Alex George will reminisce about Perth’s urban bushland, from his wanderings in the 1940s around Melville, Swanbourne, Jandakot, Boya and other places, through changes he has seen, to the present day.  He will intertwine thoughts on its richness, the history of its discovery, what we have lost, what we still have, some challenges facing further survival.  The talk will be illustrated with colour slides of bush lost, bush surviving, and a selection of wildflowers. 

Alex George lived in Melville for 15 years, before the family moved to what is now Kardinya in 1954. With his family he became familiar with the bush in many places around Perth. He worked as a botanist at the Western Australian Herbarium for 21 years, then in Canberra for 12 years as Executive Editor of the Flora of Australia. From 1993 he was a consultant before retiring to pursue his own interests in plant taxonomy and historical botany. He has undertaken field work throughout the State, discovering several hundred new species. His research has covered a number of plant groups, especially Banksia, Dryandra, Synaphea, Verticordia and Calothamnus. In the 1970s he was a member of the Conservation Through Reserves Committee that reviewed reserves and national parks throughout the State and recommended the creation of many new ones. He spent two terms as Australian Botanical Liaison Officer at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.