Mount Lesueur

Mount Lesueur
Elevation 313 m (1,027 ft)[1]
Location
Location Western Australia
Range Gairdner Range
Coordinates 30°10′31.8″S 115°11′56.7″E / 30.175500°S 115.199083°E

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. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Lesueur National Park". Park Finder. Department of Conservation and Environment. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Management Plan:Lesueur National Park and Coomallo Nature Reserve1995 - 2005". Department of Conservation and Land Management. 1995. Retrieved 2009-07-17.