The ''botanical provinces of Western Australia (or Beard's Provinces)'' delineate "natural"

phytogeographic Phytogeography (from Greek φυτόν, ''phytón'' = "plant" and γεωγραφία, ''geographía'' = "geography" meaning also distribution) or botanical geography is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution o ...

regions of WA, based on climate and types of vegetation.

John Stanley Beard John Stanley Beard (15 February 1916 – 17 February 2011) was a British-born forester and ecologist who resided in Australia. Beard studied at the University of Oxford where he completed his doctoral thesis on tropical forestry. While working ...

, in "Plant Life of Western Australia" (p. 29-37) gives a short history of the various mappings. Map of the Natural Regions of Western Australia

In 1906,

Ludwig Diels Dr. Friedrich Ludwig Emil Diels (24 September 1874 – 30 November 1945) was a German botanist. Diels was born in Hamburg, the son of the classical scholar Hermann Alexander Diels. From 1900 to 1902 he traveled together with Ernst Georg Prit ...

divided the state into an Eremaean Province and a South-West Province (together with further subdivisions), based on rainfall ranges, types of vegetation, and species' distributions (Beard, 2015:p. 30). In 1944, C.A. Gardner modified Diels' description, adding the Northern Province, which comprised the Kimberley and Pilbara districts. With

Bennetts Bennetts is a specialist insurance broker for motorcycles headquartered in Peterborough, with a contact centre in Coventry, England, owned by Saga plc. On 17 February 2020 it was announced that The Ardonagh Group had agreed to purchase Bennet ...

in 1956, he further refined this to give state-wide divisions. Subsequent work by

Beard A beard is the hair that grows on the jaw, chin, upper lip, lower lip, cheeks, and neck of humans and some non-human animals. In humans, usually pubescent or adult males are able to grow beards. Throughout the course of history, societal at ...

and others gave the current set of provinces used by Florabase in its descriptions of plants. (See, for example, the entry where '' Parsonsia diaphanophleba'' is described as being found in Beard's South-West Province.) ''Beard's provinces'' are: * Northern Province (comprising North Kimberley, Central Kimberley, East Kimberley and Dampierland.) *

Eremaean Province The Eremaean province is a botanical region in Western Australia, characterised by a desert climate. It is sometimes referred to as the ''dry and arid inland'' or ''interior'' region of Western Australia It is one of John Stanley Beard's phytog ...

(comprising Great Sandy Desert, Little Sandy Desert, Gibson Desert, Tanami, Nullabor Region, Central Ranges, Great Victoria Desert, Murchison, Gascoyne, Pilbara and Carnarvon.) * South-Western Interzone (comprising the

Coolgardie woodlands The Coolgardie woodlands is an ecoregion in southern Western Australia. The predominant vegetation is woodlands and mallee scrub. The ecoregion is a transitional zone between the Mediterranean-climate forests, woodlands, and shrublands of Southw ...

) * South-West Province (comprising Northern Sandplains, Wheat Belt Region, Mallee Region, Esperance Plains, Menzies, Warren, Dale and Drummond.) Many of the subregions above have now been modified to give

IBRA regions The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) is a biogeographic regionalisation of Australia developed by the Australian government's Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population, and Communities. It was devel ...

, among which are: *

Warren (biogeographic region) Warren, also known as Karri Forest Region and the Jarrah-Karri forest and shrublands ecoregion, is a biogeographic region in southern Western Australia. Located in the southwest corner of Western Australia between Cape Naturaliste and Albany, i ...

Mallee (biogeographic region) Mallee, also known as Roe Botanical District, is a biogeographic region in southern Western Australia. Located between the Esperance Plains, Avon Wheatbelt and Coolgardie bioregions, it has a low, gently undulating topography, a semi-arid me ...

References

{{Reflist, refs= Beard, J.S. (2015) 'Plant Life of Western Australia.' (2nd Ed.) Rosenberg Publishing Pty Ltd: Dural NSW
(CAB Direct)
/ref> {{Citation, author1=Diels, L. , title=Die pflanzenwelt von West-Australien südlich des wendekreises : mit einer einleitung über die pflanzenwelt Gesamt-Australiens in grundzügen , publication-date=1906 , publisher=Verlag Von Wilhelm Engelmann , url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/12802633 , accessdate=20 June 2012 {{Citation, author1=Gardner, C.A., author2=Bennetts, H.W., year=1956 , title=The Toxic Plants of Western Australia, publisher=Perth, West Australian Newspapers.}
(CAB Direct)
/ref> {{Citation, author1=Beard, J.S., title=A new phytogeographic map of Western Australia, year=1980, journal=W.A. Herb. Notes 3:37-58}
(Kew bibliographic database)
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180419121439/http://kbd.kew.org/kbd/detailedresult.do?id=212483 , date=2018-04-19 {{Citation, author1=Beard, J.S., author2=Sprenger, B.S., title=Geographical Data from the Vegetation Survey of Western Australia, year=1984 , journal=Veg. Surv. WA. Occ Paper No 2, publisher=Vegmap Publications, 6 Fraser Road, Applecross {{cite web, url=https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/, title=Florabase, publisher=Western Australian Herbarium, Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, accessdate=19 April 2018 {{cite web, url=https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/6573, title=Florabase: ''Parsonsia diaphanophleba'', publisher=Western Australian Herbarium, Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, accessdate=19 April 2018 Floristic regions Flora of Western Australia Phytogeography Floristic provinces Biogeography of Western Australia Botany in Western Australia

See also

References