Millman, Susan 44
Molloy, Georgiana 221
Montfort, Annie 343
Moore, Grace 53
Morris, Myra 248
Nabokov, Vladimir 249–253
Nicholls, William 161, 193
Noonuccal, Oodgeroo 274, 291
O’Connell, Thomas F. 254
O’Dowd, Bernard 247, 337
Oliver, Mary 259–261
Page, Walter Hines 245, 248
Palmer, Nettie 166, 307
Paterson, Andrew Barton (Banjo) 337
Peggie, Loris 31
Peggie, Mabel (Mabel Roberts) 128
Pelloe, Emily 217, 227
Pescott, Edward 136
Pitt, Marie E. J. 159
Playne, Moira 159, 160, 281, 326
Poe, Edgar Allan 253
Poulton, Edward Bagnall 190, 191
Pouyanne, Maurice-Alexandre 182–185, 187, 191, 195, 196
Prichard, Katharine Susannah 214, 308
Quiller-Couch, Arthur 248
Rayment, Tarlton 153, 181, 185, 193, 194
Rees, Bertha 132
Rentoul, Annie R. 130
Richardson, Henry Handel 128, 308, 343, 344
Robertson, Enid 356
Rodwell, Grant 73, 74
Rogers, Richard Saunders 100, 146, 166, 177, 178, 189, 190–193, 196, 197, 316, 317, 326
Rowan, Marian Ellis (Ellis) 130, 248, Rowe, Mr 225, 228, 342
Rupp, Herman Montague Rucker 161, 175–178, 197, 304, 318, 319, 381
Saleeby, Caleb Williams 73
Scammel, George V. 211
Scouler, Ethel 326
Serle, Dora 269
Shakespeare, William 35, 37, 71, 127, 246, 247, 253, 347
Sharp, Nonie 276
Shelley, Mary 306
Shelley, Percy 247, 306
Shirlow, John 269
Smith, Gerard 181
Snodgrass, Jane 47
Snow, Charles P. 255
Spence, Caroline Helen 307
Spence, Elizabeth 82, 83
Sproule, Mary 126
Strayed, Cheryl 308
Steel, A. W. 118, 126
Stevens, Alexander G. 248
Stevenson, Robert Louis 132, 246, 247
Strehlow, Carl 288, 289
Stuart, Frank 97
Sweet, Georgina 130, 132, 314
Tate, Frank 71, 72, 83, 307
Taylor, Irene Frances 166
Tennant, Kylie 353
Tennyson, Alfred Lord 336
Thackeray, William 20, 246
Thaxter, Celia 321, 322
Thomson, Donald xi, 27, 159, 269, 270, 275–281, 282, 326, 327
Thomson, John xi, 3–5, 27, 107, 158, 281, 282, 343, 345
Thomson, Peter xi, 3–5, 27, 97, 107, 158, 172, 246–248, 258, 278, 281, 282, 293, 343, 345, 366, 367
Thoreau, Henry 30, 100, 244, 245, 260, 308, 320, 321, 323, 324
Tickner, Jane 28
Tillyard, Robin J. 181, 183, 193
Trollope, Anthony 53, 247
Tredinnick, Mark 274
Turner, John 314, 315, 374
Wallace, Alfred Russel 258
Webb, Jessie 315
Wells, Herbert George (H. G.) 11, 105, 246, 248, 258
Wheeler, William Morton 194
White, Gilbert 5, 29, 30, 147, 245, 323
Whitfield, Jessie 130
Whitford Hazel, W. 286, 293
Wilde, Oscar 247
Williamson, Herbert B. 197
Willis, James A. 373, 374
Wordsworth, William 247
Wright, Clare 309
Wright, Judith 274
Young, Lynette 31, 224, 225
Index of species
(Names are listed in the form used in Edith’s work. Some updated species names are provided.)
