ACROSS

1 Tree also known as hazel pine, noted for its sweet resin (3, 3)

5 Small-leaved shrub, Salvia microphylla, native to Mexico (4, 4)

9 Essential component of photosynthesis (8)

10 Heathers (6)

11 Blossoming tree in the genus Fraxinus (9, 3)

13 Another name for a diver (4)

14 Plant in the subfamily Asteroideae, purported to repel parasites (8)

17 Thistle-like plant found amid sand dunes (3, 5)

18 A collective noun for vultures (4)

20 Small antelope of eastern and southern Africa (12)

23 African country, home to the Volcanoes National Park (6)

24 Tundra rodents (8)

25 Songbird that calls ‘teacher, teacher’ (5, 3)

26 Australian city, home to the Blue Gum High Forest (6)

DOWN

2 Flightless birds of Australia (4)

3 Seed-eating songbird that flocks in ‘charms’ (9)

4 Fly larva (6)

5 Another name for Viola sororia, a purple-flowered plant popular with the caterpillars of fritillaries (9, 6)

6 Apiary structures (8)

7 Weapon of a wasp or scorpion (5)

8 UK reptile that feeds on amphibians (5, 5)

12 Perennial in the family Echinacea (10)

15 Bird noted for its elaborate courtship structures (9)

16 Largest living land mammal (8) 19 Old World lizards that might be spiny, insular or false (6)

21 Red ___, bushy-tailed mammal of south-west China and the eastern Himalayas (5)

22 ___weed, herb of the southwestern US, used in folk medicine (4)