Ah, the good old "Gouty-Stem Tree" of Australia! Actually, I honestly had no idea that Baobab's had reached the Great Land of Oz; I have (mistakenly) always assumed they were endemic to Africa, but apparently not. But, apologies tree-lovers, this is not a post about these wondrous, bulbous monsters of the savannah but rather how I came to learn about them in the first place and, importantly, why I can share the above image without any worries of reprisal.

The "Gouty-Stem Tree" (the image, not the plant) is an illustration taken from John Stoke's book "Discoveries in Australia; with an account of the coasts and rivers explored and surveyed during the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, in the years 1837-43"*. Not a book I've ever read (or actually seen), sadly, but one of hundreds that have been archived and "digitised" by the British Library to help preserve and catalogue their huge collection, which is all available to the public. Better still, this particular image, alongside hundreds of similar engravings, etchings, drawings, maps etc., has been released as part of a side project of copyright free pictures (due to the age of the books), all made accessible and shareable via Flickr. You can check out the full, ever expanding collection over here (its definitely worth it).

A friend pointed this out to me, largely for use in world-building, writing and LARPing exercises (more her forte, sadly) but personally I can also see a very valuable resource for designers, with some fantastic wildlife imagery that I'm itching to incorporate into some future projects. Happy hunting!

* I have no idea if this refers to the H.M.S. Beagle, of Darwinian fame.