Press Releases

13 March 2007

Hidden in plain view: the forgotten flora     

7 April – 11 June

McClelland Gallery + Sculpture Park, Langwarrin and

The Gallery, Australian Garden, Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne.

 

 

Which poisonous mushroom kills flies? What do fungi and stonewash jeans have in common? How do fungi feed themselves? What has a moss got to do with the Tyrolean iceman? Why do mosses have teeth? What are those little green umbrellas growing in my pot plant? How can lichens help us tell the age of a rock?

 

The answers to these questions and many more will be answered in a remarkable free touring exhibition, Hidden in Plain View: the forgotten flora, staged by the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne.

 

From April 7 to June 11, Hidden in Plain View: the forgotten flora will be split between the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne and the McClelland Gallery + Sculpture Park in Langwarrin.

 

The exhibition introduces the research and conservation work that goes on at the National Herbarium of Victoria and the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne through the story of mosses, lichens and fungi.

 

The exhibition will include original illustrations, historical and contemporary writing and herbarium specimens from the State Botanical Collection housed at the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne.

 

Dr Teresa Lebel, a mycologist (fungi expert) and one of the exhibition organisers, said: “Visitors to the exhibition will be able to see watercolours, drawings and herbarium specimens that have never been shown to the public because of their precious and fragile nature.”

 

“The exhibition will give people a fascinating insight into what we call the forgotten flora because although mosses, lichen and fungi are found throughout Australia, most people know little about them.”

 

The exhibition builds on the already highly successful and popular Forgotten Flora education kit and Funky fungi education program run by the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne.

 

The Gallery at the Australian Garden will present an overview of the world of the forgotten flora – the fungi, mosses and lichens – including conservation and social facts. The McClelland Gallery + Sculpture Park will introduce the forgotten flora through a series of interpretative panels and installations including Mueller’s Microscope and the Curiosity Cabinet. Hidden in Plain View: the forgotten flora is the Royal Botanic Gardens' first tour of its Heritage and State Botanical Art collections.  

 

Public inquiries: (03) 5990 2245 

Media Enquiries: Penny Underwood on (03) 9818 8540.