The year of European settlement in 1788 is used here to define the ‘native’ and ‘naturalised’ flora of the Australian continent. Using this definition the origin of only 27 species remains ambiguous. It is argued that this date is meaningful as a biogeographic watershed and because of the weight of evidence from early botanical collections provides a relatively unambiguous means of defining the ‘native’ flora of the Australian continent.

Rod Fensham is trying to build an understanding of the ecological issues required to manage and conserve the natural environment of the north-eastern quarter of the Australian continent. The big natural playground of Queensland represents ecosystems from tropical rainforest to arid shrublands and he suspects he has the best job in the world! In 2018 he will working on the ecology and hydrogeology of springs, drought-induced tree dieback and the ecology of rare plants species amongst other things.