Rica Erickson
Encyclopedia
Frederica Lucy "Rica" Erickson AM
, née Sandilands, (10 August 1908 – 8 September 2009) was an Australia
n naturalist
, botanical artist
, historian
, author
and teacher
. Without any formal scientific training, she wrote extensively on botany
and bird
s, as well as genealogy
and general history
. Erickson authored ten books, co-authored four, was editor of twelve, and author or co-author of numerous papers and articles that have been printed in popular, scientific and encyclopaedic publications.
, Erickson was the eldest of eight children of Phoebe Cooke and Christopher Sandilands, both of whom immigrated to Western Australia
from Victoria in 1906, and met in the goldfield town. Christopher Sandilands was a farmer's son and worked at the Great Boulder Mine as a filter press hand. The family lived on Dwyer Street.
Christopher enlisted into the army and served in France
during World War I
. He returned home disabled and was unable to resume his work at the mine, consequently purchasing a block of virgin bush at Kendenup
to begin farming as an orchard
ist. It was here that Rica met botanical artist Emily Pelloe
in 1921. Pelloe was introduced after Jack De Garis
, the publisher of Pelloe's books, gave the Sandilands family a gift of her just published Wildflowers of Western Australia as a Christmas present.
She returned to the goldfields to attend Eastern Goldfields High School, staying with her grandmother for five years. While living in Boulder
she joined Girl Guides Australia where she developed an interest in birds and flowering plants. Choosing a career of teaching she was appointed as monitor teacher at her family town of Kendenup in 1924. After Kendenup, she was transferred to Mount Barker
, Dumbleyung
and Gnowangerup
and in 1927 went to Perth
and entered Claremont Teachers College
for the required one year of training to become a country teacher. While there she met Dom Serventy and joined the Western Australian Naturalists' Club
.
By 1931 she was teaching at isolated one-teacher schools such as Aurora between Cranbrook
and Kojonup
, and later at Young's Siding near Wilson Inlet
, and Denmark
. The countryside on the southern coast piqued an interest in orchids and coincided with the publication of her friend Emily Pelloe's second book, West Australian Orchids. Eminent orchidologists Edith Coleman
and Dr. Richard Sanders Rogers were quoted extensively in Pelloe's book, and Erickson established contact, sending them sketches and pressings of orchids found in her region. Wilson Inlet was the site of many specimens painted in 1881 by Robert D. FitzGerald
, who published the important work Australian Orchids. In Christmas 1931 she holidayed in Victoria and met Coleman and Rogers who encouraged her further study. Knowing she would be returning to a school posting near Wilson Inlet, Rogers instructed her on the finer details of painting the plants using pen and ink instead of pencil as she did previously.
After several years teaching on the southern coast of Western Australia, Erickson requested and received a transfer to the school at Bolgart
north of Toodyay
in 1934. It was here that she regularly passed by Hawthornden, the historic house of pioneer settler, botanist
and naturalist
James Drummond
. Later she would write a detailed family history of the Drummond family, in The Drummonds of Hawthornden, as well as histories of the surrounding districts in The Victoria Plains and Old Toodyay and Newcastle. Another interest that she followed in Bolgart was bee
s and wasp
s, which she studied with the apiologist Tarlton Rayment
.
In Bolgart she met share-farmer and future husband Sydney "Syd" Uden Erickson (1908–1987) and they were married in Fremantle in June 1936. The couple bought land at Bolgart in 1938, which they cleared and named Fairlea. They raised four children: Dorothy (born 1939), John (1940), Bethel (1942), and Robin (1943); the next few years were devoted largely to raising the children and establishing the farm. However Erickson maintained her interest in natural history and in 1951 published her first book, the self-illustrated Orchids of the West. This was followed by Triggerplants in 1958.
The state botanist Charles Gardner
ran a wildflower
tour in 1957 for the Midland Railway Road Service. The following year Erickson was invited to lead the tour, taking the opportunity for a paid holiday. In later years she led other groups of tourists on nature based tours in the south and north of the state.
