The earliest known photo showing the noxious weed Asparagus fern
growing on Lord Howe Island in 1923. Recent visitor Ian Hutton,
Curator from the Lord Howe Island Museum, was pleased to find
this photograph showing Asparagus fern growing on the island in
1923. Anecdotally, it had previously been thought that the fern
came to the island much later, brought to the island in a bridal
bouquet in the 1930s. Declared a noxious weed, the fine-leafed
fern is a prime target for the weed eradication programs Friends
of Lord Howe Island have run regularly on the island since 1995.
The 1923 photograph was taken by Museum scientist and talented
amateur photographer Anthony Musgrave in a year in which
(according to the Annual Report for the year) 'On account of a
shortage of funds no extended field work has been attempted this
year'. Instead, Musgrave and another dedicated young scientist
from the Museum, Gilbert Whitley, took a self-funded 'holiday'
to Lord Howe Island to collect insects and spiders which they
then presen