Aboriginal Plant Collectors: Botanists and Australian Aboriginal People in the Nineteenth Century

This book explores the impact of indigenous people upon the European discovery of Australian plants, spanning the period from the expansion of world exploration in the seventeenth century to the beginning of systematic scientific studies in the late nineteenth century. In the published accounts of the colonial period, indigenous people working with European explorers and plant collectors have too often been portrayed as silent partners. In order to readdress this imbalance, the present work investigates the role of particular Aboriginal groups and individuals in the botanical discovery of Australia.