Australian Lomandra Hastilis Ferdinand Bauer botanical print.

by Bauer, Ferdinand

Rare Limited Edition reproduction of a watercoloured drawing of Ferdinand Bauer's Lomadra hastilis for "The Australian Painting of Ferdinand Bauer", a selection reproduced from Bauer's 'Illustrations Florae Novae Hollandiae' (Illustrations of the Flora of Australia originally published in London circa 1815. Between 1801 and 1805 Bauer accompanied Matthew Flinders on the first circumnavigation of Australia. Unfortunately Brown could not find financial support for publication on his return to England, so Bauer left England and returned to Vienna where he finished his series of plants and animals of Australia. The high quality of Ferdinand Bauer's botanical illustrations combined exceptional scientific observation with subtle artistry.

Lomandra Hastilis, or Lotsy's Lomandraceae, from the order Xanthorrhocaceae, which were considered by Hutchinson in 1834 yo be clearly very advanced representatives of the Liliaceae stock. In 1801 Robert Brown discovered the type specimen of his Xerotes hastilis at King George's Sound. The generic name of Lomandra was published by Labillardiere in 'His Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen' in 1805. They were commonly known as 'mat-rushes'in Australia on account of their stiff terete or semicylindrical tufted leaves.

The botanical plate paper size is 50 x 33cm (19.6 x 13 inches). For presentation at the time of publication, each of these pages was lightly attached at the vertical edges to a dark green sheet of thick paper which has slightly shrunk.