floral emblems

Australian flowers tablecloth

28 January 2015

One of the plants illustrated in this tablecloth depicting ‘Australian flowers’ is anomalous. The range of Australian native flowers depicted include the waratah (identified as the floral emblem of New South Wales), bottle brush, Sturt’s Desert Pea (the floral emblem of South Australia), wattle (identified as the national flower of Australia) and others (Blue leschenaultia (Leschenaultia biloba), Geraldton wax (Chamelaucium inicatum), Twining guinea flower (Hibbertia dentate), Darling pea (Swainsons galegifolia), Star of Bethlehem (Calectasia narragra more commonly known as the blue tinsel lily), nodding blue lily (Stypandra glauca) and red bloodwood (Corymbia gummifera) but there is also a non-native, the scarlet-coloured poinsettia, described here as Mexican flame leaf.

Poinsettia city: Brisbane’s flower

Souvenir wares can inform us about the social history of their times through the imagery with which people choose to represent themselves.

Tea-towel: Map of Queensland, c1960

3 December 2010

Ireland

Collection of Glenn Cooke

Richardson's Tea-towel: map of Queensland, c1960. This tea-towel was based on map the Queensland published in the Queensland State Governments principal souvenir of the centenary 'Queensland centenary: the first 100 years 1859-1959’. It was edited by Arthur Smout with the historical assessment provided by Leslie Slaughter and was widely distributed through the state school system. The poinsettias (Brisbane’s floral emblem), the Cooktown Orchids (the State flora emblem) and the cluster of tropical fruit add a note of colour. Collection of Glenn Cooke