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Jan Sked

Bill Tulloch was an active and devoted members of the Society for Growing Australian Plants. He and his wife, Agnes, began their association with SGAP in Adelaide. In fact they were instrumental in the establishment of SGAP in South Australia, the inaugural meeting taking place in the Tulloch home in Adelaide on 9^th April 1958. It was actually Agnes who was first interested in native plants, some time before Bill became involved.

They remained active in the South Australian Region until the family moved to Queensland in 1965 and Bill and Agnes became members of SGAP Queensland Region. Along with other activities, Bill organized and maintained the Seed Bank with meticulous care, from 1968 to 1972, and was always willing to advise and encourage others with his knowledge and enthusiasm. He corresponded with many members, supplying information about the seeds they requested. He propagated many thousands of native plants, which he passed on to others through friends and the Society.

Bill was one of the main instigators for our annual Spring Flower Show and he pressed for the inclusion of a plants sales section, for which he propagated the majority of the plants.

In April 1974 Bill and Agnes Tulloch were awarded Honorary Life Membership of the SGAP Qld. Region for their long and distinguished service to the Society.

When Bill passed away in June 1974, the Queensland Regional Council of SGAP decided to perpetuate his memory by instituting an annual Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture.

Past lectures

The first Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture was given on 9^th June 1975 by David Hockings, who was then a district adviser with the Qld. DPI, and a foundation member of the Society for Growing Australian Plants, a previous President and ASGAP Secretary, as well as a close friend of Bill Tulloch. David is now one of our Honorary Life Members. His talk was about the effects of climate and soil on native plants and explaining the difficulties these impose on gardening in some areas.

The second Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture was presented by Harold Caulfield on 15^th June 1976. Harold was then Curator of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens and the foundation President of the SGAP in Queensland. His subject was "The Potential of Australian Palms as Cultivated Plants", and he provided very interesting information about many of our little-known native palms, as well as specimens of some of them.

The third Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture was given on 23^rd April 1977 by Selwyn Everist, retired Director of the Queensland Herbarium, a botanist for over forty years and author of the book, "Poisonous Plants of Australia". His lecture was "Forty-five Years On - A Botanist Looks Back", and gave a delightful account of his experiences as a botanist in Queensland.

The fourth Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture was given by John Donohue on 22^nd March 1978. John was the first Honorary Life Member of Townsville Branch of SGAP and their foundation Chairman. In his lecture, "We Have Only Scratched the Surface", he described many of the native plants of tropical Australia which were only then being discovered and brought into cultivation.

The fifth Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture was delivered at the Queensland Regional Conference in Rockhampton on 6^th May 1979 by Tom Wyatt, Curator of the Rockhampton Botanic Gardens. His lecture was "Cyclones and the Need for Trees", in which he spoke of the necessity to create greater awareness of the social benefit of trees and their need in cyclonic areas.

The sixth Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture was given by Arthur Chapman on 27^th April 1980. Arthur had been foundation Secretary of the Townsville Branch of SGAP. On moving to Canberra in 1974, he joined the Canberra Region of the Society, where he held a number of positions, including President and Secretary. At the time of the lecture, he was employed by the Australian Biological Resources Study, working on the preparation of the Australian Plant Name Index. Arthur's lecture was titled "Native Plant Awareness" and he spoke about the early settlers' attitude to native plants and the gradual change of attitudes with the passing years to the present time.

The seventh Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture was presented on the 13^th April 1981 by Dr. Len Webb, Honorary Fellow of the School of Australian Environmental Studies at Griffith University and a leading world authority on the ecology of rainforests. His lecture, "Australian Rainforests - Past, Present and Future", gave an insight into the geological and fossil history of rainforests, common ancestry of genera, disjunct species, refuge areas, preservation and the future of rainforests in Australia - a most comprehensive talk.

The eighth Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture was given by Merv Hodge at the SGAP Regional Conference on 26^th April 1982. Merv, of course, is now an Honorary Life Member of SGAP Queensland Region and has served on the Regional Council in various positions for many years, including President and Secretary, also ASGAP President. His lecture was titled, "S.G.A.P. - Past, Present and Future", in which he discussed the past history of the Society, its current standing and his thoughts for its future.

The ninth Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture was presented at the SGAP Regional Conference in Mackay on 2^nd April 1983 by Don Glasgow, who was a prominent member of Townsville Branch, with an extensive knowledge of native plants. The title of his lecture was "The Tree" and that is exactly what it was about - a very detailed study of all aspects of trees.

The tenth Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture was given once again by David Hockings on 1^st July 1984 at the SGAP Regional Conference in Townsville. David's talk was "Native Plant Growers - Bigoted Purists or Dedicated Horticulturists?" and he explored this theme in all its various aspects, concluding his lecture with a selection of slides, accompanied by fascinating tidbits of information about each.

