May Meeting - The Swan River Poison Plant Saga

May meeting: Thursday 14.

Time: 7.30pm

Speaker: Dr Neville Marchant – The Swan River Poison Plant Saga.

Venue: Senior Citizens Centre Busselton

Neville began his botanical career as a 15-year-old assistant to Charles Gardner, the WA Government Botanist. After completing a degree in Botany at UWA he taught at UWA. He then went on to study for a doctorate in plant classification at Cambridge, England.

Neville returned to the Western Australian Herbarium, eventually becoming its director until he retired. He spent a few years as an Honorary Research Fellow at Kings Park Botanic Garden.

In 2016 he was awarded a Medal of Australia for his service to conservation and the environment in Western Australia, to native plant taxonomy, and to research and education.

Neville’s talk will illustrate how James Drummond, who arrived at Swan River in 1829, coped with a strange, diverse flora that had evolved in virtual isolation over eons. The south west flora has developed a range of features to avoid being grazed, for example we have a very high number of toxic species. Native animals were able to eat these with impunity while valuable imported livestock such as sheep and cattle died.

Neville will present how the plant species responsible for the deaths of introduced stock were identified by Drummond, despite the unjustifiable criticisms he received from some fellow colonists.

This event is open to the public.