Branson pickle
Sir Richard Branson, the billionaire entrepreneur, is reported to have applied for permits to introduce a colony of endangered lemurs to his British Virgin Islands (BVI), Mosquito and Necker. Having “rescued” the island of Mosquito from purchase by a hotel chain in 2007, his intention was to turn his ÂŁ10 million Caribbean tax haven into…
Wild gingers – beastly beauties
Wild gingers, Hedychium spp., belong to the same family as edible ginger (Zingiber officinale), but they have no culinary value. Native to moist tropical forests of Central and Southeastern Asia, they are cultivated the world over as ornamentals. Their large, glossy leaves flare out around their tall reedy stems and their orchid-like, showy blossoms come…