A specimen of the botany of New Holland
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Flora of Australia
The flora of Australia comprises a vast assemblage of plant species estimated to over 20,000 vascular and 14,000 non-vascular plants, 250,000 species of fungi and over 3,000 lichens...
. Written by James Edward Smith
James Edward Smith
Sir James Edward Smith was an English botanist and founder of the Linnean Society.Smith was born in Norwich in 1759, the son of a wealthy wool merchant. He displayed a precocious interest in the natural world...
and illustrated by James Sowerby
James Sowerby
James Sowerby was an English naturalist and illustrator. Contributions to published works, such as A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland or English Botany, include his detailed and appealing plates...
, it was published by Sowerby in four parts between 1793 and 1795. It consists of 16 colour plates of paintings by Sowerby, mostly based on sketches by John White
John White (surgeon)
John White was an English surgeon and botanical collector.White was born in Sussex and entered the Royal Navy on 26 June 1778 as third surgeon's mate. He was promoted surgeon in 1780, and was the principal surgeon during the voyage of the First Fleet to Australia...
, and around 40 pages of accompanying text. It was presented as the first volume in a series, but no further volumes were released.
The work began as a collaboration between Smith and George Shaw
George Shaw
George Shaw was an English botanist and zoologist.Shaw was born at Bierton, Buckinghamshire and was educated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, receiving his M.A. in 1772. He took up the profession of medical practitioner. In 1786 he became the assistant lecturer in botany at Oxford University...
. Together they produced a two-part work entitled Zoology and Botany of New Holland, with each part containing two zoology plates and two botany plates, along with accompanying text. These appeared in 1793, although the publications themselves indicate 1794. The collaboration then ended, and Shaw went on to independently produce his Zoology of New Holland. Smith's contributions to Zoology and Botany of New Holland became the first two parts of A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland, a further two parts of which were issued in 1795.
The following Australian plants were published in it:
- Billardiera scandensBillardiera scandensBillardiera scandens, commonly known as Apple Berry or Apple Dumpling, is a small shrub or twining plant of the Pittosporaceae family which occurs in forests in the coastal and tableland areas of all states and territories in Australia, apart from the Northern Territory and Western Australia...
- Tetratheca juncea
- Ceratopetalum gummiferumCeratopetalum gummiferumCeratopetalum gummiferum, the New South Wales Christmas Bush, is a tall shrub popular in cultivation due to its flowers that turn bright red-pink at around Christmas time...
- Banksia spinulosaBanksia spinulosaThe Hairpin Banksia is a species of woody shrub, of the genus Banksia in the Proteaceae family, native to eastern Australia. Widely distributed, it is found as an understorey plant in open dry forest or heathland from Victoria to northern Queensland, generally on sandstone though sometimes also...
(Hairpin Banksia) - Goodenia ramosissima, now Scaevola ramosissimaScaevola ramosissimaScaevola ramosissima known as the is a small shrub or climber in the family Goodeniaceae, native to south eastern Australia. The habitat is often near the sea, on poor sandy soils frequented by fire...
- Platylobium formosumPlatylobium formosumPlatylobium formosum, also known as Handsome Flat-pea, is a shrub which is endemic to Australia . It is a member of the family Fabaceae and of the genus Platylobium.-Description:...
- Platylobium parviflorum, now Platylobium formosum subsp. parviflorum (not figured)
- Embothrium speciosissimum, now Telopea speciosissimaTelopea speciosissimaTelopea speciosissima, commonly known as the New South Wales waratah or simply waratah, is a large shrub in the plant family Proteaceae. It is endemic to New South Wales in Australia and is the floral emblem of that state...
(New South Wales Waratah) - Embothrium silaifolium, now Lomatia silaifoliaLomatia silaifoliaLomatia silaifolia, commonly known as crinkle bush or parsley fern, is a shrub native to Australia.-Taxonomy:English botanist James Edward Smith first described this species as Embothrium silaifolium in 1793. At the time, Embothrium was a wastebasket taxon to which many proteaceae were assigned...
- Embothrium sericeum, now Grevillea sericeaGrevillea sericeaGrevillea sericea is a shrub endemic to New South Wales, Australia.-Description:It grows as a shrub from half a metres to two metres tall. It has angular, ridged branchlets and oval shaped leaves one to five centimetres long and two to nine millimetres wide.long, straight leaves from three to...
- E. s. var. minor, now Grevillea sericea
- E. s. var. major, now Grevillea speciosaGrevillea speciosaGrevillea speciosa, also known as Red Spider Flower, is a shrub which is endemic to New South Wales in Australia.-Description:This species is a shrub, growing up to 3 metres in height. Its leaves are narrow-obovate to round or elliptic to narrow-elliptic...
(Red Spider Flower) - E. s. var. angustifolia, now Grevillea linearifoliaGrevillea linearifoliaGrevillea linearifolia is a shrub endemic to New South Wales, Australia.-Description:It grows as an upright, open shrub from one to two or sometimes three metres high. It has angular, ridged branchlets and long, straight leaves from three to eleven centimetres long, and one to five millimetres...
