Lewis Roberts, OAM, (born 1950) is a distinguished naturalist and botanical illustrator. Lewis and his brother, Charlie Roberts, are probably the leading experts on the flora and fauna of south-eastern part Cape York Peninsula and the northern Wet Tropics area. For three generations his family has lived at Shipton's Flat, about 45 km south of Cooktown, where he and Charlie were home-schooled. His father, Jack Lewis, was a tin miner and self-taught naturalist.
Since about 1960, most of the botanists and zoologists who have conducted research in their area have sought advice or field assistance from the Roberts brothers. Both are "Honoraries" to the Queensland Museum.
Lewis Roberts has a particular interest in orchids, especially the species of Cape York Peninsula and the Wet Tropics. He commenced serious study in 1973.
Since then, he has collected many specimens, and discovered seven new species, including an unusual orchid, known only at Shipton's Flat, for the National Herbarium in Canberra. This ground orchid, which has been listed in a new genus of its own, was named Cooktownia robertsii , in Lewis' honour. Lewis discovered this rare ground orchid in the 1980s and it was formally described by David Jones, one of Australia's leading orchid taxonomists, in 1997. [1] [2]
Many of the local orchid species are rare and have very specific and limited ranges, occurring only in remote, inaccessible places such as particular mountain peaks, swamps or types of rain forest accessible only on foot. Additionally, most orchids flower seasonally, and some for only one or two days a year.
In 1993, Lewis began to draw the orchids he found. He is a self-taught botanical illustrator. His early works were in pencil done purely as an aid to identification. He was fastidious about showing the most minute details. He showed some of his penciled works to visiting fellow naturalists, and prompted by them, Lewis began colouring and highlighting his illustrations. He has devised his own techniques to capture the scale and complexity of his subjects, many of which are barely visible to the naked eye.
Lewis works in pencil to outline his subject using a magnifying glass, when necessary. He captures the colour of the subject in watercolour, then highlights and shades with pen and ink.
Lewis hopes to illustrate a specimen of every orchid species found in north-eastern Queensland. There are over 250 species known in the region and he has completed illustrations of well over 100. Once he has finished the series, Lewis hopes to publish them, along with his field observations on each species, but it will take many more years to illustrate them all.
Following the conventions of botanical illustration, Lewis records his subjects comprehensively – plant, flower and fruit. He also dissects the flowers of each to show its various parts – petals, sepal, column, labellum, anther and pollinia.
The process is exacting and time-consuming. Not allowing for time taken to find suitable specimens of particular species – some take years – each illustration takes between 2 and 3 days to complete, depending on the complexity and size of the plant.
Lewis leads many groups of naturalists and hikers and is renowned for his knowledge and bush skills. He always goes bushwalking (hiking) barefoot, and has only worn shoes a few times in his life mainly on special occasions, such as when he was married, at the opening of his first exhibition at Nature's Powerhouse, and when presented with the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2005.
A species of Australian lizard, Saproscincus lewisi , is named in his honor. [3]
Over 80 prints of his orchid illustrations are held at Nature's PowerHouse Environment and Interpretive Centre in the Cooktown Botanic Gardens, where some are on display. The collection was exhibited at the opening of the Mackay Botanic Gardens and travels to other galleries.
There was a major exhibition of prints of Lewis' work was held in Nature's PowerHouse from 24 October 2004, which lasted for a month.
Another exhibition of his prints was displayed at the Foyer Gallery in Atherton, Queensland from 3 to 28 May 2010.
Pierre-Joseph Redouté, was a painter and botanist from Belgium, known for his watercolours of roses, lilies and other flowers at the Château de Malmaison, many of which were published as large coloured stipple engravings. He was nicknamed "the Raphael of flowers" and has been called the greatest botanical illustrator of all time.
Marian Ellis Rowan, known as Ellis Rowan, was a well-known Australian artist and botanical illustrator. She also did a series of illustrations on birds, butterflies and insects.
Frederica Lucy "Rica" Erickson, née Sandilands, was an Australian naturalist, botanical artist, historian, author and teacher. Without any formal scientific training, she wrote extensively on botany and birds, as well as genealogy and general history. Erickson authored ten books, co-authored four, was editor of twelve, and author or co-author of numerous papers and articles that have been printed in popular, scientific and encyclopaedic publications.
Robert David FitzGerald was an Irish-Australian surveyor, ornithologist, botanist and poet.
