Dr Keith Oliver’s Kangaroo Paw Living Legacy

The iconic Kangaroo Paw is world renowned in many ways thanks to the work of Dr Keith Oliver, who dedicated much of his later life to producing hybridized cultivar plants suitable for landscaping. Following his hobby in the 1960s Keith created a professional business career in the 1980s and was an Honorary Research Associate at Murdoch University in 1996-98, and received his PhD in 2013 at the age of 79! Keith was a founding member of Murdoch branch of the Wildflower Society in 1987 and was President of the Kangaroo Paw Society.

Kangaroo paws are endemic to Western Australia, growing naturally nowhere else in the world and pollinated by our native bird species. The Red and Green Kangaroo Paw, Anigozanthos manglesii, is the floral emblem of Western Australia, found only naturally in the southwest of the state. There are 11 species and 13 subspecies of kangaroo paws, all within the genus Anigozanthos, but also there is one species that has a genus all to itself, the black Kangaroo Paw, Macropidia fuliginosa.  They are known for their unique, furry, claw-like flowers.

These native species of Kangaroo Paws, while stunning in their natural habitat have not transferred well to home gardens due to their susceptibility to fungal disease and were subsequently often treated as an annual garden plant specimen.

The development of the hybrid cultivars enabled stunning perennial plants to represent their unique forms in gardens throughout Australia and the world. This is the story of how the cultivars came about and the collection that now resides in The Wetlands Centre Cockburn gardens. Read more on Dr Oliver and his work from a talk he gave in 2017 here.

The Project

This project was initiated to preserve a collection of hybrid Kangaroo Paws that had been developed by Dr Keith Oliver. Many of the cultivar specimens remained in the garden of his private residence in Hamersley. In 2021 Dr Oliver bequeathed part of his Kangaroo Paw collection to The Wetlands Centre Cockburn, which was facilitated by Diana Corbyn from the Wildflower Society of Western Australia – Murdoch Branch.

A portion of Dr Oliver’s Kangaroo Paw collection, thirty-six species/cultivars of kangaroo paws and over 390 rhizomes, were relocated to the Wetlands Centre by a dedicated team of volunteers from both the Wetlands Centre and the Wildflower Society.

While there was a degree of attrition in the transplants many are now well established, and flowering beautifully in the gardens.

In 2025 we have dedicated a beautiful handcrafted jarrah bench seat to Dr Keith Oliver’s Living Legacy, set amongst some of the relocated kangaroo paws in the Wetlands Centre gardens.

Dr Keith Oliver’s passion for Kangaroo Paws

“Keith’s plant breeding hobby started in the 1960s and transformed into a career in the 1970s when he released the landmark variety ‘Big Red’. This is still one of the most popular kangaroo paws for landscaping worldwide, especially places like California which have a similar climate to South-West Western Australia, the only place where kangaroo paws grow in the wild.” Deryn Thorpe, 2016

After a significant public career, Keith Oliver took early retirement to become a sole trader in breeding hybrid kangaroo paws. His passion for evolutionary theory introduced him to the world of plant genetics, which propelled him to undertake further studies eventually leading to his TE-Thrust Hypothesis.

At 79 years of age Keith Oliver was awarded his PhD in 2013. ‘The TE-Thrust hypothesis’ focused on the transportable elements of DNA which were previously viewed as ‘junk’ by most scientists. The success of Keith’s research led to several publications.

Dr Oliver applied his TE-Thurst hypothesis to Angiosperm (flowering plants), in particular Anigozanthos (the kangaroo paw genus) and was successful in cultivating long term perennials, which will survive in most parts of Australia. A majority of them are also resistant to the fungal disease leaf rust and are generally tolerant to Alternaria leaf spot, as such they have been successfully commercialised and highly sought after in many parts of the world.

The collection is of state significance as it represents the last original surviving plants from Dr Oliver’s work spanning over 40 years of research and breeding.

In 2016 Deryn Thorpe wrote in the Garden Drum an article entitled ‘Australia’s top kangaroo paw breeders meet at last’ after plant breeder Angus Stewart met Keith in his garden filming for the ABCs Gardening Australia.

This article showcases Keith Oliver’s work and introduces the reader to a handful of Dr Oliver’s cultivars. Several of which are listed on the Australian Cultivar Registration Authority:

·       Anigozanthos ‘Autumn Mystery’, 30.10.1987

·       Anigozanthos ‘Miniprolific’, 30.10.1987

·       Anigozanthos ‘Space Age’, 30.10.1987

·       Anigozanthos ‘Early Spring’, 30.10.1987

·       Anigozanthos ‘Unity’, 20.10.1989

·       Anigozanthos ‘Big Red’ 8.10.1990

·       Anigozanthos ‘Little Jewel’, 11.10.1991

We acknowledge the Feilman Foundation for their generous donation to this project and the dedicated volunteers and staff from the Wildflower Society and The Wetlands Centre.

Notes on Hybrids and Cultivars

Hybrid seed, if it is set, will not produce plants similar to the parent. As with all cultivars, propagation needs to be carried out by vegetative means, in this case by division of the clump, usually after flowering. Hybrid kangaroo paws are propagated commercially by tissue culture.

Further reading:

Kangaroo Paws and Cats Paws – A natural history and Field Guide – Stephen Hopper – 1993

Transplanting bequeathed Kangaroo Paw from Dr Oliver’s Garden in 2021 to The Wetlands Centre