Blackall, William Edward   (1876 - 1941)

A medical practitioner who took a keen interest in the flora of Western Australia, beginning production of an illustrated key from about the 1920s.

This work, How to Know Western Australian Wildflowers, was completed after Blackall's death by Professor B.J.Grieve, and remains one of the most useful guides to the Western Australian flora, particularly for the south-western flora.

His herbarium of about 5000 specimens was deposited at the Western Australian Museum, and is now to be found in PERTH.

Source: Text extracted from: A.E.Orchard (1999) A History of Systematic Botany in Australia, in Flora of Australia Vol.1, 2nd ed., ABRS. [consult for source references]
Portrait: Photograph by George Chippendale of a framed photograph of W.E.Blackall at the CSIRO Forest Research Institute Canberra (ANBG image collection H-303); original photographer unknown

Blackall initially became a good friend of Government Botanist Charles Gardner, the two of them went on numerous trips together, including one in 1931 which lasted five months.

But the early friendship between Blackall and Gardner did not last.

Gardner was possessive of all things botanical and wanted any new key to Western Australian flora to be produced under his jurisdiction, but Blackall would not agree to relinquish his position as the principal author.

Following the major excursion with Gardner in 1931, Blackall made six further significant botanical safaris into remote Western Australia (in 1932, 1933, 1937, 1938, 1939 and 1940), accompanied on all of these occasions by Mrs Blackall.

Collecting localities for 'Blackall, W.E.' from AVH (2021)

Data from 6,095 specimens