Vera Scarth-Johnson was a noted botanist and botanical illustrator who is also remembered for her continual efforts to teach others to treasure the flora and environment of Australia and, in particular, the botanically rich region of Cooktown and the Endeavour River Valley, on Cape York Peninsula, in far northern Queensland.
Madeleine Françoise Basseporte, was a French painter. From 1741 until her death, she served as the Royal Painter for the King's Garden and Cabinet, an unprecedented appointment for a woman artist at the time.
Botanical illustration is the art of depicting the form, color, and details of plant species. They are generally meant to be scientifically descriptive about subjects depicted and are often found printed alongside a botanical description in books, magazines, and other media. Some are sold as artworks. Often composed by a botanical illustrator in consultation with a scientific author, their creation requires an understanding of plant morphology and access to specimens and references.
John Day (1824–1888) was an English orchid-grower and collector, and is noted for producing some 4000 illustrations of orchid species in 53 scrapbooks over a period of 15 years. These scrapbooks were donated to The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in 1902 by his sister, Emma Wolstenholme.The standard author abbreviation J.Day is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.
Cooktownia robertsii, commonly known as the mystery orchid, is the only species of plant in the orchid genus Cooktownia and is endemic to far north Queensland. It is a rare ground orchid, named in honour of the first scientist to discover it, Lewis Roberts and has two ground-hugging leaves and up to nine small green flowers. It is an unusual species because of its highly modified column which lacks pollen and does not have a receptive stigma.
Dendrobium bigibbum, commonly known as the Cooktown orchid or mauve butterfly orchid, is an epiphytic or lithophytic orchid in the family Orchidaceae. It has cylindrical pseudobulbs, each with between three and five green or purplish leaves and arching flowering stems with up to twenty, usually lilac-purple flowers. It occurs in tropical North Queensland, Australia and New Guinea.
Elaeocarpus bancroftii, commonly known as Kuranda quandong, Johnstone River almond, ebony heart, grey nut, or nut tree is a large rainforest tree in the family Elaeocarpaceae which is endemic to Queensland. It has coriaceous leaves, attractive white flowers and relatively large fruit containing an edible kernel.
Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for repairs in 1770. Both the town and Mount Cook which rises up behind the town were named after James Cook.
James Bolton was an English naturalist, botanist, mycologist, and illustrator.
Phaius robertsii, commonly known as forest swamp orchid, is a plant in the orchid family and is native to a small area of Tropical North Queensland and to New Caledonia. It is an evergreen, terrestrial herb with above-ground stems, three to five pleated leaves and up to twenty flowers which are yellow on the back and brick-red inside. It grows in wet places in rainforest.
Aphyllorchis queenslandica, commonly known as the yellow pauper orchid, is a leafless terrestrial mycotrophic orchid in the family Orchidaceae. It has up to twelve dull yellow flowers on a thin, fleshy, purple flowering stem and is endemic to tropical north Queensland where it grows in rainforest.
Regina Olson Hughes (1895–1993) was an American scientific illustrator in Botanical Art. Born February 1, 1895, in Herman, Nebraska, she became fascinated with the world of plants and flowers. Her parents were Gilbert and Johanna (Sullivan) Olson. At age 10, she contracted scarlet fever and her hearing slowly diminished until she became fully deaf at age 14. In order for her to communicate with her peers, she relied on lip reading and written notes for business work. Hughes retained her speech skills and continued to speak fluently throughout her adulthood. She became proficient in American Sign Language when she enrolled in Gallaudet University.
Corybas fordhamii, commonly known as the banded helmet orchid or swamp helmet orchid, is a species of terrestrial orchid endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has an egg-shaped to heart-shaped leaf and a reddish to reddish purple flower which leans forward. It is similar to C. unguiculatis which does not grow in swamps and has a different labellum.
Habenaria chlorosepala, commonly known as the green-hooded rein orchid, is a species of orchid that is endemic to a small area in far north Queensland. It has two or three leaves at its base and up to twenty small green and white flowers.
Donald Frederick Blaxell, is an Australian botanist, botanical collector and taxonomist.
Anilios robertsi, also known as Roberts' blind snake, is a species of blind snake that is endemic to Australia. The specific epithet robertsi honours naturalist Lewis Roberts, an honorary consultant of the Queensland Museum and collector of the holotype specimen.
