I recommend this...

Hidden in Plain View - The Forgotten Flora

Editorial Review

Editorial Review

16 August-16 November 2008
Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery, Inveresk

The people behind Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens want you to get involved in the sciences and discover flora that is both beautiful and important to the environment. Hidden in Plain View is their form of encouragement - a touring exhibition showcasing the way in which forgotten flora impacts on our everyday lives and the inherent importance of conservation.
The forgotten flora of Australia includes such non-vascular plants as liverworts, hornworts, mosses and fungi. Although they sound like something your grandmother forced down your throat when you were young, they are useful little buggers that help to protect against soil erosion, provide vital habitats for indigenous insects and aid in the decomposition of ecosystems. The forgotten floras are diverse in nature and provide a balance to the natural environment, to the extent that their absence is a telltale indicator of pollution and imbalance.
The exhibition features historical and contemporary paintings, illustration, books and textiles of a botanical nature alongside herbarium specimens from the Victorian State Botanical Collection. Also on display is the microscope used by Ferdinand Mueller, Victoria's original botanist and the compiler of vast amounts of non-vascular specimens featured in Melbourne's Herbarium.

Ryan Lungu