Celia Elizabeth Rosser (born 1930) is an Australian

botanical illustrator 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 boo ...

, best known for having published '' The Banksias'', a three-volume series of monographs containing

watercolour painting Watercolor (American English) or watercolour ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the ...

s of every ''

Banksia ''Banksia'' is a genus of around 170 species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes, and woody fruiting "cones" and head ...

'' species. Born Celia Elizabeth Prince, she began painting Australian wildflowers early in her artistic career. She first began painting ''Banksia''s after seeing a ''

Banksia serrata ''Banksia serrata'', commonly known as the saw banksia, the old man banksia, the saw-tooth banksia or the red honeysuckle and as wiriyagan by the Cadigal people, is a species of woody shrub or tree of the genus ''Banksia'', in the family P ...

'' near her home in

Orbost, Victoria Orbost is a town in the Shire of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne and south of Canberra where the Princes Highway crosses the Snowy River. It is about from the surf and fishing seaside town of Marlo on the coast of Bass ...

. Her first exhibition was at Leveson Gallery in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

in 1965, and included three watercolours of ''Banksia'' species. Two years later she published ''Wildflowers of Victoria''. In 1970, Rosser was appointed Science Faculty Artist at

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

. She illustrated Peter Bridgewater's ''The Saltmarsh Plants of Southern Australia'' and ''The Mosses of Southern Australia'' by George Scott and Ilma Grace Stone. In 1974 she was appointed University Botanical Artist, and began the project of painting every ''Banksia'' species. The project took over 25 years to complete, and resulted in the publication of a three volume monograph entitled ''The Banksias'', with accompanying text by Alex George. Publication of the final volume in 2000 represented the first time that such a large genus has been entirely painted. In 1997 she was awarded the Linnaean Society of London's Jill Smythies Award for botanical illustration, and in 1995 was awarded a Medal of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

. Monash University awarded her an honorary Master of Science degree in 1981, and an honorary PhD in 1999.

Legacy

In March 1978 a chance seeding of ''

Banksia canei ''Banksia canei'', commonly known as the mountain banksia, is a species of shrub that is endemic to southeastern Australia. It is generally encountered as a many-branched shrub that grows up to high, with narrow leaves and the yellow inflores ...

'' with deeply lobed leaves and a prostrate habit was registered as a

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

by Alf Salkin under the names ''Banksia'' 'Celia Rosser' and ''Banksia canei'' 'Celia Rosser'. In 2001, Peter Olde and Neil Marriott published a description of a new ''Banksia'' species from the arid shrubland of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, naming it '' Banksia rosserae'' in Rosser's honour. Since 2002, the Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne have awarded the "Celia Rosser Medal for Botanical Art" to outstanding exhibitors at their "The Art of Botanical Illustration" exhibition.

References

5. "Banksia Lady Celia Rosser, Botanical Artist" by Carolyn Landon, Monash University Press 2015, DEWEY NUMBER 759.994 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosser, Celia Elizabeth 1930 births Australian illustrators Living people Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Australian botanical illustrators Australian women illustrators

Legacy

See also

References