In 1965 the couple travelled to Europe for a holiday where Rica spent some time studying Drummond's plant specimens at the Kew Gardens herbarium
in London
, which were sent from Western Australia in the mid-19th century. On their return, they retired from farm life and settled in the Perth suburb of Nedlands
, where Erickson wrote several more books. She became a member of the Royal Western Australian Historical Society
and her writing during this period focussed on the early days of the state's European settlement, and its convict era. She wrote a history of the society called Forty Years of the Royal Western Australian Historical Society: 1936-1976 which was published in Early Days
. Assisted by a group of volunteers, she compiled the first three volumes of the Dictionary of West Australians in time for Western Australia's sesquicentennial year of 1979.
In 1973 Flowers and Plants of Western Australia was first published. This book on Western Australian wildflowers and designed for popular use contained over 500 colour photographs and was the combined effort of Erickson as chairman and coordinator, Alex George
and Neville Marchant as botanists, and Michael Morcombe as the photographer.
Syd died in 1987. Rica died on 8 September 2009 at Mosman Park.
petitioned the Victoria Plains Shire Council for the protection of 124 hectares (306.4 acre) of remaining forest along the Old Plains Road, about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south-west of Calingiri
, an important track through the bush which was blazed by Drummond in 1842. The reserve is located at 31°8′39"S 116°17′39"E.
The request was granted, and in 1996, following another request from the Association, the Department of Conservation and Land Management named Reserve 27595 the Rica Erickson Nature Reserve. Naming the reserve after a living person was an unusual step for the Department's naming committee. Over three hundred people attended the official opening on 11 August 1996.
Google Street View of nature reserve entrance. http://maps.google.com/maps?q=-38.219124,141.776002&ie=UTF8&layer=c&cbll=-31.143997,116.294918&panoid=XvOlFTvTIqBNey8bLrCxTg&cbp=1,122.14587827080568,,0,0.19382740209322186&ll=-31.125554,116.303587&spn=0.03152,0.086517&t=h&z=14
of doctor of letters from the University of Western Australia
for her research and work in the field of botany. In the same year she was named Western Australian Citizen of the Year
in the category of the Arts, Culture and Entertainment, and in 1987 was made a Member of the Order of Australia
, "in recognition of service to the arts, particularly as an author and illustrator".
In May 2007 she was awarded the Heritage Council of Western Australia
individual award for her life long contribution to heritage in Western Australia.
Noted botanist Alex George
with whom she co-wrote Flowers and Plants of Western Australia in 1973, wrote: "Rica Erickson has been one of the foremost amateur natural historians in Western Australia in the 20th Century."
Ronda Jamieson, Director of the J S Battye Library
in Western Australia said "Rica Erickson is one of Western Australia's treasures". The State Library houses the Rica Erickson collection, a repository which includes manuscripts of her publications, background papers relating to the genealogical dictionaries, all of her published works, field journals, and 500 of her botanical art works. A website maintained by the library has been created as a tribute to her.
In 2004, Stephen Hopper
and Andrew P. Brown named an orchid genus Ericksonella
in her honour.
Botany:
Historical:
Contributions to natural and general history books
Papers and articles
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
, née Sandilands, (10 August 1908 – 8 September 2009) was an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n naturalist
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
, botanical artist
Botanical illustrator
A botanical illustrator is a person who paints, sketches or otherwise illustrates botanical subjects such as trees and flowers. The job requires great artistic skill, attention to fine detail, and technical botanical knowledge...
, historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
. Without any formal scientific training, she wrote extensively on botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
and bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s, as well as genealogy
Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
and general history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
. Erickson authored ten books, co-authored four, was editor of twelve, and author or co-author of numerous papers and articles that have been printed in popular, scientific and encyclopaedic publications.
Biography
Born in Boulder, Western AustraliaBoulder, Western Australia
Boulder was a town in the Western Australian goldfields east of Perth and bordering onto the town of Kalgoorlie in the Eastern Goldfields region. Until 1989 it was part of its own municipality. In 1989 the towns of Kalgoorlie and Boulder were merged to form the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder...
