Join APS NSW for our quarterly gathering hosted by the Menai Wildflower Group and Sutherland Group.
Presentation: The incredible flora of southwestern WA.
Thomas Mesaglio, iNaturalist Australia Site Admin (Australia) and PhD candidate at the UNSW will present a summary of a trip that he and two mates undertook to South Western Australia in July 2022, where they took a combined 75,000 photographs and documented over 1,000 plant species. Thomas will present a summary of the trip and introduce us to the incredible flora of southwestern WA.
Southwestern Western Australia is one of the great flora diversity hotspots both in
Australia and globally, with thousands of plant species occurring in the region, many of them endemic. Many familiar east coast genera such as Conospermum, Drosera and Banksia have tenfold as many species occurring in southwestern WA, and there are also many unusual genera that only occur on the west coast, such as Verticordia, Anigozanthos and Synaphea.
Program
9:30 am to 12:00 pm: Guided Walk -The Glen Bushland Reserve, Bonnet Bay
Meet at Bonnet Bay Public School, 34R Tudar Road, Bonnet Bay
Join members for a guided walk through Glen Reserve, starting in dry Sydney sandstone country and following a creek through paperbark forest down to the mangroves in the tidal reaches of Bonnet Bay.
12:00 to 1:00 pm: Lunch
Bring your own lunch and enjoy time with other members at the Illawong Rural Fire Station, where the afternoon session will be held.
Lunch can also be purchased nearby at Menai Marketplace or Illawong shops.
Native plants will be available for sale.
1:00 to 1:30 pm: APS NSW Annual General Meeting
1:30 to 2:30 pm: Guest Talk
Thomas Mesaglio (iNaturalist Australia, UNSW) will speak on the flora of south-west Western Australia, one of the world’s major biodiversity hotspots.
2:30 to 3:30 pm: Afternoon Tea
Location
Illawong Rural Fire Station
999 Old Illawarra Road
Illawong NSW 2234
AGM Documents
Important Dates
Board nominations close: Friday 24 April 2026
Proxy forms due: Friday 1 May 2026
Financial questions due: Friday 1 May 2026
Please send nominations, proxy forms, and any financial questions to:
office@austplants.com.au
All welcome. No cost.