The eleventh Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture was given by Professor R.L. Spect, Professor of Botany, University of Queensland, at the Annual General Meeting of SGAP Queensland Region on 9^th April 1985. The title was "Nutritional Problems of Native Plants", in which he discussed many aspects of plant nutrition, ecology, cultivation and experimentation of native plants in many areas.

The twelfth Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture was given at the SGAP Regional Conference hosted by Cairns and Tablelands Branches and took place in Cairns on 17^th June 1986. Margaret Haupt, proprietor of Honeytree Native Nursery in Cairns and a staunch SGAP member, titled her lecture "New Plant Introductions - SGAP's Role?" and spoke about bringing new species and cultivars into commercial production and the role SGAP should play in this project.

The thirteenth Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture was given by Professor Trevor Clifford of Botany Department, University of Queensland, on 29^th September 1987 at the Wallum Yabba Conference at Coolum. "Australian Sedges" was the title of his lecture and he spoke about the various members of the Cyperaceae family, which are the species now generally known as sedges.

The fourteenth Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture was given at the SGAP Bicentennial Year Regional Conference hosted by Gladstone Branch at Tannum Sands in September 1988. It was prepared by Merv Hodge, who was unable to deliver it in person. The title was "Grafting Native Plants", a subject on which Merv has become quite an expert and now conducts his own business in this field.

The fifteenth Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture was given by Barry Jahnke, Science Teacher at St. Peter's Lutheran College, Indooroopilly, on 9^th July 1990, at the Mt. Coot-tha Botanic Gardens Theatrette, Toowong, Brisbane. The title was "Can't See the Environment for the Plants - A Public View of Vegetation", in which he discussed human attitudes and impact on our flora, the outcome of these and his perception of its future.

The sixteenth Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture was presented at the SGAP Regional Conference hosted by Pine Rivers Branch on 5^th April 1991 at the North Pine Country Park at Whiteside, just north of Brisbane. Peter Jurd, former President of the Queensland Region, titled his lecture "The Bancrofts and Australian Botany", which was a study of this very interesting family and their impact on botany and medicine, particularly in Queensland.

The seventeenth Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture was given by Professor John Pearn, Head of the Department of Child Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland, whose interests include the teaching and research of early medical history. This lecture was delivered at the Mt. Coot-tha Botanic Gardens Theatrette on 9^th June 1992. It was titled "Flora, Fevers and Pharmacy" and gave a fascinating account of early medical botanising in Australia.

The eighteenth Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture was given on 8^th November 1993 at the Mt. Coot-tha Botanic Gardens Theatrette by Dr. Ross McKenzie, Senior Principal Veterinary Pathologist in the Qld. D.P.I. His subject was "Australian Native Poisonous Plants", and he discussed the importance and scope of plant poisoning in Australia, what makes a plant poisonous and the various poisonous native plants.

The nineteenth Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture was delivered during the SGAP Regional Conference hosted by Ipswich Branch at the Maroon Outdoor Education Centre on 1^st April 1994. Paul Forster, a Senior Botanist at the Queensland Herbarium, gave the lecture, titled "The Flora of the Scenic Rim", which was very appropriate to that particular Conference, and included slides of many of the magnificent vistas of the area and the associated plants.

The twentieth Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture was given by Glenn Thomas, a Lecturer in Landscape Architecture at the QUT and a past President of ASGAP and the SGAP Queensland Region, at the Mt. Coot-tha Botanic Gardens Theatrette on 13^th March 1995. Glenn's subject was "Preservation by Cultivation - SGAP and Agenda 21" and was a very comprehensive and diverse topic.

The twenty-first Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture was presented at the SGAP Regional Conference in Rockhampton on 25^th September 1996. Eric Anderson, an agronomist with the D.P.I. in Rockhampton, well known SGAP personality and author of "Plants of Central Queensland", was the lecturer. His subject was "Brigalow …. diversity, despair, development, d'landcare" and was an excellent talk on this plant community with which Eric is so familiar.

The twenty-second Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture was given at the Mt. Coot-tha Botanic Gardens Theatrette on 10^th March 1997 by Peter Beal, Principal Horticulturist at Redlands Research Station, Qld. D.P.I. The subject - "Commercialisation of Australian Wildflowers" - which proved very interesting for everyone.

The twenty-third Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture was given on Monday, 29^th June, 1998, by Associate Professor Betsy Jackes during the 1998 SGAP Queensland Region Conference held at Townsville. Her lecture was "Plants, Animals, Sex - or - Don't Kill the Messengers", a very enlightening talk about the importance of pollinators, not only to the survival of our native plants, but also the success of our crops.

The twenty-fourth Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture was given by Emeritus Professor Ray Specht at the Mt. Coot-tha Botanic Gardens Theatrette on 8^th March 1999. The title of his lecture was "Nutrition of Heathland Plants". Professor Specht is the world authority on heathlands and their component flora and has had a lifelong interest in nutrition of heathland forests. His interesting talk was accompanied by slides. Professor Specht also presented the eleventh Bill Tulloch Memorial Lecture in 1985.

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