A specimen of the botany of New Holland

"A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland", also known by its standard abbreviation "Spec. Bot. New Holland", was the first published book on the flora of Australia.cite web | title = A specimen of the botany of New Holland | url = http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/Services/coll/heritage/highlights/more/botany | publisher = State Library of Queensland | accessdate = 2007-06-22] Written by James Edward Smith and illustrated by James Sowerby, it was published by Sowerby in four parts between 1793 and 1795. It consists of 16 colour plates of paintings by Sowerby, mostly based on sketches by John White, and around 40 pages of accompanying text. It was presented as the first volume in a series, but no further volumes were released.cite web | url = http://www.ipni.org/ipni/idPublicationSearch.do?id=16215-2 | title = Specimen of the Botany of New Holland | work = International Plant Names Index (IPNI) | accessdate = 2007-06-22]

The work began as a collaboration between Smith and George Shaw. Together they produced a two-part work entitled "Zoology and Botany of New Holland", with each part containing two zoology plates and two botany plates, along with accompanying text. These appeared in 1793, although the publications themselves indicate 1794. The collaboration then ended, and Shaw went on to independently produce his "Zoology of New Holland". Smith's contributions to "Zoology and Botany of New Holland" became the first two parts of "A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland", a further two parts of which were issued in 1795.cite book | first = Helen | last = Hewson | year = 1999 | title = Australia: 300 years of botanical illustration | publisher = CSIRO Publishing | location = Collingwood, Victoria | isbn = 0-643-06366-8]

The following Australian plants were published in it:cite book | first = James Edward | last = Smith | authorlink = James Edward Smith | year = 1793 | title = A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland | location = London | publisher = James Sowerby]
* "Billardiera scandens"
* "Tetratheca juncea"
* "Ceratopetalum gummiferum"
* "Banksia spinulosa" (Hairpin Banksia)
* "Goodenia ramosissima", now "Scaevola ramosissima"
* "Platylobium formosum"
* "Platylobium parviflorum", now "Platylobium formosum" subsp. "parviflorum" (not figured)
* "Embothrium speciosissimum", now "Telopea speciosissima" (New South Wales Waratah)
* "Embothrium silaifolium", now "Lomatia silaifolia"
* "Embothrium sericeum", now "Grevillea sericea"
** "E. s." var. "minor", now "G. sericea"
** "E. s." var. "major", now "Grevillea speciosa" (Red Spider Flower)
** "E. s." var. "angustifolia", now "Grevillea linearifolia"
* "Embothrium buxifolium", now "Grevillea buxifolia" (Grey Spider Flower)
* "Pimelea linifolia"
* "Pultenaea stipularis"
* "Eucalyptus robusta"
* "Eucalyptus tereticornis" (not figured)
* "Eucalyptus capitellata" (not figured)
* "Eucalyptus piperita" (previously published by Smith in White's 1790 "Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales"; not figured)
* "Eucalyptus obliqua" (previously published by Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle; not figured)
* "Eucalyptus corymbosa", now "Corymbia gummifera" (Unbeknownst to Smith, this had already been published by Joseph Gaertner as "Metrosideros gummifera")
* "Styphelia tubiflora"
* "Styphelia ericoides", now "Leucopogon ericoides" (not figured)
* "Styphelia strigosa", now "Lissanthe strigosa" (not figured)
* "Styphelia scoparia", now "Monotoca scoparia" (not figured)
* "Styphelia daphnoides", now "Brachyloma daphnoides" (not figured)
* "Styphelia lanceolata", now "Leucopogon lanceolatus" (not figured)
* "Styphelia elliptica", now "Monotoca elliptica" (not figured)
* "Mimosa myrtifolia", now "Acacia myrtifolia"
* "Mimosa hispidula", now "Acacia hispidula"

References