Joseph Banks Native Plants Reserve is one of the few specialised gardens in Sydney to focus entirely on Australian native plants. Located at

Kareela Kareela is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. History Kareela was the first mixed-use estate developed by Stockland, developed in 1953. The estate was originally called Sylvan Headland. Sylvan Headland c ...

Sutherland Shire Sutherland Shire is a local government area (LGA) in the southern region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sutherland Shire is located approximately south-southwest of the Sydney CBD, and comprises an area of . As at the ...

and established in 1970 as a tribute to

Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English Natural history, naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the European and American voyages of scientific exploration, 1766 natural-history ...

, the landscaped garden covers an area of 2.2 hectares, with 4 kilometres of sealed paths.

Location

Joseph Banks Native Plants Reserve is located at Manooka Place,

, New South Wales, Australia. There is also a pedestrian entrance on Bates Drive,

History

The reserve was established in 1970 as a bicentenary project to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the arrival of

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

Botany Bay Botany Bay (Dharawal language, Dharawal: ''Kamay'') is an open oceanic embayment, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point a ...

in April 1770. The reserve was named after

(1743-1820), naturalist and patron of the sciences, who accompanied Cook and collected many botanical specimens around Botany Bay including from the new

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

genus.

Flora

The reserve showcases a wide range of Australian native plants from around Australia in planted theme gardens including an

acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...

garden, sun-loving plants, rainforest, silver foliage garden, bush tucker, shade garden, fern garden and lily garden. The reserve also includes an unplanted natural area showing the original remnant Sydney sandstone vegetation. Over 600 plants are labelled with their botanical name. The reserve includes most of the local east coast banksias including ''

Banksia aemula ''Banksia'' is a genus of around 170 species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular Ornamental plant, garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes, and woody fruiting ...

'', ''

Banksia ericifolia ''Banksia ericifolia'', the heath-leaved banksia, or lantern banksia, is a species of woody shrub of the family Proteaceae native to Australia. It grows in two separate regions of Central and Northern New South Wales east of the Great Dividing ...

'', "

Banksia integrifolia ''Banksia integrifolia'', commonly known as the coast banksia, is a species of tree that grows along the east coast of Australia. One of the most widely distributed ''Banksia'' species, it occurs between Victoria and Central Queensland in a ...

", ''

Banksia marginata ''Banksia marginata'', commonly known as the silver banksia, is a species of tree or shrub in the family Proteaceae found throughout much of southeastern Australia. It ranges from the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia to north of Armidale, New ...

'', "

Banksia oblongifolia ''Banksia oblongifolia'', commonly known as the fern-leaved, dwarf or rusty banksia, is a species in the plant genus ''Banksia''. Found along the eastern coast of Australia from Wollongong, New South Wales in the south to Rockhampton, Queenslan ...

", '' Banksia paludosa'', " Banksia plagiocarpa", ''

Banksia robur ''Banksia robur'', commonly known as swamp banksia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae. It grows in sand or peaty sand in coastal areas from Cooktown in north Queensland to the Illawarra region on the New South Wales sout ...

'', ''

Banksia serrata ''Banksia serrata'', commonly known as the saw banksia, the old man banksia, the saw-tooth banksia or the red honeysuckle and as wiriyagan by the Cadigal people, is a species of woody shrub or tree of the genus ''Banksia'', in the family P ...

'' and ''

Banksia spinulosa ''Banksia spinulosa'', the hairpin banksia, is a species of woody shrub, of the genus ''Banksia'' in the family Proteaceae, native to eastern Australia. Widely distributed, it is found as an understorey plant in open dry forest or heath (habit ...

''. Western Australian species growing at the reserve include ''

Banksia blechnifolia ''Banksia blechnifolia'' is a species of flowering plant in the genus ''Banksia'' found in Western Australia. It was first described by Victorian state botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in 1864, and no subspecies are recognised. It gained its spec ...

'' and '' Banksia repens''.

Management

The reserve is managed by Sutherland Shire Council with staff onsite Monday to Friday, with volunteer assistance from th
Australian Plants Society, Sutherland Group
Volunteers undertake maintenance tasks such as weeding, pruning and planting.

Access and facilities

The reserve is open 7 days a week, 9 am to 5 pm. Closed Good Friday and Christmas Day. Free entry. The reserve has paved paths, toilets, picnic tables and woodfired BBQs. Some paths are accessible and suitable for people with mobility impairments.

References

External links

* {{coord, 34, 01, 16, S, 151, 05, 05, E, type:landmark_region:AU-NSW, display=title Parks in Sydney Sutherland Shire