WILDFLOWER lovers are asking the public to join them for the Burbidge/Chippendale tradition of celebrating the spring flowering with the 44th annual Black Mountain wildflower ramble.

The ramble offers an opportunity to discover the surprising diversity of tiny orchids, bush peas, wattles and billy buttons with experienced guides. 

Following the tradition set by Nancy Burbidge and George Chippendale, this will be a social occasion with a morning tea break (BYO), relatively easy bush tracks and good company.

It is sponsored by Friends of Black Mountain, National Parks Association, U3A, Australian Native Plants Society, ANBG Friends, and the Field Naturalists.

A field guide will be on sale for $15 and some handouts provided.

BYO morning tea, hat, sunblock, water and stout shoes.
Please book to friendsofblackmountain@gmail.com to ensure the adequate provision of guides.  Contact: Linda Beveridge 0437 298 711 or Jean Geue 6251-1601.
Saturday 10 October 2015: 9.30 am sharp to 12 noon (or later)
Belconnen Way entry, just before Caswell Drive turnoff (look for the balloons).

Who was Nancy Burbidge?

Dr Nancy Burbidge, a botanist and conservationist, graduated in science from the University of Western Australia and then won a prize for a free passage to England. So she spent 18 months in 1939-1940 at the Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England. When she returned to Perth she studied the ecology and taxonomy of Western Australian plants and achieved her M.Sci., in 1945, and a Doctorate in 1961.

After working in Adelaide for a few years she came to Canberra as the systematic botanist in the CSIRO Division of plant industry in Canberra in 1946. Soon she was organising and expanding the division’s plant collection and she became head of the Australian Herbarium.

Nancy’s love of the bush was reflected in her energetic leadership of walks at weekends so people learn about and appreciate our wild plants. She was also prominent in her efforts to create protected areas, including Tidbinbilla, Black Mountain and other Nature Reserves.

Her love of nature is also commemorated by the Nancy T. Burbidge Memorial amphitheatre in the Australian National Botanic Gardens.

Who was George Chippendale?

George Chippendale began his career at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, and studied for a Bachelor of Science at the Sydney University. He worked for several years in Northern Territory where he made many trips into the bush with colleagues and assistants to collect plant specimens. These specimens were the basis for the present Northern Territory Herbarium.

He and his family moved to Canberra in 1966 where he took up the position of senior botanist in the then Forestry Research Institute at CSIRO.

He is noted in particular for his work on the type Eucalyptus, which he also examined at Kew Gardens and travelled to several European herbaria to examine similar material.

George’s enthusiasm for native plants was legendary, including when he led courses at the U3A and wildflower walks on Black Mountain.