scientific staff with many of his duplicates going to other herbaria in Australia and overseas. Constable lived in Blackheath from 1950 to 1967 and collected plants around the area as well as from Mount Tomah and Mount Wilson-Bell. He was also the president and vice-president of the Blackheath and District Horticultural Society. The species Apatophyllum constablei McGill and Hakea constablei, a prickly shrub found only in the Mount Wilson-Bell area, are named to commemorate him.
natural history and botany. She was also a talented botanical illustrator and produced many watercolour paintings and sketches of local orchids. Two varieties of orchids are named after her: Prasophyllum bowdeniae Rupp – the Freak Midge Orchid and the semi-parasitic, short-lived, perennial herb Euphrasia bowdeniae. During her life Bowden contributed significantly to the Blue Mountains community and was a founding member of the Blue Mountains Flora and Fauna Association, the Pioneer Way Association and the Blue Mountains Conservation Society. Bowden was particularly interested in the effects of fire upon the local bush and became an active member of the Blue Mountains Civil Defence (State Emergency Service). She also had close connections to the McManamey family, who owned the Woodford Academy, and ran a tea and coffee shop in the academy in the 1940s and 1960s. In 1985 Bowden was recognised for her outstanding contribution to the Blue Mountains community and was awarded the Order of Australia Medal.1
Isobel Bowden OAM (1908 - 1986) Isobel Bowden was born in Woodford in the Blue Mountains and became a passionate conservationist who dedicated her life to the promotion and protection of the unique flora of the Mountains and subsequently contributed significantly to their inscription into the UNESCO World Heritage List. Bowden was a keen bushwalker and environmental activist and had an interest Image left: Ernest Constable, reproduction of photographic print, ca. 1950. Local Studies Collection, Blue Mountains City Libraries. Image right: Bowden with Marie, at the Gentlemen’s Pool, Murphy’s Glen, reproduction of photographic print: Local Studies Collection, Blue Mountains City Libraries 1 From information compiled by historian Ken Goodlet and Kate O’Neill for the exhibition Blue Mountains Botanicals watercolours by Isobel Bowden at Woodford Academy, 2016