Sweedman, Luke S. J. (1958 - )
Born in 1958 in Sydney, NSW.
Luke was born in Sydney but left for the west in 1988 to seek his fame and fortune.
In his own words:
"In 1990, I was lucky enough to be employed by the WA state government as their seed collector in Kings Park and Botanic Gardens. My job involves collecting seed from throughout the state for conservation in the WA Seed Bank and for display in the Botanic Gardens. I spend several months a year in the bush which I love."
He took over the role of seed collector from Herbert Demarz in 1990.
Luke has collected widely in Western Australia with over 4500 collections duplicated
at KPBG and PERTH. Sweedman made 8763 collections for Kings Park and contributed over 1200 seed collections to the Millennium Seed Bank Project.
He
collaborated with Dave Merritt and other seed biologists to produce the book 'Australian seeds : a guide to their collection, identification and biology'.
Sweedman and Grady Brand have published a research paper
on the horticultural potential of Acacia.
Luke has written poetry all his life and in recent years has had his poetry on display in Kings Park Botanic Gardens as part of the Wildflower Festival.
His poetry explores themes and responses from his travels in the more remote, wild natural landscapes of WA through his plant collecting work. It often has a botanical focus.
Sweedman is honoured by the eucalypt species
Eucalyptus sweedmaniana Hopper & McQuoid (2009).
Source: Extracted from:
https://www.vgls.vic.gov.au/client/en_AU/vgls/search/results?qu=Australian+seeds+%3A+a+guide+to+their+collection%2C+identification+and+biology&te=&ps=300
https://redroompoetry.org/poets/luke-sweedman/
Barratt, Russell, 'Half a Century of Botanical Research and Discovery in Western
Australia by Kings Park and Botanic Garden', J. Zool. Bot. Gard. , 2026, 7, 15
Portrait Photo: 2019, https://redroompoetry.org/poets/luke-sweedman/.
Collecting localities for 'Sweedman, L.S.J.' from AVH (2026)
Data from 2,048 specimens
