Lechenaultia biloba, a herbaceous plant that bursts with striking blue flowers, appeared in south-west Western Australia approximately sixty-seven million years ago when its clade diverged from the Goodeniaceae family. It has been described by Noongar people as ‘the floor of the sky’ and was named for Jean Baptiste Leschenault de la Tour, the chief botanist on Nicolas Baudin’s expedition to Australia in 1800.

This paper traces the history of Lechenaultia biloba over deep time to the present day, rendering its journeying through soil and into the hands of Noongar people, English collectors (Georgiana Molloy and James Drummond), horticulturalists (James Mangles), botanists (Leschenault de la Tour and John Lindley), and contemporary scientists who are mapping the history of Goodeniaceae through molecular dating. In doing so, it argues for a history defined by plants rather than humans.

At the same time it reveals how inextricably our lives are bound with plants. Not only do we depend upon them for our survival, but they act as signifiers of culture which shifts through centuries. The paper ends with a call for a greater consideration of plants, particularly in the South-West Australian Floristic Region, a global hotspot of biodiversity.