Book Description

The Flora of Melbourne is a resource that assists in the recognition and botanical identifi cation of species while encouraging an awareness of the interrelationships between indigenous plants and animals. It identifies the usefulness of these species, to the local Aborigines in the past, and to all who wish to understand our diminishing natural environment in the present.The Flora of Melbourne works on a few different levels. It provides an important record of the plant life that developed in the Greater Melbourne area over a long period of time. It indicates the probable distribution of plant communities and the species within them prior to European settlement, based on historical data, remnant vegetation, and the prevailing climatic and soil conditions of each area.At another level it records the breakdown of these important relationships that has led to both the extinction of individual species and the reduction in the range of species from a number of locations across the entire Melbourne area.Finally, Flora of Melbourne is a tool to help us nurture or repair such relationships in an attempt to maintain or re-establish these habitats and the plants within them. ? Covers enlarged Greater Melbourne area? Contains 1367 plant descriptions with photos and fine line drawings? Instant, colour-coded access to different plant families (Irises, Grasses, Orchids, Rushes, etc.)? Improved, easy-to-use cross-reference system for finding plants native to specific localities? Expanded list of 220 representative localities with 5 key maps? Separate chapters on Soils, Weeds and Revegetation? Habitat chapter covers Melbourne's 79 Ecological Vegetation Classes? Symbols for bird- and butterfly-attracting plants? Large-format, 624 pp, Hardback