Dates: Open daily from 9 March - 30 June 2024
Times: 10am - 4pm
Where:Santos Museum of Economic Botany, Adelaide Botanic Garden
Free Entry
Mid-18th century Europe…
Botanical knowledge is power. Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus has simplified plant classification and inspired a craze for botanising amongst both the public and great European empires. Plant hunters scour the globe for exotic plants to bolster their country’s coffers, and lushly illustrated botanical books or ‘florilegium’ are coveted by the rich.
Enter Dr Robert Thornton, passionate amateur botanist and fierce patriot. Funded by a hefty family fortune, Thornton aims to produce a botanical publication so outrageously lavish that it will leave Britain’s European rivals in the shade.
The Temple of Flora, part three of his ambitious New Illustration of the Sexual System of Carolus von Linnaeus features a suite of plant portraits commissioned from some of the finest artists and engravers of the day. Each plant is set against brooding, romanticised version of its habitat and accompanied by lashings of botanical poetry. The project leaves Thornton destitute.
Our new exhibition features prints from the Temple of Flora – now considered one of the most prized botanical books in the world – alongside rare botanical publications from the Garden’s own library.
15 March 2024
The Board of the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium is very pleased to announce that the Director of the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium of South Australia, Mr Michael Harvey, has been elected as the new Chair of the Council of Heads of Australian Botanic Gardens.
21 November 2023
Adelaide Botanic Garden has been announced as a 'Garden of the World Worth Travelling For in 2024' at the International Garden Tourism Awards.
