of well over 100. Once he has finished the series, Lewis hopes to publish them, along with his field observations on each species, but it will take many more years to illustrate them all. Following the conventions of botanical illustration, Lewis records his subjects comprehensively – plant, flower and fruit. He also dissects the flowers of each to show its various parts – petals, sepal, column, labellum, anther and pollinia. The process is exacting and time-consuming. Not allowing for time taken to find suitable specimens of particular species – some take years – each illustration takes between 2 and 3 days to complete, depending on the complexity and size of the plant. Lewis leads many groups of naturalists and hikers and is renowned for his knowledge and bush skills. He always goes bushwalking (hiking) barefoot, and has only worn shoes a few times in his life mainly on special occasions, such as when he was married, at the opening of his first exhibition at Nature's Powerhouse, and when presented with the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2005. A species of Australian lizard, Saproscincus lewisi, is named in his honor. Exhibitions Over 80 prints of his orchid illustrations are held at Nature's PowerHouse Environment and Interpretive Centre in the Cooktown Botanic Gardens, where some are on display. The collection was exhibited at the opening of the Mackay Botanic Gardens and travels to other galleries. There was a major exhibition of prints of Lewis' work was held in Nature's PowerHouse from 24 October 2004, which lasted for a month. Another exhibition of his prints was displayed at the Foyer Gallery in Atherton, Queensland from 3 to 28 May 2010. See also List of Australian botanical illustrators References External links Biography of Lewis Roberts An on-line gallery featuring 81 of Lewis Roberts' orchid illustrations Classification of Cooktownia robertsii. 1950 births Australian naturalists Botanical illustrators Plant collectors Living people Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia