Equatorial Foliage Plants

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Equatorial Foliage Plants

Don and the Burke’s Backyard team travelled to Cairns to meet Dr. Arden Dearden, who has one of the most wonderful collections of tropical plants anywhere in Australia. Arden’s interest in plants started years ago when he was at university, but as time went by he realised that to find new and different species he had to travel overseas. His plant hunting trips have taken him throughout Asia, the Philippines, New Guinea and Borneo, and he also tells fascinating stories of long river journeys in narrow boats, searching for rare plants in Ecuador. He is particularly keen on collecting foliage plants from equatorial regions of the world which suit the tropical climate of north Queensland.     

The collection

Arden and his partner Chris Hall are interested in plants not so much for flowers as for their foliage. “We love foliage, anything that’s got a pattern …if the leaf looks good irrespective of the genus, collect it.” Don admired a group of fan palms with very attractive, spotted foliage, including Licuala radula from Vietnam, and Licuala mapu from Borneo. A feature of the leaves of many licualas (such as Licuala cordata) is that they are round and pleated.

Licuala ‘Fan Palm’

Flamingo plants (Anthurium spp.) with enormous leaves also feature in the collection. Two striking examples from Colombia are Anthurium veitchii, known as the king of anthuriums and Anthurium warocqueanum, known as the queen of anthuriums. Plants with colourful leaves or stems include cordylines, the sealing wax palm (Cyrtostachys lakka) from Borneo, and a large bromeliad from Brazil (Aechmea blanchettina). Arden’s treasure trove of equatorial exotics demonstrates that there are still hundreds of spectacular foliage plants that haven’t yet made an impact on world horticulture.

Further information

Arden Dearden and Chris Hall,
Equatorial Exotics,
PO Box 79R,
Redlynch, QLD, 4870.
The nursery is open by appointment but does sell plants by mail order. Most of the plants mentioned are strictly for tropical areas, although some of the anthuriums and fan palms will grow in southern gardens. To contact the nursery or receive a plant list:
Phone: (07) 4039 1135
Fax: (07) 4039 1199
Email: [email protected]