, Erickson was the eldest of eight children of Phoebe Cooke and Christopher Sandilands, both of whom immigrated to Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
from Victoria in 1906, and met in the goldfield town. Christopher Sandilands was a farmer's son and worked at the Great Boulder Mine as a filter press hand. The family lived on Dwyer Street.
Christopher enlisted into the army and served in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. He returned home disabled and was unable to resume his work at the mine, consequently purchasing a block of virgin bush at Kendenup
Kendenup, Western Australia
Kendenup is a small town in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, within the Shire of Plantagenet. It is south east of Perth and north of Mount Barker. The Great Southern Railway passes through the town, being one of the original stations on the line...
to begin farming as an orchard
Orchard
An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive...
ist. It was here that Rica met botanical artist Emily Pelloe
Emily Pelloe
Emily Harriet Pelloe was a botanical illustrator, and author of books, of the flowering plants of Western Australia...
in 1921. Pelloe was introduced after Jack De Garis
Jack De Garis
Clement John De Garis was an Australian entrepreneur and aviator, noted for his colourful marketing style and work in the dried fruits industries in the Sunraysia area around Mildura in the 1920s.-Early years:...
, the publisher of Pelloe's books, gave the Sandilands family a gift of her just published Wildflowers of Western Australia as a Christmas present.
She returned to the goldfields to attend Eastern Goldfields High School, staying with her grandmother for five years. While living in Boulder
Boulder, Western Australia
Boulder was a town in the Western Australian goldfields east of Perth and bordering onto the town of Kalgoorlie in the Eastern Goldfields region. Until 1989 it was part of its own municipality. In 1989 the towns of Kalgoorlie and Boulder were merged to form the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder...
she joined Girl Guides Australia where she developed an interest in birds and flowering plants. Choosing a career of teaching she was appointed as monitor teacher at her family town of Kendenup in 1924. After Kendenup, she was transferred to Mount Barker
Mount Barker, Western Australia
Mount Barker is a town on the Albany Highway and is the administrative centre of the Shire of Plantagenet in the Great Southern region of Western Australia...
, Dumbleyung
Dumbleyung, Western Australia
Dumbleyung is a town and shire in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, south-east of Perth between Wagin and Lake Grace on State Route 107.-History:...
and Gnowangerup
Gnowangerup, Western Australia
Gnowangerup is a town located south east of Katanning in the Great Southern region of Western Australia. The townsite was first gazetted in 1908 under the spelling of Ngowangerupp. Local dissatisfaction with this spelling led to it being altered to Gnowangerup in 1913.A branch railway from...
and in 1927 went to Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
and entered Claremont Teachers College
Claremont Teachers College
Claremont Teachers College was Western Australia’s first post-secondary teaching institution. It opened in 1902 and closed in 1981, when it became a College of Advanced Education and later a campus of Edith Cowan University. The building is on land between Goldsworthy, Princess and Bay Roads in the...
for the required one year of training to become a country teacher. While there she met Dom Serventy and joined the Western Australian Naturalists' Club
Western Australian Naturalists' Club
The Western Australian Naturalists' Club , founded in Perth, Western Australia, in 1924, is one of the oldest conservation groups in Australia...
.
By 1931 she was teaching at isolated one-teacher schools such as Aurora between Cranbrook
Cranbrook, Western Australia
Cranbrook is a small town in the Great Southern region of Western Australia between Katanning, Kojonup and Mount Barker, situated 320km south of Perth. It is billed as "The Gateway to the Stirlings", referring to the nearby Stirling Range National Park...
and Kojonup
Kojonup, Western Australia
Kojonup is a town located 256 km south-east of Perth, Western Australia along Albany Highway.The name Kojonup is believed to refer to the "Kodja" or stone axe made by Indigenous Australians from the local stone....
