Editorial Insights

Rebecca Harcourt, Managing Editor

My role as an editor, like the theme of this issue, involves collection, curation and collaboration. Collecting and curating the articles, while consulting and collaborating with the authors, other editors and the team at BGANZ, has reinforced my view that botanic gardens, and the people associated with them, are very special. These people include John Arnott, a well known botanic force of nature and the subject of this issue’s feature interview. John’s passion for and ongoing commitment to public botanic gardens and plant conservation is contagious. His many collaborations are a testament to this. One such collaboration is described by Owen Janusauskas in a feature article about the establishment of a living metacollection of at-risk Far North Queensland (FNQ) high mountain peak plant species. These plants, quite literally, have their heads in the clouds. This project, TroMPS (Tropical Mountain Plant Science Project), involves collaboration between seed banks and botanic gardens all along the east coast of Australia, including the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Cranbourne. Owen and others at Cranbourne are creating a ‘Cloud Forest’ garden with this unique plant collection, 2,800 kilometres outside its natural range. Another testament to collaboration is described by Dr Amelia Martyn Yenson in another feature article on the updated versions of three guidelines, known as the Germplasm, Florabank and Translocation Guidelines. These guidelines have input from more than a hundred contributors and reviewers and address genetic diversity, collection strategies, storage, propagation and plant return to the natural environment.

Rebecca Harcourt

While researching the article by Peter Gould and Marie Matthews of the Friends of Lismore Rainforest Botanic Gardens (LRBG), I came across the cartoon below. It highlights the lack of genetic diversity in the rare and critically endangered Hairy Quandong Elaeocarpus williamsianus. The trees, which exist only in a few isolated stands in north-eastern NSW, are too closely related for effective cross pollination. The LRBG aims to plant a grove of genetically different trees, which will hopefully result in the production of viable seed. This article is also a reminder of the valuable contribution of the many Friends groups who volunteer their time in gardens across Australia.

Cartoon reprinted with the permission of Cathy Wilcox, www.cathywilcox.com.au/.

Most of the articles in this issue indicate to me that collection, curation and collaboration often (always?) go hand-in-hand. The articles cover a huge range of areas, both geographic and botanic, from the high cloud forests of FNQ, to shrubs on the far south coast of NSW, insectivorous plants on Tasmania’s Overland Track and cushion plants on the frozen ground of subantarctic Macquarie Island. The dedication and passion of the authors and the teams involved in these projects is evident and leaves me feeling inspired, and hopeful about the future of the many plant species discussed.

Finally, I would like to welcome volunteers Bryn Hutchinson and Matthew Nicholson to the editorial team. Both are experienced horticulturalists, or horticulturists, or horticultists, as Bryn explains in his introductory article. Bryn brings some non-traditional ideas into the traditional Hort section while Matthew aims to highlight the importance of Friends, bushcare and landcare groups in a new section, Notes from the Nursery.

I’d love to hear from you with any feedback on this issue or suggestions for future themes. Please feel free to email me at managing.editor@bganz.org.au.

Happy reading! Rebecca

Alive with celebration

Fifty years and growing

Be captivated by Australian plants, flowers and landscapes from the Rainforest to the Red Centre. Visit the new Banksia Garden to discover the diversity of iconic Australian Banksia.

nationalbotanicgardens.gov.au/gardens

Photo: Steve Rogers