Floristic Lists of New South Wales

Floristic lists are often an important source of botanical information for a particular area and may serve as a useful starting point for more detailed study. Such lists may be used for general comparisons of the vegetation of different localities, or that of the same locality at different times. A number of annotated bibliographies of floristic lists have been compiled by the Botanic Gardens Trust, including the works of Pickard (1972), Bryant & Benson (1981), Keith (1988), and Benson & Melrose (1993). These earlier works have been amalgamated and updated to 2005 by Rod Roberts, bringing the total number of references here to more than 1000.

Types of lists included

Similar criteria to those of the earlier bibliographies have been adopted. The lists are up to 2005 and include a number of older, previously overlooked lists. The lists range from regional floras to brief lists of predominating species and may or may not include ecological notes on the vegetation, the environment or the abundance of the species. They also vary considerably with regard to the size of the area surveyed and the precision with which this is defined, as well as completeness and the reliability of identifications. Nomenclature may be out of date, depending on when the lists were compiled.

The bibliography includes both published and unpublished material. Most of the unpublished lists are held at the Botanic Gardens Trust Library.

Arrangement of the bibliography

The lists are arranged by 1: 250 000 Map Sheet title - see map below, and listed alphabetically by author, with date of publication, title and publication. Annotations include the approximate number of species, their arrangement in the list and references to any ecological notes provided on abundance, habitat, soil type, plant communities etc. Botanical Regions and Local Government Areas are provided.

Published lists will remain the main source of data to many workers. Access to species list data is important to those involved in natural area management, and we urge people with lists to forward them to the Botanic Gardens Trust Library where they can be made available on request. In compiling lists for such purposes, accurate identifications and site localities are essential. Long, unannotated lists covering large, poorly defined areas are less useful. Such lists should be recorded either by sites or by plant communities and should be accompanied, where possible by descriptions of the relevant plant communities, together with accurate locational information. Data on the relative abundance of the different species may also be worthwhile. There is also an increasing need for ecological observations of species, such as fire responses, fruiting periods, seed dispersal and growing periods. Such observations can be readily integrated within a species list.

General References

• Pickard, J. (1972) Annotated bibliography of floristic lists of New South Wales. Contributions from the New South Wales National Herbarium 4(5): 291-317.
• Bryant, H.J. & Benson, D.H. (1981) Recent floristic lists of New South Wales. Cunninghamia 1(1): 59-77.
• Keith, D.A. (1988) Floristic lists of New South Wales (III). Cunninghamia 2(1): 39-73.
• Benson, D.H. & Melrose, S.C. (1993) Floristic lists of New South Wales (IV). Cunninghamia 3(1): 167-213.

Journals searched

The following journals were searched, together with a number of occasional publications for the period 1972-2005.

• Australian Journal of Botany
• Austral Ecology (formerly Australian Journal of Ecology)
• Australian Journal of Marine & Freshwater Research
• Australian Journal of Soil & Water Conservation
• Australian Natural History
• Australian Plants
• Cunninghamia
• Ecological Monographs
• Ecology
• ECOS
• Forestry Commission of NSW Research Notes
• Journal of Ecology
• National Parks Journal (National Parks Association of NSW)
• Nature Australia (formerly Australian Natural History)
• Proceedings of the Linnean Society of NSW
• Telopea
• The Orchadian
• The Victorian Naturalist
• Wetlands (Australia)

Compiled by Rod Roberts, Lyn McDougall and Doug Benson