A visitor to a Quaker Meeting stands up after 5 minutes of silence & asks, "When does the service begin?" An old Friend rises after a brief reflection & says," Service begins when the worship ends."
Most Australians are cognizant with the Backhousia ~ or lemon scented myrtle. It is endemic to the sub~tropical rainforests of central & southeastern Queensland & if you haunt the foodies court at the EKKA you will have come across some of the various culinary concoctions & oils made from this plant.
What you probably don't know is who the plant was named for. James Backhouse was an English Quaker who visited Australia in 1832 under a *concern* for the convicts. He had begun his working life in a drug & grocery store but developed tuberculosis & decided an outdoor life would be much better for his health so studied to become a botanist. He & his brother Thomas then purchased a nursery at York & in 1824 he was admitted as a minister in the Society of Friends. Yes, we have ministers ~ people who are acknowledged to have a spoken gift ministry. Elizabeth Fry was also a Quaker minister. As part of her ministry to convicts she ministered to every ship that left the Thames for the colonies in Terras Australis. Quakers have always had a social conscience & a social impact disproportionate to their numbers.
Backhouse traveled & ministered throughout the Australian colonies for 6 years from Hobart in the south to Brisbane in the north. He published A Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies in 1843 discussing the colonies, the Aborigines. the convicts, the social conditions ~ & the botany!
He returned to England in 1841 resuming his nursery & ministry until he died in January of 1869 & was honoured by having the lemon myrtle named for him.
The Backhousia is an evergreen that can grow to 66' in height & gets clusters of creamy white flowers from summer through to autumn. As an oil it can be used for flavouring, as an essential oil or as an insect repellent. Aborigines used it both for cooking & healing. As a *bushfood* the leaves can be crushed & used as a tea, flavouring, or lemon replacement. It can be grown outside its native habitat if care is taken to protect it from frosts while young though it rarely exceeds 16' in height when grown as cultivated plant. After a scraggy adolescence it grows a dense canopy & the scent can fill a garden with its heady aroma.
As an aside & a really random bit of trivia, James Backhouse's son, also a James, grew the first pink daffodil! That's some weird.