Acacia (wattles) 72, 78, 81, 94, 219, 227, 249, 288, 299, 326, 333, 339, 357; A. baileyana (Cootamundra wattle) 333; A. pycnantha (golden wattle) 358; A. terminalis (cedar wattle) 377; desert oak 299; early wattle 117; lightwood 81; mulga 297, 299; prickly Moses 81
Acianthus caudatus (mosquito orchid) 146
Acridopeza reticulata (mountain grasshopper or Sorrento flea) now Acripeza reticulata 4, 345, 346
Ageratum 15
Aeonium cuneatum (sempervivum or houseleeks) 151, 152, 336
angelica 341, 375
arum lily 227
asparagus fern 227
bandicoot 281
banksia 227, 228, 231, 237, 372
Bassia (goathead or amaranth) 299
bear’s-foot (hellebore) 35
bee-wasp (Dasyscolia ciliata) 184
bee fly (Bombyliidae) 152
beetle 59, 119, 175, 201, 330
berberry (Berberis or barberry) 35
billy-button (Craspedia) 265
bitter pea (Daviesia) 120
blackberry 127, 356, 391
blackbird 354, 385
blue-banded bee 317
bluebell 79, 264
blue nemesis 228
blue-tongue lizard (Tiliqua) 4
boar (Sus) 270, 280
bridal creeper 356
broom honey myrtle (Melaleuca uncinata) 220
buck bush (saltbush Salsola australis) 299
budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulates) 4, 266, 387
buttercup 34, 259, 265
butterfly 20, 149, 250; Lycaenid (blues) 249–250
butterfly–ant association 249–250
Caladenia (spider orchids) 146, 169, 177; C. cretacea (white spider)* 82; C. cruciformis (red spider)* 82; C. excelsa (spider)* 219; C. dilatata var. rhomboidiformis (green comb or diamond spider orchid) 176; C. integra (smooth lipped) 176; C. longiclavata (clubbed spider) 176; C. tentaculata (king spider) 200; C. versicolor (pink spider)* 82 *also classified as Arachnorchis
calamus (Acorus calamus or sweet flag) 3
Calochilus (bearded orchids) 188; C. imberbis (naked beard), 190; C. robertsonii (purplebeard) 189; brownbeard 188, 264
camel, 286; ‘Wheelie’ 284, 286
candytuft, giant (Iberis) 228
carnation (Dianthus) 228
canola (rapeseed Brassica) 351
capeweed (Arctotheca calendula) 356
Cardium tenuicostatum (thin-ribbed cockle) 238, 345
case moth (Psychidae) 164
cassowary (Casuarius casuarius) 290
cattle 4, 19–20, 55, 65, 286, 298, 348–350
Ceanothus 347
Chiloglottis diphylla (twin leaf bird orchid) 148; C. gunnii 136
chocolate lily (Dichopogon strictus) 264
Christmas bush, Victorian (Prostanthera lasianthos) 81
clematis, native or supplejack (Clematis aristata) 81
common heath (Epacris impressa) 326
coral tree (Erythrina) 227
correa (Correa) 52, 265
Corysanthes (helmet orchids), 265; fringed red helmet (Corysanthes fimbriata) 87, 148
cotton palm 227
cowslip (Primula veris) 34–35
crested shrike-tit (Falcunculus frontatus) 119
crow, Torresian (Corvus orru) 280
Crowea angustifolia 212
Cryptostylis (tongue orchids) 161, 186, 187; bonnet (C. erecta) 188; pink fairy or small tongue (C. leptochila) 178, 179, 186, 195, 204; slipper (C. ovata) 188, 213; duck or large tongue orchid (C. longifolia now subulata) 119, 187
currant, flowering 16
cuscus (Spilocuscus maculatus) 290
cuttlefish (Sepia) 238, 345
Cyrtostylis reniformis (small gnat orchid) 146, 165, 265
daffodil 235, 326, 327
dandelion 34, 259, 348
date palm 227
delphinium 3
