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Australia is classified as “megadiverse” meaning it’s a global hotspot for plant and animal diversity, and has vast numbers of unique species found nowhere else on Earth. With this newsletter we want you to be able to wander down the garden path, off the beaten track, and smell the gum leaves. Specifically, what kind of gum leaf? What is it from? Where does it grow?

Read more: Bunya pines are ancient, delicious and possibly deadly

We'll let you know every time a new edition in our Beating Around the Bush series comes out, putting the spotlight on a different native plant every time. We’re on a roughly fortnightly schedule, but like any garden there might be a few surprises along the way. I’ll also be rounding up some of the greatest hits from our archives, and talking about what’s new in the plant world.

Felicity Burke/The Conversation

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