had humans not implemented a system of recording in the form of herbaria or writing, we might never know what wondrous plants grew on the soils of Northwest Tasmania almost two centuries ago. It was 174 years ago in the … Continue reading
Posted in Botanical History, Threatened Plants
Tagged Colchicaceae, early nancy, Wurmbea latifolia
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Leonard Rodway, the founder of Tasmanian botany
A foray into the history of Tasmanian botany brought me to a website featuring what is perhaps the very first botanical-naturalist publication of Tasmania, a century old book titled Some Wildflowers of Tasmania (1910) by Leonard Rodway. I had learned … Continue reading
The globe on a stalk, Pleurophascum grandiglobum
When ardent students of mosses or bryologists traverse the globe to come to Tasmania, they will have, among the top candidates of their ‘to-see’ list, an `endemic Tasmanian moss. This is none other than Pleurophascum grandiglobum. Rest assured that this … Continue reading
Posted in Biogeography, Botanical Heritage, Botanical History, Bryophytes, Key Characters, Plant Morphology, Tasmanian Endemics
Tagged Bryophytes, buttongrass sedgeland, cleistocarpous, cleistocarpous mosses, endemic bryophytes, endemic mosses, Ferdinand von Mueller, mosses, Pleurophascaceae, Pleurophascum, Pleurophascum grandiglobum, Pleurophascum ocidentale, Pleurophascum ovalifolium, Robert Johnston, Sextus Otto Lindberg, von Mueller
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Tasmania’s iconic orphan: the Delicate Laurel (Tetracarpaea tasmannica)
The Blue Gum (Eucalyptus globulus), Tasmanian Waratah (Telopea truncata), Deciduous Beech (Nothofagus gunnii), Myrtle Beech (Nothofagus cunninghamii) and Pandani (Richea pandanifolia) are names that are often cited by plant enthusiasts and bushwalkers guidebooks as ‘must-sees’ of Tasmania. But these five … Continue reading
A database of Tasmanian tree ring study
Tasdendro goes live! The study of tree rings or dendrochronology is the scientific method of dating the age of trees based on the patterns of tree rings. The topic of tree rings is close to my heart, particularly given that … Continue reading
Posted in Botanical History, Botany, Trees
Tagged dendrochronology, tasdendro, tree ring study, tree rings
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Almost a flowering plant: the story of Gigaspermum repens
To the untrained eye it is possible to mistake certain flowering plants as mosses. Tasmania has a few examples, particularly some of the alpine bristleworts, which are small and turfed and even produce flowering stalks that superficially resemble moss capsules. … Continue reading
The Moss Mania exhibition
I finally managed to take the time out to pop down to the Morris Miller Library, UTAS, to have a good look at the Moss Mania exhibition. Unfortunately I had missed the launch of the exhibition due to sickness. The … Continue reading
Tasmanian plants 