Joseph Banks and the continuing influence of European colonisation on Australian herbal practice

The practice of Western herbal medicine in Australia is characterised by a dependence on botanically exotic species rather than those which are native and indigenous to this country. Medicinal herbs were among the plants chosen by botanist Sir Joseph Banks to be transported from England for cultivation in the new Australian colony in 1788. While there are some records of the use of local medicinal plants by early settlers, evidence of this information originating from Indigenous Australians is absent and today very few native or indigenous plants are found in the materia medica used by Western herbalists in Australia. It is argued that the plants herbalists use reflect a connection with Western culture rather than a connection with the Australian landscape or indigenous culture.