HMS Lady Nelson was commissioned in 1799 as an armed survey vessel and was dispatched to explore the coastal regions of Australia. The ship, under the command of John Murray, entered an inland bay on the southern coast of Victoria in 1802. The bay was named Port Phillip and became the host site for the city of Melbourne.
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Banksia serrata - Referred to as old man banksia, Banksia serrata is one of about 1,600 species in the Proteaceae family; the macadamia tree is part of this family. Old man banksia grows along a narrow coastal band of Eastern Australia stretching from New South Wales to Tasmania. The trunk appears misshapen and gnarled. The wrinkled bark’s natural color is grey, but it is often black as a consequence of previous bush fires. The flower spikes are cylindrical, contain hundreds of flowers, grow to a height of about 10 centimeters, and are greyish-white in color.
