Cliff Beauglehole (1920 – 2002) – Botanical Collector Beyond Belief

Join us on Saturday 28th February at Gumnut Hall, Cherrybrook for an informative talk and
slideshow by APS Parra-Hills member and former President Tony Maxwell.

Cliff was a farmer and self-taught botanist from Western Victoria. Motivated by a conservation ethic he botanically surveyed and mapped all of Victoria. His monumental efforts in this task are unsurpassed – worldwide. In addition, the quality of his work is at the highest level. This talk will examine how his work informs the current plan to map native plant distributions across all of South East Australia.

World attention is now increasingly focused on plant distribution and diversity – climate
change and biodiversity loss are important issues for all of us. At the international level the
World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP) with plant distributions at country level has just
been published. To facilitate conservation efforts, we need distributions at finer geographical levels.

The South East Australia work increases the focus at finer scales and further focus at very fine local scales will also be needed. The work is time consuming an accuracy is paramount. Cliff’s work is invaluable for the Victorian part of that equation. His surveys across all of Victoria between 1970 and 1990, his unbelievable tally of voucher specimens and his published books are an unparalleled resource.

The Australian Plant Society (APS) has several pillars – one of those is Conservation. We have a network of District Groups that cover most landscapes. We have teams of people passionate about native plants and keen to preserve them. If we harness the work of people like Cliff we have a good chance of achieving our aims.

Please come to this talk and check out our plans to move forward.

Location of Gumnut Hall

Gumnut Hall, Gumnut Place, Cherrybrook.

Gumnut Hall is at the closed end of Gumnut Place, a side street off Gumnut Road, Cherrybrook. On weekdays this hall is used by Cherrybrook Community Preschool, so on maps it is often referred to by this name. Gumnut Place is narrow and winding, and parking is limited, so it is best to use any parking space you see, and walk the short distance to the hall. Gumnut Road is much larger and parking is easier.