The Australian Native Plants Society (Australia) (ANPSA) is a federation of seven state-based member organisations for people interested in Australia's native

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

, both in aspects of conservation and in cultivation. A national conference is held biennially for members of the state-based societies. The combined membership is around 9000 people.

History

The Society for Growing Australian Plants (SGAP) was established in 1957 by a group of people who "pledged to promote the establishment and breeding of Australian native plants for garden, park and farm". By 1958 active regional Societies had been established in six States and the ACT with the Federal Association (ASGAP) being formed in 1962 Initially the focus was on growing and learning about

Australian Flora The flora of Australia comprises a vast assemblage of plant species estimated to over 30,000 vascular and 14,000 non-vascular plants, 250,000 species of fungi and over 3,000 lichens. The flora has strong affinities with the flora of Gondwan ...

more for home and amenities plantings – members included botanists and horticulturists as well as enthusiastic laypeople. As time has gone on, there has been an increasing focus on conservation, and advocacy for conservation, of Australian Flora. The Wildflower Society in Western Australia has been particularly diligent in liaising with government bodies in that state and the New South Wales body is a member of the

Nature Conservation Council of NSW Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are p ...

. The national association changed its name to the Australian Native Plants Society (Australia) in 2008. Rare and "hard to find" Australian plants can be purchased at their plant sales, which typically occur twice a year, spring and autumn, in many regions.

Promotion of Australian flora

Over the years, many important figures in Australian Botany and Horticulture have been members, Alex George, John Wrigley, Rodger Elliot,

Angus Stewart Angus Stewart is an Australian horticulturist, gardening author and former television presenter on '' Gardening Australia''. Stewart was born in country New South Wales and graduated from Sydney University with a First Class Honors Degree in A ...

and Ivan Holliday to name a few. Over the years, important texts on Australian flora have been either published by members, or funded by SGAP, including: * ''The Banksia Book'', by Alex George * ''The Grevillea Books (vols 1–3)'', by Neil Marriott & Peter Olde * ''Encyclopedia of Australian Plants'' Suitable for Cultivation (vols 1–9), Rodger Elliot, David Jones & Trevor Blake * ''Native Plants of the Sydney District'' by Alan Fairley & Philip Moore * ''Field Guide to Plants of the Dry Tropics'', by Keith Townsend * ''Across the Top – Gardening with Australian Plants in the Tropics'', by Keith Townsend * ''Common native plants of the Coorong region : identification, propagation, historical uses'', by Neville Bonney (2004) * * *

Regional (state-based) bodies

The societies are:
Australian Plants Society (SGAP Victoria) Inc

Australian Plants Society NSW
* Australian Plants Society – Tasmania Region
Australian Plants Society – SA Region
* Australian Native Plants Society – Canberra Region * Society for Growing Australian Plants (SGAP) – Queensland Region *

Wildflower Society of Western Australia The Wildflower Society of Western Australia (Inc.) (WSWA) is a member of the Australian Native Plants Society (Australia) The Australian Native Plants Society (Australia) (ANPSA) is a federation of seven state-based member organisations for peo ...

Membership to these societies totals about 9000 people. The vast majority of members live in Australia, though there are members in Europe and America.

List of species and topics studied

* Acacia *

Banksia ''Banksia'' is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes, and fruiting "cones" and heads. ''Banksias'' range ...

* Bonsai * Brachychiton and allied genera * Container Plants * Correa * Daisy (Australian) *

Dryandra ''Banksia'' ser. ''Dryandra'' is a series of 94 species of shrub to small tree in the plant genus ''Banksia''. It was considered a separate genus named ''Dryandra'' until early 2007, when it was merged into ''Banksia'' on the basis of extensiv ...

Epacris ''Epacris'' is a genus of about forty species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. It was formerly treated in a closely related but separate family Epacridaceae, but the various genera within Epacridaceae including ''Epacris'' have been ...

* Eremophila *

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as e ...

* Fabaceae *

Fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes exce ...

* Food Plants (Australian) * Garden Design *

Grevillea ''Grevillea'', commonly known as spider flowers, is a genus of about 360 species of evergreen flowering plants in the family Proteaceae. Plants in the genus ''Grevillea'' are shrubs, rarely trees, with the leaves arranged alternately along the b ...

Hakea ''Hakea'' ( ) is a genus of about 150 species of plants in the Family ''Proteaceae'', endemic to Australia. They are shrubs or small trees with leaves that are sometimes flat, otherwise circular in cross section in which case they are sometimes d ...

Hibiscus ''Hibiscus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. The genus is quite large, comprising several hundred species that are native to warm temperate, subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world. Member species ...

and related genera *

Isopogon ''Isopogon'', commonly known as conesticks, conebushes or coneflowers, is a genus of about forty species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae, and are endemic to Australia. They are shrubs with rigid leaves, bisexual flowers in a dens ...

and

Petrophile ''Petrophile'' is a genus of evergreen shrubs, in the family Proteaceae. The genus is endemic to Australia. Commonly known as conebushes, they typically have prickly, divided foliage and produce prominently-displayed pink, yellow or cream fl ...

* Melaleuca (including Callistemon,

Calothamnus ''Calothamnus'' is a genus of shrubs in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. The common names one-sided bottlebrush or claw flower are given to some species due to their having the flowers clustered on ...

and allied genera) *

Orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

(Australian) * Palm and

Cycad Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk with a crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants of a species are either male o ...

(Australian) *

Prostanthera ''Prostanthera'', commonly known as mintbush or mint bush, is a genus of about 100 species of flowering plants in the mint family Lamiaceae, and all are endemic to Australia. Plants are usually shrubs, rarely trees with leaves in oppo ...

and Westringia * Rainforest * Rhamnaceae *

Succulents In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

(Australian) *

Verticordia :For the clam genus, see ''Verticordia'' (bivalve). ''Verticordia'' is a genus of more than 100 species of plants commonly known as featherflowers, in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. They range in form from very small shrubs such as '' V. vertico ...

Wallum Wallum, or wallum country, is an Australian ecosystem of coastal south-east Queensland, extending into north-eastern New South Wales. It is characterised by flora-rich shrubland and heathland on deep, nutrient-poor, acidic, sandy soils, and re ...

(Coastal Banksia heath) *

Wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

s * Wildlife and Native Plants

''Australian Plants''

A quarterly colour journal, ''Australian Plants'', has been distributed nationally since 1959, with each region producing a quarterly newsletter. The journal produced a very large range of materials which have been collated. Bill Payne was the journal's editor from its inception until 2001. It is a 48-page newsletter in A5 format. Text from the

Trove Trove is an Australian online library database owned by the National Library of Australia in which it holds partnerships with source providers National and State Libraries Australia, an aggregator and service which includes full text documen ...

entry, states: - : V.1 no.1 has cover title "Commonwealth journal of the Society... V.1 no.1-3 each issued in several "reprintings" with differing pagination and contents. :Published by Society for Growing Australian Plants NSW Ltd., ; by Australian Plants Society NSW Ltd., "Australian plants" is complemented by the Society's online publication, "Australian plants online," but the content of the two publications is completely different. :Also available on microfiche. In: Pinpointer popular periodicals on microfiche icroform Canberra : Australian Advisory Council on Bibliographical Services, 1982-1991. :Indexed by: Biological abstracts ISSN 0006-3169.

External links

References

{{authority control Botany in Australia Native plant societies Nature conservation in Australia Environmental organisations based in Australia Horticultural organisations based in Australia Scientific organisations based in Australia 1957 establishments in Australia Environmental organizations established in 1957 Scientific organizations established in 1957