The Florilegium: The Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney: Celebrating 200 Years

A major collection of contemporary botanical illustration. Forty-one Australian and twenty-three overseas artists have contributed by invitation one or more works of significant plants in the three Sydney botanic gardens. This collection is published to celebrate the bicentenary this year of the gardens. Lovely illustrations, very well-produced.

The illustrations were exhibited at the Museum of Sydney from July to October 2016, and at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at the RBG, Kew, during the first half of 2018.

Each of the 87 paintings has a full colour plate and is accompanied by a botanical description and text describing its place in the history of the Gardens through the collectors, the botanists, horticulturalists and directors, and to changing horticultural fashions. Examples of the vegetation that grew around Farm Cove in 1788 and those collected by the intrepid early superintendents Charles Fraser and Allan Cunningham represent the early part of the Garden’s history. Introductions under Charles Moore and J H Maiden form a significant part of the collection. The late 20th century scientific work at the Gardens and plants associated with the establishment of the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden at Mt Tomah and The Australian Botanic Garden, Mt Annan.Included is text about the florilegium society, an historical overview of the Gardens and biographies of the 64 artists and the authors.