[Taxacom] Announcement - New Book Austral- Biological Information

[Roberta Cowan]

Now available

Australian Botanist's Companion

by Alex George

A gold mine for those working or interested in Australian natural history, with information on standard texts and sources, current and historical data, placenames, people, expedition ships, and much more.

The largest section gives concise biographical data (where known) on 2,600 or so people who collected plants and other specimens in Australia up to the year 1900.

Published July 2009 by Four Gables Press, Western Australia.

671 pages, B5, casebound

Price     $77.00 including GST        Packing and postage in Australia      $13.00

For postage (surface and air) to other countries, please email  <mailto:ageorge at central.murdoch.edu> a.george at murdoch.edu <mailto:a.george at murdoch.edu.au> .au 

Payment by cheque or money order, made out to A.S.George, or direct deposit by prior arrangement


Orders to 


Alex George, 'Four Gables', 18 Barclay Road, Kardinya, Western Australia 6163

Phone  08 9337 1655   email  <mailto:ageorge at central.murdoch.edu> a.george at murdoch.edu <mailto:a.george at murdoch.edu.au> .au 

 

Australian Botanist's Companion is a reference book on the history and sources of information especially relevant to the systematics of plants in Australia (including its offshore territories).  Although aimed at the botanist it will be useful for all biologists, having pulled together data also from many zoological, geological and related sources.  It gives the main published and electronic references for such topics as plant classification, plant names, uses of Australian plants (e.g. toxic plants), weeds and traditional usage.  It also gives the main references for associated subjects such as geology, soils, vegetation and climate.  It has bibliographies of the most important botanical references including major journals.  There is a brief history of each Australian botanical institution (botanic gardens and herbaria).  There are lists of International Botanical Congresses since 1864, Australian Botanical Liaison Officers at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the Australian national and State floral and faunal emblems, and those who have received honours of various kinds or been commemorated in memorials, in recognition of botanical work.  Another section gives advice on placenames and the foundation of the Australian States and Territories.  Contact details are given for relevant government departments, clubs and societies and Australian universities.  Advice is given on writing and publishing.

The largest section lists the names of all people who collected plants specimens in Australia and its territories between 1699 and 1900.  Many of these also collected other biological and geological specimens.  Where the information could be found, brief biographical details are given for each collector.  The list contains some 2600 names and will be useful to anyone interested in early settlers and explorers.

Finally, there is a list, with concise details, of all ships that carried scientific expeditions or natural history collectors and passed through Australian waters, from Dampier's HMS Roebuck of 1699 to the present.

 

 

Australian Botanist's Companion 

Contents

Foreword...............................................................................................................          7

Acknowledgments................................................................................................         8

Notes on the text..................................................................................................         10

Abbreviations, contractions and symbols.........................................................     11

1  Standard texts and sources..............................................................................       15

Dictionaries......................................................................................................         15

General reference............................................................................................         16

Bibliographic works and catalogues.............................................................      16

Botanical theses from Australian universities.............................................     18

Herbarium curation.........................................................................................        18

Botanical terminology.....................................................................................        18

Traditional plant usage....................................................................................       20

Toxic plants.......................................................................................................        21

Weeds.................................................................................................................         22

Plants for the garden........................................................................................       23

Botanical art......................................................................................................         24

Colour charts....................................................................................................        24

Chemicals..........................................................................................................         25

History of Australian plant systematics.........................................................     25

Archival sources...............................................................................................        26

Zoology.............................................................................................................         26

International Working Group on Taxonomic Databases standards....... 27

2  Plant names........................................................................................................         31

Codes of nomenclature...................................................................................       31

Bionomenclature..............................................................................................        32

Starting dates for valid publication of biological names.............................  32

Authors of plant names...................................................................................      32

International plant lists....................................................................................       33

Australian plant lists.........................................................................................       37

Common names...............................................................................................       39

The meaning of plant names; botanical Latin.............................................    40

3  Geology, fossil record, soil, climate, vegetation...........................................     41

Geology..............................................................................................................        41

The fossil record...............................................................................................       46

Soil.......................................................................................................................         50

Climate................................................................................................................        51

Vegetation..........................................................................................................        52

4  Institutions, organisations, societies................................................................     53

Herbaria, botanic gardens................................................................................      53

Australian Systematic Botany Society............................................................ 105

Other organisations.......................................................................................... 112

Australian universities.....................................................................................  115

5  Miscellany............................................................................................................ 120

International Botanical Congresses...............................................................  120

Australian Botanical Liaison Officers...........................................................  122

Honours and memorials for Australian botanists.......................................  124

Floral and faunal emblems.............................................................................  135

6  On writing, editing, publishing........................................................................  139

Editing................................................................................................................ 143

Indexing.............................................................................................................  147

Legal deposit copies........................................................................................  147

7  Bibliographies            ....................................................................................................  148

8  Geographical information................................................................................ 215

Australia and its political divisions...............................................................  216

Dates of declaration of the States and Territories...................................... 217

Oceanic Territories.......................................................................................... 219

New Zealand..................................................................................................... 221

New Guinea...................................................................................................... 221

Biogeographic divisions in States and Territories....................................... 222

Placenames........................................................................................................ 223

Difficult spellings, duplicate, similar and unofficial names....................... 229

Distances and directions................................................................................. 243

Placenames in other countries....................................................................... 246

9  Plant collecting licences................................................................................... 248

10  Plant collectors to 1900................................................................................. 249

First collections in Australia.......................................................................... 250

Chronological list............................................................................................ 251

Alphabetical list............................................................................................... 259

11  Expedition and survey ships......................................................................... 611

References.............................................................................................................. 638

Index....................................................................................................................... 668