The Florilegium Society

The Florilegium Society at the Royal Botanic Gardens Inc is a self-funded, voluntary organisation, endorsed by the Trust. 

The original paintings and their copyright are gifted by the artists to the Trust and held in the Daniel Solander Library in the National Herbarium of New South Wales.

Established botanical artists from Australia and overseas are invited to join The Society and submit paintings for inclusion. The paintings accepted are of the highest standard, botanically accurate and painted as individual artistic responses to the subject.

Discover which artists and works are in the florilegium

Only a small number of the 75 artists who have contributed to The Florilegium since its inception are able to visit the Botanic Gardens, but they have given so much of their time and energy and skill to create these important paintings. Their generosity is the foundation of the projects.

Like the scientific accuracy that botanical art adheres to, the richness of the horticultural displays in the Botanic Gardens of Sydney is underpinned by the tradition of a scientific garden, plant collecting and the educational role that the Botanic Gardens encompass as part of our heritage.

Email your questions about The Florilegium Society

The word 'florilegium', literally a gathering of flowers, was first used in 1590 to describe a publication that focused on the beauty of the plants rather than their medicinal value.

Florilegia flourished from the 17th century to the late 19th century and they portrayed collections of rare and exotic plants. 

The modern florilegium seeks to record plants in gardens of botanical and historic significance or creating collections which highlight the diversity of their respective countries’ flora or of those that are now rare and endangered.

The third and current project of the Society is the Rainforest Species at Risk - building resilience. 

It highlights the scientific work of the Botanic Gardens of Sydney's Research Centre for Ecosystem Resilience.

The paintings will illustrate some of the vast amount of work being undertaken, developing scientifically based strategies to promote the resilient restoration of the highly endangered ecosystems in the East Coast Rainforests of New South Wales and Queensland. This includes the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, a UNESCO World Heritage Area. These strategies are combined with the development of techniques to conserve seeds and other propagation material of keystone species and species at risk of extinction from factors such as Myrtle Rust. This work involves landholders and local conservation groups to assist in the development of resilient seed production areas to help drive better restoration outcomes.

These rainforest remnants are a tiny fraction of those that existed pre- European colonisation. Increased human activity leading to habitat loss and fragmentation has made them more vulnerable to the impact of plant pathogens and climate change. These forests are like a ‘canary in the coal mine’ for climate change.

The Florilegium paintings for this project include the rare, the common and the overlooked. They highlight the important and diverse representation of rainforest species in the Living Collections of the Gardens and the role of conservation horticulture in the propagation of endangered rainforest species; of collections of species critically endangered due to Myrtle Rust and through Meta collections such as the Wollemi Pine. Scientists from the Botanic Gardens of Sydney are working with community groups to create rainforest corridors which will link the various UNESCO World Heritage Gondwanan Rainforests.

The Society’s first project marked the bicentenary of the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney with 89 paintings donated to the Trust. 

The Florilegium: The Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney: Celebrating 200 Years was published in 2016. It provided a historical overview of the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, and each colour plate was accompanied by a plant description and text relating it the history of the Botanic Gardens.

Sydney Living Museums held a major exhibition, Florilegium: Sydney’s Painted Garden, at the Museum of Sydney from July to October 2016. It explored the botanical and horticultural development of the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney and its influence on private gardens, public parks and landscapes of New South Wales since 1816.

The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art in Kew Gardens exhibited The Florilegium: Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney from March to September 2018. It highlighted the history and scientific achievements of the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney.

Read through The Florilegium: The Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney: Celebrating 200 Years in its entirety below:

This project linked the historic Banks and Solander specimens held in the National Herbarium of New South Wales with the Living Collection of the Botanic Gardens of Sydney to mark the 250th anniversary of Captain Cook’s voyage in HMB Endeavour.

It was exhibited in May 2022 at Lion Gate Lodge, Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. The focus was on these historic specimens; drawing attention to the time and place of their collection, and their history, inviting reflection on their significance to science, to First Nations peoples, to collectors and to the Botanic Gardens now. 

A beautiful limited edition publication was published by The Florilegium Society with support from the Australian Garden History Society.

Read through Botanic Endeavour: The Florilegium Society celebrates the Banks and Solander collection in its entirety below:

Join Botanical Artist Angela Lober as she creates her Florilegium painting of the Norfolk Island Pine. Video courtesy of Sydney Living Museums.

Banner image: Isopogon anemonifolius by Mary Anne Mein ©Botanic Gardens of Sydney