THE IDENTIFICATION PROCESS: Plant identification has been completed by comparing the photo with the specimen of the same species in the public access facility of the Western Australian State Herbarium. A specimen of many species has been taken under licence to aid in identification. The licence was issued by the Western Australian State Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA).

Before the final comparison of the photo and/or specimen with the specimen in the herbarium the basic work of identification must be tackled and the family, genus, then species, must be determined. To do this, various resources were used, mostly on-line but also some books. and in person. Despite the care taken with plant identification some errors slip through. With this format it is possible to make corrections as soon as the error is discovered.

CREDITS: After the Western Australian Herbarium itself, the most used resource was the herbarium's FloraBase (see below), a database of WA plant species with information on the genus of each WA plant, several interactive keys to help determine the species and references to the taxonomic literature. At species level the site provides images, a distribution map, description of the plant's habit, soil preference and flowering time.

Robert Morales, Shapelle McNee, some friends, and members of the Wildflower Society of Western Australia, gave much appreciated helpful advice and practical support.

The Shire of Westonia, which manages the Westonia Common, gave permission for the licence to take flora for the purpose of identification to be applied for.

RESOURCES: This is not a complete list but includes the most used resources. On-line resources are listed first, then books.

Brooker L. and Brooker M. 2025. Flowers of the Great Eastern Highway from Carrabin to Coolgardie. https://lesmikebrooker.com.au/great-eastern-highway.php (This is a downloadable pdf featuring more than 450 plant species.)

Central Wheatbelt Visitor Centre https://wheatbelttourism.com>wildflowers (This site includes a list of plants found in the Merredin Shire.)

esperancewildflowers.blogspot.com (This is a well detailed compendium of flowering plants of the Esperance area with photos and text.)

Flora of Australia Volume 35. Brunoniaceae, Goodeniaceae, Australian Government Publishung Service, Canberra 1992. (This volume has been digitised.)

Maslin, B.R. (coordinator)(2018) WATTLE, Interactive Identification of Australian Acacia. Version 3. (Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra; Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions, Perth; Identikit Pty. Ltd. Brisbane.) (This is an on-line key available as an app.)

Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase - the Western Australian Flora. DBCA. https://florabase.dbca.wa.gov.au./

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French, M. (2012). Eucalypts of Western Australia's Wheatbelt. MEF@eucalyptsofwa.com.au

Gringer, U. (2022). Orchids in the Shire of Mukinbudin. u.gringer@gmail.com

Gringer, U. (2024). Wildflowers in the Shire of Mukinbudin. u.gringer@gmail.com

Keeble, J. 2025. The flora of the Wongan Hills area. jmkeeble@gmail.com

Hoffman, N. and Brown, A. 1992. Orchids of South-West Australia. UWA Press: Perth.

Maddock, J. (19980). Westonia The Wheels of Change. The Shire of Westonia: Westonia.

Mitchell, A.A.and Wilcox, D.J. (1994). Arid Shrubland Plants of Western Australia. UWA Press: Perth.

Sharr, F.A.1996. Western Australian Plant Names and their Meanings, a glossary. UWA Press: Nedlands.

Storer, Rachel. 2011. Plants of the West Australian Wheatbelt based on and around the Koorda Shire. Rachel Storer, 1 Mousehole Cresc.: Yanchep WA.

AUTHORS: Brenda Newbey identified the plants, edited the photos and provided the text. Stephen Fryc took most of the photos, edited some of them, and provided all of the technical expertise.

NOTE: We were unable to persuade the software to put italics in some headings or non-italics in the scientific plant name list. However the correct mix of italic and non-italic appears in the text accompanying each image.

CONTACT: Please direct feedback to us at westoniawildflowers@gmail.com