Stan Kelly did not limit himself to Australian native flora. This illustration features a flowering branch of a white camellia, native to eastern and southern Asia. It was a popular garden plant in Australia which had enjoyed a resurgence in the 1940s and 1950s.
Stan Kelly O.A.M. (1911 – 2001) was known in the Ararat region as an engine driver with a passion for the bush, and painting plants and flowers. In the wider world, Kelly was recognised as one of Australia’s premier botanical illustrators, especially respected for his published works on eucalypts.
Kelly's first book, Australian Eucalypts in Colour, was published in 1949, followed by his most celebrated work, Eucalypts Volumes I & II, first published in 1969, which became a core reference for students of Australian botany.
In 2009, a selection of Kelly’s botanical illustrations was adapted for the ‘N’ series Australian passport.