May 23rd, 2026Beetham’s Botanicals

Well here I am penning another article for you, the reader, to enjoy…
This time I’ll be showcasing some amazing plants from around the world that I have come across in my travels.

1. Let’s start with couroupita guianensis known as the cannonball tree and this common name is spot on as the spherical fruits that follow the truly amazing flowers (see image taken in the Cairns Botanic Gardens, Far North Queensland) can have a diameter of up to 25cm. This species is in the botanical family of Lecythidaceae and is native to parts of Central and Southern America where it grows in lowland tropical rainforests.

2. Ficus dammaropsis has a well deserved common name of dinner plate fig as the extraordinary leaves can reach 90cm in length with a width of 60cm (see image taken in the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne). This species in the botanical family of Moraceae is native to the highlands of New Guinea where the leaves are pickled or cooked and eaten with pig meat by the highlanders.

3. Sequoiadendron giganteum in the botanical family of Cupressaceae has several common names such as Big Tree, Giant Sequoia and Wellingtonia and is one of the longest lived tree species in the world with purported ages of up to 3200 years old.
This particular specimen has a local name of Grizzly Giant (see image taken in the Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park, California) due to its gnarly upper branches that have resulted from severe fire damage over the years…with a basal diameter of 9m and a height of 64m it is relatively small as the average height of this species is 85m, with some trees approaching 95m. Its native distribution is restricted to 81 groves in the Sierra Nevada of California.

4. Tacca integrifolia in the botanical family of Dioscoreaceae has a very appropriate common name of white bat flower (see image taken in the Cairns Botanic Gardens, Far North Queensland) and is native to parts of Southern Asia. I first came across this unusual perennial plant that grows up to about a metre in height with similar spread at the Cairns Botanic Gardens on my first visit many years ago. It remains one of my favourite plants of all time.

5. Yucca brevifolia in the botanical family of Asparagaceae has a common name of Joshua tree (anyone remember the Irish rock band U2’s 1987 album?) and is primarily native to the Mojave Desert in Southwestern USA where it can grow up to 15m and live for several hundred years. My photo was taken in the Joshua Tree National Park, California when my niece Millie got married there in 2022.

So there we are, five quite different species that just show the diversity within the plant world. Other amazing plants can be seen in Central Highlands botanic gardens such as Kyneton (jubaea chilensis – Chilean wine palm), Malmsbury (ceratonia siliqua – carob tree) and Wombat Hill (cedrus atlantica glauca group – blue atlas cedar).
And the next time you’re in the Big Smoke, pop into the Melbourne Botanic Gardens (use the online census) to see gems such as hesperocyparis macrocarpa – Monterey cypress, keteleeria fortunei – Fortune’s keteleeria and taxodium mucronatum – Montezuma bald cypress.

Head to www.tlnews.com.au Issue 357 – for all the images listed here.

Cheers John Beetham (trading as Trees in Australia).
Next time: Winter flowering plants for the garden.
Scan the QR code to see JB’s instagram post.