, and later at Young's Siding near Wilson Inlet
Wilson Inlet
Wilson Inlet is an inlet located in the Great Southern region of Western Australia.The inlet receives water from the two main rivers: the Denmark River and the Hay River and some smaller rivers and streams such as the Sleeman River, Little River and Cuppup Creek...
, and Denmark
Denmark, Western Australia
Denmark is a town in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, south-south-east of the state capital of Perth. At the 2006 census, Denmark had a population of 2,732.-History:...
. The countryside on the southern coast piqued an interest in orchids and coincided with the publication of her friend Emily Pelloe's second book, West Australian Orchids. Eminent orchidologists Edith Coleman
Edith Coleman
Edith Coleman was an australian naturalist who made important observations on pollination syndromes in Australian plant species.-References:*Allan McEvey, , Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 13, Melbourne University Press, 1993, p. 463....
and Dr. Richard Sanders Rogers were quoted extensively in Pelloe's book, and Erickson established contact, sending them sketches and pressings of orchids found in her region. Wilson Inlet was the site of many specimens painted in 1881 by Robert D. FitzGerald
Robert D. Fitzgerald
Robert David FitzGerald was an Irish-Australian surveyor, ornithologist, botanist and poet...
, who published the important work Australian Orchids. In Christmas 1931 she holidayed in Victoria and met Coleman and Rogers who encouraged her further study. Knowing she would be returning to a school posting near Wilson Inlet, Rogers instructed her on the finer details of painting the plants using pen and ink instead of pencil as she did previously.
After several years teaching on the southern coast of Western Australia, Erickson requested and received a transfer to the school at Bolgart
Bolgart, Western Australia
Bolgart is a townsite north of Toodyay in Western Australia. It is in the Shire of Victoria Plains.The town derives its name from a nearby spring. The spring was discovered and the name recorded by explorer George Fletcher Moore in 1836. The area was settled in the 1840s and one of the first...
north of Toodyay
Toodyay, Western Australia
Toodyay is a town located in the Wheatbelt region in the Avon Valley, 85 km north-east of Perth, Western Australia. Toodyay is connected to Perth via both rail and road.-History:...
in 1934. It was here that she regularly passed by Hawthornden, the historic house of pioneer settler, botanist
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
and naturalist
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
James Drummond
James Drummond (botanist)
James Drummond was a botanist and naturalist who was an early settler in Western Australia.-Early life:...
. Later she would write a detailed family history of the Drummond family, in The Drummonds of Hawthornden, as well as histories of the surrounding districts in The Victoria Plains and Old Toodyay and Newcastle. Another interest that she followed in Bolgart was bee
Bee
Bees are flying insects closely related to wasps and ants, and are known for their role in pollination and for producing honey and beeswax. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea, presently classified by the unranked taxon name Anthophila...
s and wasp
Wasp
The term wasp is typically defined as any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant. Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it or parasitizes it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their...
s, which she studied with the apiologist Tarlton Rayment
Tarlton Rayment
Percy Tarlton Rayment FRZS was an Australian artist, author, broadcaster, poet, naturalist, entomologist and beekeeper of English origin. He was born in Reading, Berkshire, moved to Australia as a young man, and died in Melbourne, Victoria...
.
In Bolgart she met share-farmer and future husband Sydney "Syd" Uden Erickson (1908–1987) and they were married in Fremantle in June 1936. The couple bought land at Bolgart in 1938, which they cleared and named Fairlea. They raised four children: Dorothy (born 1939), John (1940), Bethel (1942), and Robin (1943); the next few years were devoted largely to raising the children and establishing the farm. However Erickson maintained her interest in natural history and in 1951 published her first book, the self-illustrated Orchids of the West. This was followed by Triggerplants in 1958.
The state botanist Charles Gardner
Charles Gardner
Charles Austin Gardner was a Western Australian botanist.Born in Lancaster, England on 6 January 1896, he emigrated to Western Australia with his family in 1909....
ran a wildflower
Wildflower
A wildflower is a flower that grows wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. Yet "wildflower" meadows of a few mixed species are sold in seed packets. The term "wildflower" has been made vague by commercial seedsmen who are interested in selling more flowers or seeds more...
tour in 1957 for the Midland Railway Road Service. The following year Erickson was invited to lead the tour, taking the opportunity for a paid holiday. In later years she led other groups of tourists on nature based tours in the south and north of the state.
