The story of the macrocarpa, aka Monterey cypress, is intriguing.

West Cork woodland takes on the appearance of a jungle in the Chilean highlands with Orange-bark myrtles growing to 50 or more feet in height, and wild-seeding themselves on the forest floor.

AFTER the constant blue skies and dry days of recent months, I had forgotten what the view looked like in rain.

THE skies over Leicester in England during our stay were as blue as the skies over La Gomera in the Canary Islands which we had just left.

Artillery shells crashed into the Liberian capital Monrovia as rebels made a renewed drive to push President Charles Taylor from power.