Victorian Plants – Nature Books Australia

Flora of Melbourne

Flora of Melbourne is a resource that assists in the recognition and botanical identification 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.

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.

Buy from Booktopia

Plants of Melbourne’s Western Plains: A Gardener’s Guide to the Original Flora

The grasslands of Victoria’s Western Plains and similar plant communities in the Northern Plains contain the highest proportion of threatened plant species in the state. Grasslands now cover less than 1% of their former extent on the Keilor-Werribee Plains and less than 1% in Victoria.

This book is a valuable guide for people wishing to grow western plains plants in domestic gardens, parks and revegetation projects as well as everyone who wants to learn more about the rich diversity of flora to be found in remaining plains landscapes in Melbourne’s west and throughout Victoria.

Buy from Booktopia

Wattles Of Ballarat

Book of 32 pages includes text and photography on twenty-one wattles occurring naturally within 40 km of Ballarat and three wattles which have been introduced and spread into local bushland. The text on each species covers the habit, foliage, flowers and distribution of each wattle in the area. Two photographs for each wattle show a close-up shot of flowers and foliage and another shot showing the whole plant in its habitat. There is a key to identify the wattles of the Ballarat area and general information about wattles.

Buy from Field Naturalists Club of Ballarat

Wattles of the Mount Alexander Region

This new 112 page guide, Wattles of the Mount Alexander Region, helps the beginner to make a start. In plain language, and generously illustrated, it presents twenty one species which flourish in the Mount Alexander region of central Victoria. And a general introduction explains different features of wattles, helping in identification and appreciation of these tenacious and beautiful plants.

Buy from Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests

High Country:

Plants of the Victorian High Country

Plants of the Victorian High Country contains species descriptions and photographs of plants to be found along popular walking tracks, such as Harrietville to Mt Feathertop and Mt Hotham. Plants of the montane, sub-alpine and alpine zones are included, sorted into five easily distinguished groups: herbs, daisy herbs, low woody shrubs, tall shrubs and trees, and eucalypts. The guide features straightforward identification keys and clear photos of the leaves, flowers and stems of the plant.

If you are a nature lover, planning to walk in the Victorian High Country, this book is an essential addition to your backpack.

Buy from CSIRO

Wildflowers of the High Country

A guide for casual observers featuring over 240 wildflowers found in Australia’s alpine area from Mount Baw Baw (Victoria) in the south to Cabramurra in the NSW Snowy Mountains.

Easy to understand descriptions, wildflower hot spots, key identification features, location guide, comprehensive index and more. 176 pages. 230mm X 155mm. Soft laminated cover. Full colour.

Buy from ABCMaps

Otways:

The below books are no longer in print. You can track down second-hand copies online.

Flora of the Otway Plain and Ranges 1

The Otway region of Victoria, with its temperate rainforests, mountain ash forests, heathlands, plains and coastal dunes, has an extraordinarily rich and diverse flora. The first volume of Flora of the Otway Plain and Ranges covers the orchids, irises, lilies, grass-trees, mat-rushes and other petaloid monocotyledonous plants.

Enid Mayfield’s exquisite colour illustrations of more than 200 species reveal tiny botanical details which enable the untrained botanist to identify each species with ease. The section on orchids describes and illustrates more than 130 species, highlighting their fascinating adaptations for attracting specific pollinating insects.

The clear text and illustrations frequently draw attention to the relationship of plants to the broader environment, the impact of fire, the role of pollinators and the importance of fungi.

Flora of the Otway Plain and Ranges 2

This visually superb and informative field guide is the second volume of Flora of the Otway Plain and Ranges, and covers more than 480 species of Daisies, Heaths, Peas, Saltbushes, Sundews, Wattles and other shrubby and herbaceous Dicotyledons. The illustrated family key is unique and covers 75 families and over 200 genera. Each species is illustrated and labels provide a clear key to identification for botanists and amateurs alike.

The Otway region of Victoria, with its temperate rainforests, mountain ash forests, heathlands, plains and coastal dunes, has an extraordinarily rich and diverse flora.