Diuris orchids; donkey (D. pardina) 119, 146, 174, 200; bulldog (D. orientis) 200; doubletail (D. colemanae now D. tricolor) 176, 264
dragonfly 49
dunnart, fat-tailed (Sminthopsis crassicaudata), 4, 115
easter daisy 329
ec
hidna, short-beaked (Tachyglossus aculeatus) 12, 305, 311, 383; ‘Stickles’ 4, 301, 309, 310; ‘Prickles’ 310
Echium plantagineum (Paterson’s curse or Salvation Jane) 353, 356
egret (Ardea) 124
emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) 290
emperor gum moth 89, 143
Eriochilus cucullatus (parson’s bands orchid) 319
Eucalyptus, blue gum 78; E. camaldulensis (river red gum) 273; E. botryoides (Bangalay) 359; E. caesia (silver princess) 66; ghost gum 286; grey box 377; ironbark 9, 122, 135, 377; karri 361; manna gum 81, 294; mountain ash 81; peppermint gum, 7; sugar gum 359; stringybark 81, 122, 135, 172, 173, 330
everlasting or paper daisies 210, 265
fairy wren, superb or blue wren (Malurus cyaneus) 52, 119, 237, 385, 386
fantails (Rhipidura), grey or white-shafted (R. albiscapa) 119, 385; rufous (R. rufifrons) 119
ferns (Pteridophyta), bracken 95, 237; maidenhair 81, 227; rock fern 81; sword fern 227; tree fern 81, 87, 95
finch, Darwin’s (Thraupidae) 316; gold (Carduelis carduelis) 386; green (Carduelis chloris) 237
firefly (Lampryridae) 59
fireweed (Senecio madagascariensis) 345
flathead, rock (Platycephalus laevigatus) 311
flat spurge or red soldiers (Chamaesyce drummondii) 298
flax 338, 339
foxglove 3
fringed lily (Thysanotus tuberosus) 265
fruit fly (Drosophila) 156
fruit trees 48, 120, 127, 223, 230, 348–350; apple 4, 18, 284, 330, 335, 350; apricot 127, 350; fig 4, 7, 127, 350; mulberry 127, 309; plum 4, 127
fuchsia 3, 7, 380, 390
fungi 81, 119, 204, 220, 326; bracket 81, 119; Dermocybe austroveneta 81; Ramariopsis crocea 81; Boletus protentosus 350; mycorrhizal 220–221
Glossodia major (waxlip orchid) 200
golden whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis) 237
golden orb-weaver spider (Nephila edulis) 155–157
gorse 356
gooseberry 35
grass, blady (Imperata cylindrica) 352; lady’s-hair 264; mulga (Aristida contorta) 299; shell 264; quaking 356; tussock 265
grass tree (Xanthorrhoea) 231, 264
grevillea (Grevillea) 164, 219, 228, 326
grey shrike-thrush (grey or harmonious thrush) Colluricincla harmonica 119, 385
hawk moth (Sphingidae) 15, 330
hazel (Pomaderris aspera) 81
heath (vegetation type) European 26, 35, 259 Australian 52, 167, 256, 265
heart-urchin (Spatangoida) 345
herbs (various) 3, 34, 35, 120, 127, 136, 259, 322, 347, 348, 386
hermit crab (Paguridae), 40, 238
holly 35
hollyhock 3, 137
honeyeaters (Meliphagoidae), New Holland (Phylidonyris novaehollndiae) 389–390; painted (Grantiella picta) 378; regent (Xanthomyza phrygia) 390, 404; singing (Lichenostomus virescens) 378; spine-billed or Eastern spinebill (Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris) 387, 390; white-plumed (Lichenostomus penicillatus) 385
honey possum (Tarsipes rostratus) 219
honeysuckle 35
horse 18, 99, 102, 107, 270, 280, 340, 351; ‘Dandy’, 349
hoverfly (Syrphidae) Eristalis tenax 153; Simosyrphus grandicornis 153
