In between the sheets

A new book of pictures by Robyn Stacey, one of Australia’s finest photographers, published by Cambridge University Press, is a first of its kind. Stacey, along with writer Ashley Hay, throws open the doors of the National Herbarium of New South Wales at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, to reveal the secret history of Australia’s flora. Herbarium tells the stories about the nature of collecting, those who collected, what they collected and when, and also provides the scientific background to each of the specimens photographed by Stacey. A list of botanical notes provides a unique link between the specimens and their collectors. Key to the establishment of this unique collection of specimens was J.H. Maiden who took over as head of Sydney’s Botanic Gardens in 1896. The gardens were in poor shape with a virtually non-existent herbarium, as the previous director had sent most specimens to England for classification. Maiden was well aware that the collection was missing the original specimens that had sparked Europe’s interest in the continent and its plants collected by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander during 1770, held in London. Maiden, however, made his own initial contribution. In his previous post at the Technological Museum in Sydney he had developed an impressive herbarium of many species of commercial interest. He brought some of his collection to the Botanic Gardens and was determined to build there a collection of outstanding importance. As Maiden saw it, a botanic garden could not function without the support of a rich herbarium. The scientific reputation he wanted to build for his institution depended on such support, and he planned a large reputation indeed. The only solution was to collect from the field and from other institutions. He wrote to Kew Gardens with the simple plea: “Will you help me?” He eventually decided to head for London himself and marvelled at the specimens held at the British Museum. But he thought it was time for some of these specimens to use ‘the return half of their ticket’ back to Australia. Turning to the department’s keeper, he begged for a few duplicates. “I will give you a few with pleasure when we distribute them,” the keeper said. Five years later a large parcel containing specimens of 586 species collected in 1770 arrived in Sydney. With these additions Maiden was now confident that his National Herbarium of New South Wales stood as one of the best herbaria in the world. I have transformed the Sydney Botanic Gardens ‘from a mere horticultural establishment, as I found it, to a botanical establishment in addition, and scientific men throughout the world now recognize Sydney as one of the principal botanical centers of the world’, he wrote. In between the sheets