Mount Lesueur

Mount Lesueur
Elevation 313 m (1,027 ft) [1]
Location
Location Western Australia
Range Gairdner Range

Mount Lesueur is a near-circular, flat-topped mesa located 21 kilometres from Jurien Bay in Western Australia.[2] It rises above the surrounding lateritic plain of Lesueur National Park which has eroded away around it.[2]

Mount Lesueur was first sighted and named by Europeans as the French ship the Naturaliste sailed past Jurien Bay on its voyage up the Western Australian coast.[2] It was named in honour of Charles Alexander Lesueur, a natural history artist on board the ship. The next recorded sighting was by Captain George Grey, who led a small party through the area in 1839 after they were shipwecked near Kalbarri.[2] In 1849 a party led by A.C. Gregory ascended Mount Lesueur.[3] They were followed the next year by botanical collector James Drummond on the first of his many visits to the area.[2][3]

A reserve (No.24275) was created around Mount Lesueur for "educational purposes" in the 1950s.[3] A more extensive area was gazetted as a national park in 1992.[3]

Mount Lesueur has an extremely high level of plant biodiversity, making it of immense research and conservation importance to botanists.

References

  1. ^ "Mount Lesueur". Gazeteer of Australia. Geoscience Australia. http://www.ga.gov.au/bin/gazd01?rec=272850. Retrieved 2009-07-17. 
  2. ^ a b c d e "Lesueur National Park". Park Finder. Department of Conservation and Environment. http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/hotproperty/property/national-parks/lesueur-national-park.html. Retrieved 2009-07-17. 
  3. ^ a b c d "Management Plan:Lesueur National Park and Coomallo Nature Reserve1995 - 2005". Department of Conservation and Land Management. 1995. http://www.naturebase.net/pdf/nature/management/lesueur.pdf. Retrieved 2009-07-17.