huntsman spider (Isopedia now Holoconia immanis) 164
hydrangea 3, 145
Indigofera 338
iris 120, 235, 264
ivy 16, 28, 121, 173
jellyfish 345
jilgie (yabby) (Cherax) 227, 311
kangaroo paw (Haemodoraceae) 222, 228, 389–391
lad’s love 34
‘Lady’s leg’ creeper 228
Lathyrus pubescens (blue climbing pea) 145, 380
lavender 3, 16, 34
Leptospermum 348
leucopogon 227
lichen 81
‘lilium convallium’ (lily of the valley) 35
linden tree 17
Lissopimpla semipunctata (ichneumonid or orchid dupe wasp) now Lissopimpla excelsa 161, 180, 186, 195, 196, 204, 213
lotus plant (Lotus berthelotii) 390
magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen) 238, 386
marigold 3, 228
marri (Corymbia formerly
Eucalyptus) 359
mice 4, 311
milkmaids (Burchardia umbellata) 200
milkweed 391
millipede, Portuguese (Ommatoiulus moreleti) 352
mistletoe 12, 117, 288, 377, 378, 383; grey (Amyema quandang) 377
mistletoebird (Dicaeum hirundinaceum) 363, 378
Monadenia bracteata (now Disa bracteata) weedy leek orchid 355–357
Moreton Bay fig or banyan (Ficus macrophylla)
moss 80, 81
mulberry, white 78
mulga oats (Monachather paradoxus) 214
musk tree (Olearia argophylla) 81, 136
mynah (Acridotheres tristis) 354
nardoo (Marsilea drummondi) 290, 291
nasturtium 228
numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus) 219
oak 78, 261, 359
onion weed 356
Ophrys (bee orchids) 183; bee orchid (O. apifera) 26, 181; fly orchid (O. insectifera), 26; sombre bee orchid (O. fusca) 184; yellow bee orchid (O. lutea) 184; mirror orchid (O. speculum) 184
Orchis (old world orchids); early purple orchid (O. mascula) 26; frog orchid (O. viride, now Coeloglossum viride) 181; lizard orchid (O. hircinum now Himantoglossum hircinum) 181
pandanus palm 288, 289
parakeelya (Calandrinia) 286, 298
parrot 312, 350, 378
paulownia tree 200
periwinkle 35
petunias 3, 15
phasmid or stick insect (Phasmatodea) 4, 12, 143
phycelia 228
pincushion flower (Brunonia australis) 264
pine 351, 352
pink 35
pinkeye 265
pipe-fish (Urocampus carinorostris) 111–113
Pittosporum 3, 7, 391
plum, wild (korputa, probably quandong) 291
poppy 228, 320
possum 29, 136, 227, 237, 281, 284, 311, 350 ‘Bill Baillie’ and ‘Mandy’ 4, 129–130
poultry, 4, 348, 349; Australorps 4, 125, praying mantis or mantid (Manotodea) 4, 329–332
Prasophyllum (leek orchid) 82, 219, 316–317, 356–357; elfin midge (P. archeri or Genoplesium archeri) 118; graceful leek orchid (P. pyriforme) 176, 178, 179; inland (P. macrotys or regium) 407n; lilac (P. colemaniae) 317
Pterostylis (greenhood orchid) 82, 86, 87, 135, 146; banded greenhood (P. vittata) 162, 86, 87; bearded greenhood (P. plumosa) 264; curl-tongued shell (P. rogerisii) 176, 177; jug (D. recurva) 328; nodding (P. nutans) 61, 85–87; rusty (P. squamata) 119; tall (P. longifolia) 86, 87; tiny (P. pusilla) 119; maroonhood (P. pedunculata) 391; now all reclassified to the genus Oligochaetochilus)
Pyrorchis nigricans (redbeak orchid) 265
quoll (Dasyurus) 281
raspberry 81, 347
redcurrant 35
Rhagodia (saltbush) 209, 210, 299
Rhizanthella gardneri (western
underground orchid) 220, 221
rose 1, 3, 7, 35, 41, 66, 120, 127, 173, 299, 331, 380
