Last updated on November 25th, 2025 at 11:59 am

Book

Fiveash, R, Lothian, N 2021, Australian Orchids, Rigby Publishers Ltd, Adelaide.

Description

ROSA FIVEASH, one of the foremost botanical artists of her time, was able to paint Australian wildflowers when they flourished more widely. and before some species became extinct or rare.
She illustrated texts by botanists of her own era, but this is the first collection of her work to be published under her name. It demonstrates her ability to capture the full beauty of a flower without departing from botanical accuracy.
The ninety-nine plates illustrate twenty-three Australian orchid genera and a total of 139 species, with representatives from most areas of the Australian mainland and islands in which orchids may be found. Some of the orchids illustrated are now rare and may even be extinct.
The paintings have a triple appeal: to botanists for their scientific detail; to artlovers for their delicacy of colour and form; and to lovers of wildflowers for their exquisite depiction of these beautiful plants.
Each of the orchids in the paintings is described in a specially-written text by Noel Lothian, former Director of the Adelaide Botanic Garden, with cross-references to the plates. He has also contributed an introduction which outlines the characteristics of orchids and gives valuable background information.
(from Jacket cover of the book)

illustrator

Rosa Catherine Fiveash (1854–1938)

ROSA CATHERINE FIVEASH was born in Adelaide in 1854 and died in 1938. She studied art under H. P. Gill at the Adelaide School of Design, and then specialised in painting Australian flora. Her abilities were recognised by J. E. Brown, who commissioned her to illustrate his Forest Flora of South Australia, and by R. J. Rogers for whom she illustrated South Australian Orchids. Most of her work is in the possession of the State Library of South Australia and the South Australian Museum. The paintings reproduced in this book are from the Museum collection. (From the book cover)

Author

Lothian, Thomas Robert Noel (1915 – 2004)

In 1948 (Noel Lothian) was appointed director of the Adelaide Botanic Garden at the age of 36, a position he held until 1980.  His clear goal was to remake the gardens on an ‘International basis’. This encompassed everything from reinstating the importance of the science of botany and the herbarium, to replacing outmoded plantings and gardening equipment. (The horse-drawn lawn mowers were dispensed with promptly.)  Lothian championed experimental tree plantations for rural and suburban plantings. He also encouraged a new interest in plants from South Australia’s arid zones. And as the centenary of the Gardens approached (1855-1955), Lothian began to reconstitute the herbarium, whose collections and functions had been dispersed in previous decades between the gardens, the University of Adelaide and the SA Museum.  He was a prominent member of the Royal Society and chairman of its offshoot, the Field Naturalists Society for several years. In 1961 he was awarded an OBE for services to horticulture, and in 1975 the Veitch Medal of the Royal Horticultural Society. (Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria
Australian National Herbarium | Lothian, Thomas Robert Noel (1915 – 2004))

Where to find

According to Worldcat, there is a copy at the State Library of South Australia; no evidence of a copy in the State Library system.

Where to buy

This book is currently out of print but may be purchased through antiquarian or used book resellers.

References

• Australian Government 2025, Fiveash, Rosa Catherine (1854 – 1938), viewed on 16 November, 2025, <https://www.anbg.gov.au/biography/fiveash-rosa.html>. This page provides information about Rosa Fiveash, a prominent illustrator of Australian flora in the 19th and 20th centuries.
• Australian Government 2025, Lothian, Thomas Robert Noel (1915 – 2004), viewed on 16 November, 2025, <https://www.anbg.gov.au/biography/lothian-thomas-robert-noel.html>. This page provides biographical information about Noel Lothian, the director of the Adelaide Botanic Garden at the age of 36, a position he held until 1980.
• Sims, E 2025, Rosa Catherine Fiveash (1854–1938), viewed on 16 November, 2025, <https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/fiveash-rosa-catherine-6184>. This page is a biography of Rosa Catherine Fiveash, illustrator of Australian flora.
• Worldcat 2025, Australian orchids : a collection of paintings, viewed on 16 November, 2025, <https://search.worldcat.org/title/1058122909>. This page provides information about the publication.