Wildflowers of East Gippsland was recently launched to an enthusiastic crowd of East Gippsland Shire councillors, bush lovers, botanists, renowned authors and others passionate about East Gippsland’s native flora.
While wildflowers abound in East Gippsland, there hasn’t been a book to identify all the different species in the region, but this new has it covered.
Published by the Bairnsdale and District Field Naturalists Club, this book of 368 pages describes native flora observed by Bairnsdale field naturalists over many decades.
It covers species from the largest trees and shrubs to the smallest groundcovers and all are illustrated by hundreds of colour photographs.
Producing the book has been a 10-year voluntary project for two club members, James Turner and Jennifer Wilkinson.
“James has spent a lifetime studying the local flora and has accumulated an immense knowledge of where the different species grow, what their current and past names are, when they flower and how they are pollinated,” Jennifer said.
“This valuable information is way too important to lose and as a writer, I felt compelled to document James’ knowledge, and observations of mine and other Bairnsdale Field Naturalists, in the new book.”
Wildflowers of East Gippsland follows the club’s earlier publication, Orchids of East Gippsland which was first published in 2014.
Images included in the new wildflower book were taken by local photographers, and the text has been verified by Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria.
The species are described in family order, so like plants are grouped with like regardless of the name of the genus they belong to. This means all plants having a daisy flower are grouped under Asteraceae and all plants having a pea-type flower are grouped under Fabaceae, which makes identification easier.
Of course, the range of wildflowers doesn’t stop at East Gippsland’s boundary and so given similar habitat conditions, this book is highly relevant to neighbouring regions.
Having an altitude range from the alps to the sea, the whole of Gippsland abounds with a wide variety of environments that support a diversity of species.
Indeed the native flora of this region is worth celebrating.
It’s a precious resource scientifically as well as a special attraction for tourism, and most of all, it’s beauty abounds.
The authors hope that their new wildflower book will help to increase public a
ppreciation of local flora.
Wildflowers of East Gippsland is hard cover bound and can be ordered from the Bairnsdale and District Field Naturalists Club website and is available from local bookshops.