running postman (Kennedia) 207
scarlet robin (Petroica boodang) 237, 286
sea-grass 112, 113
saltbush (bluebush) 209–210, 299
salvia 3, 381, 390
sawfly caterpillar (Perga) 139, 140, 164, 338
sheoak (Allocasuarina) 173, 337, 379
silvereye (Zosterops lateralis) 378
silvertail (Trichinium now Ptilotus) 289
snake 220, 226, 270, 281, 312
soursobs 356
sparrow 322, 354
starling 354
strawberry 35
Stylidium (trigger plant) 265; S. crassifolium (boomerang trigger plant) 212
sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps) 281
sweet briar 35, 264
sweet pea 228
sweet-william 35
tea-tree (Melaleuca) 52, 265, 365; M. pubescens now lanceolata (black tea-tree) 58, 385, 401n
Thelymitra spp. (sun orchid) 146
Thismia rodwayi (now Sacrosiphon rodwayi) 221
thistle 356
thornbill (Acanthiza) 386
turtle 4, 260, 312
verbena 15
violet 35, 120
wallaby 281, 285
wallflower 3
water scorpion (Laccotrephes tristis) 146, 164
watsonia 356, 391
wattle scale 136
willow 37–39, 354, 355
willie wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys) 293, 379
witchetty grub 291
yellow robin (Eopsaltria australis) 119, 322
yellow-tailed tit or yellow rumped thornbill (Acanthiza chrysorrhoa) 237, 386
List of images
Thank you to those listed below for permission to use the following images integrated within the text:
Page x, 195 – by Blanche Ames, originally published in Oakes Ames, 1937, Pollination of orchids through pseudocopulation, Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University, 5, p18, reprinted with permission of the editors of Harvard Papers in Botany.
Page 17 – illustration from Edith Coleman, 1947, ‘Herbs in the treatment of some obscure diseases; epilepsy’, Australasian Journal of Pharmacy 28, p1275, reprinted with permission of the editor.
Page 23 – based on map detail, Ordnance Office, 1896, 285 Aldershot. Available from OrdinanceSurvey.co.uk.
Pages 24, 33, 84, 94, 121, 131, 134, 215, 287 – courtesy of Peter John Harms.
Page 54 – Cassell’s picturesque Australia vol. 3, edited by E. E. Morris, Melbourne, Cassell & Co. Ltd., 1888, opp. p. 222, State Library of Queensland.
Page 55 – courtesy of Mr. C. T. Vary, Accession no: H24753, Charles Cheney Simpson album, State Library Victoria.
Pages 61, 89, 143, 169, 207, 267, 301, 363 – by Gladys Thomson, courtesy of John Thomson.
Page 67 – courtesy of Ms Louis Comeadon, Accession no: H84.258/1, State Library Victoria.
Pages 77, 80 – Accession no: H84.258/1 and Accession no: H2007.78/90, courtesy of J. W. Anderson, State Library Victoria.
Pages 93, 98, 129, 173, 174, 279, 280, 344, 376 – courtesy of Peter Thomson.
Page 103 – MN 1740, Rica Erickson papers, ACC5448A, State Library of Western Australia.
Page 109 – Frankcom’s Paddock, Blackburn [cartographic material], State Library Victoria.
Page 123 – road map. No. 1, Central Victoria [cartographic material]; compiled by W. Murray Pullar, State Library Victoria.
Pages 148, 186, 310 – courtesy of the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria.
Page 154 – from the archives of John Thomson.
Pages 162, 229 – ACC 8588A, box 4, folder 4.2, State Library of Western Australia.