- Embothrium buxifolium, now Grevillea buxifoliaGrevillea buxifoliaGrevillea buxifolia is a species of the family Proteaceae. It grows in coastal New South Wales, Australia. First described in 1793 by James Edward Smith, he gave the new species the name 'Embothrium buxifolium'. It is widely cultivated and contains a numbers of subspecies and cultivars...
(Grey Spider Flower) - Pimelea linifoliaPimelea linifoliaPimelea linifolia is an Australian shrub, variously known as Queen-of-the-bush and the Slender or Flax-leafed Riceflower. It is widespread throughout the south and east of the continent and is toxic to livestock....
- Pultenaea stipularis
- Eucalyptus robustaEucalyptus robustaEucalyptus robusta, commonly known as Swamp Mahogany, Swamp Messmate or Swamp Stringybark, is a tree native to eastern Australia.-Description:...
- Eucalyptus tereticornisEucalyptus tereticornisEucalyptus tereticornis is a species of tree native to eastern Australia.It has a great many common names, of which Forest Red Gum is perhaps the most widely known...
(not figured) - Eucalyptus capitellataEucalyptus capitellataEucalyptus capitellata, commonly known as Brown Stringybark, is a tree native to New South Wales, Australia.-Description:It grows as a tree up to 25 metres tall, with stringy red-brown bark, 10–17 centimetre long green leaves, and white or cream flowers clustered in inflorescences of from seven to...
(not figured) - Eucalyptus piperitaEucalyptus piperitaEucalyptus piperita, commonly known as Sydney Peppermint and Urn-fruited Peppermint, is a small to medium forest tree native to New South Wales, Australia.-Description:...
(previously published by Smith in White's 1790 Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales; not figured) - Eucalyptus obliquaEucalyptus obliquaEucalyptus obliqua, commonly known as Australian Oak, Brown Top, Brown Top Stringbark, Messmate, Messmate Stringybark, Stringybark and Tasmanian Oak, is a hardwood tree native to south-eastern Australia....
(previously published by Charles Louis L'Héritier de BrutelleCharles Louis L'Héritier de BrutelleCharles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle was an 18th century French botanist and magistrate. Born into an affluent upper-class Parisian family, connections with the French Royal Court secured him the position of Superindent of Parisian Waters and Forests at the age of twenty-six...
; not figured) - Eucalyptus corymbosa, now Corymbia gummiferaCorymbia gummiferaCorymbia gummifera, commonly known as Red Bloodwood, is a hardwood tree native to eastern Australia.-Description:It usually grows as a tree, but may take the form of a mallee in very poor soils. As a tree it typically grows to a height of 20 to 34 metres and a trunk diameter of one metre dbh....
(Unbeknownst to Smith, this had already been published by Joseph GaertnerJoseph GaertnerJoseph Gaertner was a German botanist, best known for his work on seeds, De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum ....
as Metrosideros gummifera) - Styphelia tubifloraStyphelia tubifloraStyphelia tubiflora, known as Red Five-corner is a shrub found in eastern Australia. The habitat is poor sandy soils, in dry eucalyptus forest or heathlands. It occurs in areas such as Sydney, Jervis Bay and the Blue Mountains.- Description :...
- Styphelia ericoides, now Leucopogon ericoidesLeucopogon ericoidesLeucopogon ericoides, commonly known as the Pink Beard-heath, is a common shrub found in southeastern Australia.In 1793 this species first appeared in scientific literature as Styphelia ericoides in A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland, published by James Edward Smith...
(not figured) - Styphelia strigosa, now Lissanthe strigosa (not figured)
- Styphelia scoparia, now Monotoca scoparia (not figured)
- Styphelia daphnoides, now Brachyloma daphnoidesBrachyloma daphnoidesBrachyloma daphnoides, commonly known as Daphne Heath, is a small shrub in the heather family, Ericaceae. The species has an upright habit, growing to between 0.4 and 1.5 metres in height. The leaves are 4 to 15 mm long and 1.7 to 3.6 mm wide. These are glossy green above and paler underneath...
(not figured) - Styphelia lanceolata, now Leucopogon lanceolatusLeucopogon lanceolatusLeucopogon lanceolatus the Lance Beard-heath is a common shrub found in eastern Australia. Found on a variety of soil types and habitats in eucalyptus woodland or forest. However, it is rare in Tasmania.Two sub-species are recognised; var...
(not figured) - Styphelia elliptica, now Monotoca ellipticaMonotoca ellipticaMonotoca elliptica, known as the Tree Broom Heath is a plant in the heath family, found in south-eastern Australia. A long lived species which may grow for more than a hundred years....
(not figured) - Mimosa myrtifolia, now Acacia myrtifoliaAcacia myrtifoliaAcacia myrtifolia, known colloquially as Myrtle Wattle or Red-stemmed Wattle, is a species of Acacia native to Australia. Its specific epithet 'myrtle-leaved' is derived from the Latin myrtus 'myrtle', and folium 'leaf'. It is a small shrub 0.3–3 m in height, and 2–3 m spread...
- Mimosa hispidula, now Acacia hispidula