Creator Joseph Paxton (1801-1865)

Date 1838

Native to southeastern Australia, the waratah is the floral emblem of New South Wales. The name 'waratah' comes from the Eora Aboriginal people, the original inhabitants of the Sydney area...A very fine waratah from Paxton’s Magazine of Botany, and Register of Flowering Plants, (1834-1849). Paxton writes: ‘This plant is a native of New South Wales… it is allowed by the natives and settlers of that colony (which is well known to be so rich in floral beauties) to be the most splendid of all their vegetable productions ; the natives also are said to obtain an agreeable repast by sucking its tubular flowers, which abound with honey. It produces its brilliant flowers in this country in the months of June and July. The generic name is derived from Telopas, signifying, seen at a distance ; this doubtless alludes to the great distance from which its rich crimson-coloured blossoms are discernible in its native country.’..Sir Joseph Paxton (1801-1865) was a polymath - brilliant landscape gardener, designer of public parks, publisher, politician, inventor and architect of the great Crystal Palace for the 1851 London International Exhibition.

Source: Floralia Gallery