Welcome to Forest Leaves

The cover of my book with its photograph of the doyen of botanists, Charles Austin Gardner, responsible for identifying and naming hundreds of Western Australian native plants Some years ago, I was involved in an interesting project: researching and writing a book on the history of botanical science in Western Australia. I enjoyed this, because I have had a lifetime interest in plants, especially trees, and have worked closely with many professional botanists. The project a

My late mother-in-law’s RAN Anzac Biscuit tin – now in our possession and used appropriately … for storing Anzac biscuits. First, a definition. The Chief Chef at Google sums it up pretty well: “The Anzac Biscuit is a sweet biscuit, popular in Australia and New Zealand, made using rolled oats, flour, sugar, butter, golden syrup, baking soda, boiling water and desiccated coconut.” But it is more than that … it is a culinary icon, both in Australia and New Zealand, and it is

Frank “Typhoon” Tyson, delivering a thunderbolt during the 1954/5 Ashes Like most Australians, I am an afficionado of the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (the MCG, usually called simply “The G”). It’s true I have never been to one, being a Western Australian, but I have been watching them on TV for many years, and they rarely disappoint. The most recent match, however, commencing on December 26 th (Boxing Day) 2025, was a dispiriting affair, and disappointed

Giimlet trees in their autumn colours, at Yeerakine Rock (photo by Ian Keally ) Back when I was a lad, in the years just after World War II, I was a devotee of Captain Lorrington King, known as “Gimlet”, the hero of a series of boys' adventure stories. Gimlet was a clever and brave British army commando who made life unpleasant for the Nazis. Accompanied by his two off-siders, one a Cockney former London cop and the other a cunning French-Canadian bear-trapper with a pencha