Dr. John S. Beard came to Western Australia in 1961 as Foundation Director of the Botanic Garden being established in Perth's King's Park. The garden, which officially opened in 1965, has become one of Perth's major attractions for visitors and the local population. It has a scientific as well as a popular function, being principally devoted to study of native plants. First published in 1990, Plant Life of Western Australia grew out of a project that was developed with the assistance of Dr. Beard. The project became known as the Vegetation Survey of Western Australia, with the aim of mapping the plant life of the entire state. Any ecologist travelling through this stretch of country is not only aware of the plant species that are present and their arrangement into communities, but of the whole structure of the landscape, its geology, its forms in mountains, hills, and plains, and the climate, both past and present. Dr. Beard acquired an unrivalled knowledge of the landscapes and their plant cover over the immense area of Western Australia. Through the project, a series of vegetation maps were produced and the project was finally completed in 1981. About 200,000 km of land were covered by vehicle over the course of 17 years. This was more than an ordinary degree of awareness, therefore the first edition of the book was published with the desire of sharing the remarkable plant life of Western Australia with others. Following the death of Dr. John S. Beard in 2011, this new edition has been revised by Alex George and Neil Gibson. Dr. Beard originally took about 2,000 color slides over the course of his extensive botanical field work, and a selection of the best color illustrations are featured prominently in the book. *** Librarians: ebook available on ProQuest and EBSCO [Subject: Botany, Ecology, Horticulture, Australian Studies]

Written by former Director of King's Park Botanic Garden in Perth and leading botanical authority, this profusely illustrated study of plant life in Western Australia is structured in four main sections - the environment, the southwest province and southwestern interzone, the eremaean province and the northern province. Includes bibliographic information, a glossary and a detailed index.

Southwestern Australia is unique as it contains the world’s most nutrient-impoverished soils, experiences a prolonged-summer period and the vegetation is extremely fire-prone. It is also world-renowned for its relative high level of flora biodiversity. This book focuses on the diverse range of morphological and physiological adaptations evolved by the flora to survive in the harsh Mediterranean-type climate.

"A thorough revision and expansion of Pate and Beard's Kwongan--Plant Life of the Sandplain (1984)"--Page 4 of cover.

The city of Perth is well known and treasured for its areas of protected bushland in the heart of the city. Kings Park and Bold Park represent a significant part of the natural heritage of the Swan Coastal Plain and are an important part of city life. The city is also a gateway to the incredible biodiversity to be found in south-west Western Australia. Perth Plants provides a comprehensive photographic guide to all plants known to occur in the bushlands of Kings Park and Bold Park, both native plants and naturalised weeds. There are 778 species included, representing approximately one-quarter of all the plants in the greater Perth region, and one-tenth of all species known for the south-west of Western Australia. This new edition contains 22 additional species and updated photography throughout. It is an essential reference for anyone interested in the plants of south-west Western Australia, and particularly the Swan Coastal Plain.

The present publication is the first complete translation of "Die Pflanzenwelt von West-Australien, südlich des Wendekreises" by Diels. The translation makes this major work on the ecology, vegetation and biogeography of Western Australian plants now accessible to a wider, english speaking community. More than 100 years after the German edition of Diel‘s seminal work (Diels, 2006) is still remaining actual even if taxonomic classifications and ecological data have changed. The translation uses the original taxonomy and data published by Diels. Diels work presents the results of an expedition during 1901–1902. His study focuses on the inter-relationship of plant life in Western Australia. The own peculiar flora and fauna of the island continent Australia which was for a long time isolated from the rest of the world and their inhabitants is Diels main concern. His publication gives a short introduction in the vegetation of the whole Australian Continent, history and literature up to 1905, the geographic setting in Western Australia and a detailed overview and classification of the vegetation in the Southwest Province and the Eremaean Province. Diels study is closed by the presentation of the flora of extra-tropical Western Australia and its classification. The translation of Diel‘s study is added with an taxonomic update. To illustrate the vegetation changes since Diels‘ time, as many as possible of the original photographic sites that could be identified were revisited and new photographs were made (Lamont & Grieve, 1984).