Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria |
Botanist and botanical illustrator. Illustrated his, Native
Trees and Shrubs of South-Eastern Australia (1981).
Leon Costermans was born in Melbourne
in 1933. Although his schooling was city-
based, he developed an early love of the
bush, and spent many weekends and
holidays hiking and camping.
After some years in the fields of motion
picture production and engineering, which
took him throughout Australia, he joined
the Victorian Education Department, took
a science degree at Melbourne University,
majoring in geology and geomorphology,
and taught science and mathematics at
country high schools.
Leon Costermans has had a long
association with the Scout Movement,
especially in the training of adult leaders.
His first book Trees of Victoria was written
in 1966, largely for people such as scouts
and walkers who had close contact with the
bush, but it quickly became more widely
used by the general public, and as a
standard reference in schools, colleges and
universities.
In 1972, he was appointed to the science staff at the State College of
Victoria at Frankston, becoming a senior lecturer.
In 1981 he published Native Trees and Shrubs of South-Eastern Australia which became a best-seller and remained in print for several decades.
Source: Back cover flap of Native Trees and Shrubs of SE Aust.
H.Hewson Australia - 300 Years of Botanical Illustration
(1999)
Portrait Photo: 1981, from back cover flap of above book
Data from 60 specimens