Cairns Botanic Gardens

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Cairns Botanic Gardens. The Flecker garden was established in 1888 and is the only part that is fenced with
opening hours. The rest of the gardens are open 24 hours a day. It is easy to get to the gardens by car or bus.

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There is a visitors center where you can get guided tours and a map. Admission is free to the garden.

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There is a small café at the visitors center, and another café in the Flecker garden.

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There is a large bamboo collection open all hours. These are Bitong bamboo,
Dendrocalamus asper, also called giant bamboo. They can reach 15 — 20 m.

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The new shoots of Dendrocalamus asper are huge, and you can almost watch them grow.

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The stems can become 8 — 12 cm in diameter – enough space for lots of notes.

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Lipstick palm or red sealing wax palm, Cyrtostachys renda.

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The plant does not produce sealing wax but its colour looks like it. It is an ornamental plant, and can be 16 m tall.

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Many of the palm trees found in the tropical forest protect themselves from climbers.

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These are sharply discouraging.

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The Sarawak palm, Salacca magnifica, which consist of around 20 different species.

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The most widely grown species is called the snakefruit palm and produces edible fruit.

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The Silk Floss tree, Ceiba speciosa, native to Latin America. It is related to baobab and kapok.

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The Sausage tree, Kigelia pannata, native to sub-Saharan Africa. A sausage can become a foot long and weigh ten pounds.

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The garden has very old plants that existed 200 million years ago, like these Cycad palms.

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Staghorn fern.

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There are quite a few “animals” in the tropical forest, like this large spider, a Golden orb web
spider of the Nephilidae family. It was larger than the palm of a large hand. Not poisonous.

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A Kookaburra, which is native to Australia and New Guinea. We spotted this on the ground in the bamboo forest.

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A New Guinea Trumpet Vine/ Creeper Tecomenthe dendrophilia covering a tree.

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The Watkins Munro Martin Conservatory hold many sensitive and valuable collections
including carnivorous plants, orchids, plants that support butterflies and aquatic plants.

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Especially the orchids and carnivore plant displays are very impressive.

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Orchids in the Conservatory.

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Vanda orchid in the Conservatory.

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Part of the display of carnivorous plants in the Conservatory.

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These are Nepenthes maxima, Great Pitcher Plant.

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These are Ventricosa x sibuyanensis, another pitcher plant.

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One of many ginger plants.

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Heliconia. Maybe H. psittacorum or H. schummaniana.

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Helconia angusta.

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Heliconia rostrata.

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Alpinia purpurata Red Ginger.

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White Bat Flower Tacca integrifolia. Some in the Flecker garden, but clearly seen in the Conservatory.

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One of the entrance signs, barely visible because of the growth. The garden is very well established.

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When we headed back to the bus stop, we passed a river with this sign. It is not a joke.