DARLING RANGE BRANCH MAY MEETING REPORT

Members of DRB may have been forgiven in thinking that their May meeting was going to be a ‘flora-walk in the park’—Kalamunda National Park in fact—presented by Gooseberry Hill resident Ken Patterson. Perhaps they expected an evening of interesting observations of the flora and some fauna of the area? Well yes, that happened—but in ways that few of us expected. What shone was an amazing interactive key to the flora occurring there, created by Ken.

Ken Patterson has had a lifetime of being interested in biology: tertiary studies, a teaching career and finally retiring from the important position as head of Biological Science at Rossmoyne Senior High School in 2015. During the 1970s Ken pursued an interest in photography, gardening and genealogy that led to familiarity with web page design, as used to map out his family history. It was this experience that enabled him to have the confidence to create an interactive program for Kalamunda National Park.

An Interactive Guide to the Flora of Kalamunda National Park—hereafter known as ‘Ken’s guide’—collates information from the many sources available to us in this electronic age. He wanted to understand the reasons for the flower’s name (nomenclature) and the history of why they are so named, what makes them what they are (taxonomy) and what these features do (function), as well as their flowering periods, weed identification and habitats. All these subjects are covered in his guide. Key terms used in Ken’s guide are hyperlinked to a ‘Botanical Terms’ page, so that they can be explained.

Throughout the talk Ken used several examples in his guide to explain the botanical families of the park. The attention to detail in each photograph in the guide is excellent.

Almost every one of the images used to illustrate each subject was taken by Ken.

Ken’s repertoire on flora was significantly greater than the time allotted for the talk. It was a reluctant audience which thanked him for sharing with us his decade-long exploration. The study of botany is a complex one and oftentimes it’s difficult to understand what we are looking at. This is particularly so in the south west, due to the incredible diversity of species. But it has been made a lot easier by Ken Patterson, through his personal curiosity and a commitment to demystifying and sharing it with others.

Ken’s guide is available on a CD (that you can load onto your computer or read from the disc) through the Kalamunda Visitor Centre for $35.00—a very worthwhile investment. Just make sure you recognise that it may be addictive!

Diana Papenfus