The Endemic Flora of Tasmania
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The Endemic Flora of Tasmania was written by Dr Winifred Curtis with coloured lithographs by botanical illustrator, Margaret Stones.[1] It is a six-volume book that was commissioned by the 7th Baron Talbot of Malahide (1912-1973), an Irish peer, and published by the Ariel Press in 1967. Both Stones and Curtis worked alongside each other in Tasmania, Australia, studying the depths of Tasmanian Flora.
Tasmania was discovered during Captain Cook's voyages starting in 1772, and this is when Tasmanian Flora was first appreciated. During his first voyage, there is no historical evidence of his botanical collections, though, on his third voyage to Australia, the first plant collections from ‘The Island of van Diemen’ stemmed. This plant collection was gathered by David Nelson and William Anderson at Adventure Bay.[2]
Jacques Julien Houtou de Labillardiere, a French man joined one a voyage in search of La Perouse in 1800 made significant contributions to the discovery and development of Tasmanian Flora. Labillardiere collected flora, working alongside prisoners who would sketch black and white copper engravings of flora.[3]
In 1804, Robert Brown, a Scottish botanist and naturalist begun analysing the nucleus of a cell, and he also collected 700 species of dried Australian plants during his voyages with Cook.[4] Records of where Brown collected plants is brief, though it can be gathered that he was based at Risdon Cove and Sullivans Cove in Hobart,[5] alongside noting he made significant scientific developments, especially considering the context.
About The Endemic Flora of Tasmania
The Endemic Flora of Tasmania was written by Winifred Mary Curtis with paintings by Margaret Stones. Curtis was offered the chance to write ecological and descriptive notes that align with the paintings of Stones, all commissioned by Lord Talbot of Malahide. This book originally began as a book series with information of flora, called The Student's Flora of Tasmania, 1967, which evolved into The Endemic Flora of Tasmania. This original version of the book was written by Mary Winifred Curtis, working alongside Dr Gordon. Soon after beginning this project, Dr Gordon resigned from the task; this left Curtis to take on sole responsibilities.[6] At the time she was commissioned by Lord Talbot of Malahide, Curtis was also working at Kew Gardens in the early 1950s as an illustrator, where she was a major contributor to Curtis's Botanical Magazine. Her hard work developed into The Endemic Flora of Tasmania, working alongside Margaret Stones, with their book that includes 55 native plant illustrations, and 36 painted plates by Stones.
The first volume was published in 1967, the second volume in 1969, the third in 1971, the fourth in 1973, the fifth in 1978, and lastly, the sixth volume was published in 1978. Lord Talbot of Malahide commissioned the project, being a rare plant enthusiast and gardener; he particularly developed the gardens surrounding Malahide Castle, his family seat in the north of County Dublin on the east coast of Ireland. His Lordship also owned a large estate called Malahide in Tasmania itself. However, shortly after part IV was published, he died in 1973. His sister, Rose Maud Talbot, continued the project[7][8] The appendix, at the end of the book, completes all 6 parts with systematically listed endemic flora based on botanical family and genus[9] Within the appendix, there also is an alphabetical list of all the flora listed in the books. Heather Rossiter notes that these books provide a magnificent monument in honour of Lord Talbot who begun this significant project.[10] Winifred Mary Curtis and Margaret Stones took an active approach in developing their knowledge of Flora in Tasmania as they were often on field, collecting Fauna to explore. Source A shows the collecting case Curtis used when in the field, alongside source B showing the razor she used she to section plants.