By Laurie King

Cooper's Creek Nature Reserve in Queensland is a World Heritage Area, with one of the highest concentrations of biodiversity on the planet. (More than 3,000 plant species have been identified here, and more are being discovered each year.) It's also home to some very rare plants, more than 40 of which occur nowhere else in the world! Prue Hewett, the resident naturalist, took us on a two-hour walk deep into the rainforest, and showed us many rare and wonderful things. For instance:

The green ant. Prue pulled several large ones off a tree, and invited us to "lick the butt" of the ant. She said it had a unique taste, and I wanted to try it, but was a little afraid, so I made her go first. (Well, we had just met her and the three of us were alone in the rainforest. For all I knew she could be crazy, and trying to poison us. I had heard stories about poisonous frogs in the rainforest, maybe the ants were poisonous, too.) It was unique. The closest I can come to describing it is to say that it was a little like mixing alka seltzer (the fizz, not the salt) with lime sherbet, and then multiplying by one hundred. Ziiingo!! Pru explained that the ants nested in trees, and were great to have around as they kept other bugs away.

The "Gimpy Gimpy" plant (Dendrocnide moroides). Similar to the stinging nettle, the leaves and stem are covered with hairs the plant manufactures out of silica. When brushed against, the glass-like tips break off, penetrate skin, and an extremely painful irritant poison is released. There is no known antidote, and the pain can last for weeks or months...and can be reactivated for up to several years by exposure to water or cold weather. Apparently horses have been known to commit suicide (well, it said "die," but I did read this in a book) by running into trees after exposure to this plant. You can recognize the plant by its large, heart-shaped leaf, with serrated edges. The stem enters from beneath (not the edge of) the leaf.

Giant Strangler Figs. The figs begin their lives when a seed is deposited high in a tree. The "roots" grow downward, grasping and growing onto the host tree (and any other structural support they come across) until they finally reach the earth, sometimes hundreds of feet below.

The rare Buff Breasted Paradise Kingfisher (Tanysiptera sylvia). This spectacular kingfisher migrates from New Guinea to breed in this small area in North Queensland, and nests by burrowing into termite mounds. (The termites simply wall off the invaded area and go on about their business.)

The "Wait-a-While" plant, also called Lawyer Cane. The plant derives its nickname because once hooked by its thorns, one is as irretrievably entangled as if involved in the legal process. (I didn't make this up.) It starts out looking like a small palm tree and then grows long, wiry "tendrils" which are decidedly not tender; they're lined with rows of viciously sharp barbed hooks. If you brush past one, it grabs your clothing and holds on tightly until you back up and remove it. The plant has even been known to pull people off horses and motorcycles as they ride by. Eventually, the long, barbed vine-like part grows to an inch or more in diameter, the thorns drop off, and the result is the rattan from which chairs were made in the 70s. (I have no idea what they've done with rattan since the 70s.)

The green ants apparently did not keep the mosquitoes away, because after the rainforest walk we were covered with bites. I had more than 75 bites on my left leg alone. I spent the next week suffering grievously, and experimenting with all sorts of remedies, including mud (now I know the real reason Aborigines painted their bodies).

What we didn't see and are really glad: pythons and bird-eating spiders (both common in the area).

What we didn't see but wish we had: The Cassowary, a large, flightless bird that's a member of the most primitive group of living birds, including the ostrich, rhea, and kiwi. The male of this species incubates eggs and cares for the young. Adults have very powerful legs, and if they kick in self-defense they can (and have) easily kill humans. Cassowaries are in danger of becoming extinct because of habitat loss. Local experts say recent reports of increased Cassowary population are significantly overstated.

Prue explained that it can take 800 years for a regenerating rainforest to "mature" after having been disturbed. So here's my eco-schpiel: We're losing an estimated 115,000 acres of tropical forest every day (according to the Rainforest Alliance), and with them, about one hundred species. That's 36,500 species lost each year! In addition to extinction, of course, deforestation results in soil erosion, air and water pollution, accelerated greenhouse effect, water shortages, and flooding.

So please don't buy tropical hardwoods, use less paper, eat less red meat, plant a tree, call or write your legislators, practice responsible eco-tourism, and remember rainforests in your will. Your children will be glad you did!