Joseph Henry Maiden 1859-1925

Born in London on 25th April 1859, Maiden arrived in Sydney in 1880 and was soon appointed Curator of the new Technological Museum.

He began writing on plants around 1887 and established himself as an expert in economic botany, leading and encouraging research into the properties of Australian timbers and essential oils. In 1889 Useful Native Plants of Australia was published, followed in 1890 by Wattles and Wattle-barks. In 1891 Maiden was appointed as consulting botanist to the forestry division of the new Department of Agriculture.

In 1896 he became the Director of the Botanic Gardens and government botanist. His interest in economic botany moved towards taxonomy: the identification and classification of major Australian genera. The major works were A Critical Revision of the Genus Eucalyptus, and Forest Flora of New South Wales. These works draw together writings of previous botanists and explorers, as well as communications from Maiden's large number of contacts around the country: from timber getters, forestry cadets, and interested observers.

Maiden lectured at the University of Sydney in forestry and agricultural botany from 1913 until 1921.

Maiden was active in the movement to retain large areas of native forests. He wrote on the use of plants to stabilise sand drift, and on the essential role of trees in flood mitigation. (These articles as well as others on such diverse topics as the best timbers for walking sticks, aboriginal tree carvings and fish-poisons, planting trees for shade and ornament in municipal Sydney, all appear in Forest Flora of New South Wales, interspersed with the taxonomic writings. Maiden was an important advocate for urban improvement, encouraging the establishment of more parks and trees to soften urban landscapes. As Director of the Botanic Gardens he was also responsible for the outer Domain as well as Centennial Park.

He died in 1925.

Forest Flora of New South Wales

The first part of Forest Flora of New South Wales appeared in 1902, consisting of 4 issues and priced at one shilling. The final part, Number 77, appeared in 1924 priced at two shillings and sixpence. In the 77 parts there are 304 issues each devoted to a single plant, but often containing extra material of more general interest to Maiden. The parts were eventually bound into 8 volumes.