In 1965 the couple travelled to Europe for a holiday where Rica spent some time studying Drummond's plant specimens at the Kew Gardens herbarium
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to as Kew Gardens, is 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. "The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" and the brand name "Kew" are also used as umbrella terms for the institution that runs...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, which were sent from Western Australia in the mid-19th century. On their return, they retired from farm life and settled in the Perth suburb of Nedlands
Nedlands, Western Australia
The City of Nedlands is a Local Government Area in the inner western suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth, located about west of Perth's central business district...
, where Erickson wrote several more books. She became a member of the Royal Western Australian Historical Society
Royal Western Australian Historical Society
Royal Western Australian Historical Society has for many decades been the main association for Western Australians to collectively work for adequate understanding and protection of the cultural heritage of Perth and Western Australia...
and her writing during this period focussed on the early days of the state's European settlement, and its convict era. She wrote a history of the society called Forty Years of the Royal Western Australian Historical Society: 1936-1976 which was published in Early Days
Early Days
Early Days is the name of the annual journal of the Royal Western Australian Historical Society. It has been published regularly since 1927 and includes articles relating to the History of Western Australia written by society members or delivered at the monthly general meetings...
. Assisted by a group of volunteers, she compiled the first three volumes of the Dictionary of West Australians in time for Western Australia's sesquicentennial year of 1979.
In 1973 Flowers and Plants of Western Australia was first published. This book on Western Australian wildflowers and designed for popular use contained over 500 colour photographs and was the combined effort of Erickson as chairman and coordinator, Alex George
Alex George
Alexander Segger George is a Western Australian botanist. He is the authority on the plant genera Banksia and Dryandra...
and Neville Marchant as botanists, and Michael Morcombe as the photographer.
Syd died in 1987. Rica died on 8 September 2009 at Mosman Park.
Nature reserve
In 1964, the Bolgart Branch of the Country Women's AssociationCountry Women's Association
The Country Women’s Association of Australia is the largest women's organisation in Australia. It has 44,000 members across 1855 branches. Its aims are to improve the conditions for country women and children and to try to make life better for women and their families, especially those women...
petitioned the Victoria Plains Shire Council for the protection of 124 hectares (306.4 acre) of remaining forest along the Old Plains Road, about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south-west of Calingiri
Calingiri, Western Australia
Calingiri is a town located north-east of Perth, near New Norcia in Western Australia. It is in the Shire of Victoria Plains.The town derives its name from Calingiri Waterhole, the name of which was first recorded by a surveyor in 1903. The settlement was first proposed in 1914...
, an important track through the bush which was blazed by Drummond in 1842. The reserve is located at 31°8′39"S 116°17′39"E.
The request was granted, and in 1996, following another request from the Association, the Department of Conservation and Land Management named Reserve 27595 the Rica Erickson Nature Reserve. Naming the reserve after a living person was an unusual step for the Department's naming committee. Over three hundred people attended the official opening on 11 August 1996.
Google Street View of nature reserve entrance. http://maps.google.com/maps?q=-38.219124,141.776002&ie=UTF8&layer=c&cbll=-31.143997,116.294918&panoid=XvOlFTvTIqBNey8bLrCxTg&cbp=1,122.14587827080568,,0,0.19382740209322186&ll=-31.125554,116.303587&spn=0.03152,0.086517&t=h&z=14
Awards and recognition
In 1980 she was awarded an honorary degreeHonorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
of doctor of letters from the University of Western Australia
University of Western Australia
The University of Western Australia was established by an Act of the Western Australian Parliament in February 1911, and began teaching students for the first time in 1913. It is the oldest university in the state of Western Australia and the only university in the state to be a member of the...
for her research and work in the field of botany. In the same year she was named Western Australian Citizen of the Year
Western Australian Citizen of the Year Award
The Western Australian Citizen of the Year Awards were first presented in 1973 by the Western Australia Week Council, later renamed Celebrate WA, to provide the community with an opportunity to honour the achievements and contribution of their fellow citizens....
in the category of the Arts, Culture and Entertainment, and in 1987 was made a Member of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
, "in recognition of service to the arts, particularly as an author and illustrator".
In May 2007 she was awarded the Heritage Council of Western Australia
Heritage Council of Western Australia
The Heritage Council of Western Australia is the Government of Western Australia agency created to identify, conserve and promote places of cultural heritage significance in the state.It was created under the Heritage of Western Australia Act...
individual award for her life long contribution to heritage in Western Australia.
Noted botanist Alex George
Alex George
Alexander Segger George is a Western Australian botanist. He is the authority on the plant genera Banksia and Dryandra...
with whom she co-wrote Flowers and Plants of Western Australia in 1973, wrote: "Rica Erickson has been one of the foremost amateur natural historians in Western Australia in the 20th Century."
Ronda Jamieson, Director of the J S Battye Library
J S Battye Library
The J S Battye Library is an arm of the State Library of Western Australia...
in Western Australia said "Rica Erickson is one of Western Australia's treasures". The State Library houses the Rica Erickson collection, a repository which includes manuscripts of her publications, background papers relating to the genealogical dictionaries, all of her published works, field journals, and 500 of her botanical art works. A website maintained by the library has been created as a tribute to her.
In 2004, Stephen Hopper
Stephen Hopper
Stephen Donald Hopper is a Western Australian botanist, specialising in conservation biology and vascular plants. He has written eight books, and has over 200 publications to his name. He was Director of Kings Park in Perth for seven years, and CEO of the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority for five...
and Andrew P. Brown named an orchid genus Ericksonella
Ericksonella
Ericksonella is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae.- References :*Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J., Chase, M.A. & Rasmussen, F. eds. . Genera Orchidacearum 1. Oxford Univ. Press....
in her honour.
Works
A bibliography of works is at SLSWABotany:
Historical:
Contributions to natural and general history books
- Erickson was the head compiler of the Dictionary of West Australians in its many volumes.
Papers and articles
- Articles in The West AustralianThe West AustralianThe West Australian is the only locally-edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia, and is owned by ASX-listed Seven West Media . The West is published in tabloid format, as is the state's other major newspaper, The Sunday Times, a News Limited publication...
regarding natural history in the 1950s. - Springtime in the Stirlings - The West AustralianThe West AustralianThe West Australian is the only locally-edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia, and is owned by ASX-listed Seven West Media . The West is published in tabloid format, as is the state's other major newspaper, The Sunday Times, a News Limited publication...
17 November 1951 p. 11 - re climbing Mondurup at the west end of the Range. - Australian Orchid Review
- Australian Plants
- Bird Study for Bird Lovers
- The Emu: Official Organ of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists UnionRoyal Australasian Ornithologists UnionThe Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union, also known as Birds Australia, was founded in 1901 to promote the study and conservation of the native bird species of Australia and adjacent regions. This makes it Australia's oldest national birding association. It is also Australia's largest...
- Flowers & plants of Western Australia (with AS George AS, NG Marchant and MK Morcombe )(1986) (Reed, Sydney).
- The Perth Mint Wildflower Chart
- The Victorian Naturalist
- The Western Australian Naturalist
- Western Wildlife
- Wild Life
- Wildlife and Outdoors
- Wildlife in Australia
External links
Further reading
- Layman, Lenore (editor) (2001) Rica's Stories/Rica Erickson Nedlands, W.A. Royal Western Australian Historical SocietyRoyal Western Australian Historical SocietyRoyal Western Australian Historical Society has for many decades been the main association for Western Australians to collectively work for adequate understanding and protection of the cultural heritage of Perth and Western Australia...
. ISBN 0909845050 - including the select bibliography pp. 243–247.