Mountain Horned Dragons (Acanthosaura)

They are insectivorous which means they depend on insect as their primary diet. As it tolerates being handled fairly well it is considered to be charming and popularly kept as exotic pets in some countries. It also has a reputation of becoming docile and calm once acclimatised to its surroundings.

Normally preferring to dwell high on trees, this specimen I encountered seem to have chosen a more adventurous path.

The Talipot palm tree (Corypha Umbracalifera)

A tall tree planted to provide shade and decoration years ago just next to a busy street, this particular Talipot palm has finally reached the end point of its life cycle and will bloom majestically for the first and last time.

A plant flowering every 30 to 80 years is not exactly a common occurrence, more so if the plant dies after blooming, it literally is a once in a lifetime event for the plant, the grandeur of such an event warrants at least a closer look.

Talipot Palms are of Hawaiian origin, some write it is from India and Sri Lanka but now widely distributed across the tropics, ideally suited to the hot and wet climate it grows exceptionally well here. It is also what is called a monocarpic palm, bearing fruit only once during its lifespan. It grows slowly and can reach quite a height over time, the specimen shown stands at over 50 feet.
During blooming, three stages can be observed, namely juvenile, flower initiation and vertical rachis (formation of the inflorescence or the spikes we see on the top during blooming). The final outcome would of course be for propagation where the tree starts yielding seeds.

With the flowering stage lasting about 3 months and seed formation taking another year, it would be fair to say that once a Talipot palm blooms it will shriveled and die within 2 years.
Other known uses of its leaves are for making hats, fans and umbrellas including cutting it into strips to be used as writing paper, but I doubt very much it is put into such use anymore today. The sap can apparently be also tapped to make palm wine.

The Calabash Tree (Crescentia cujete)

The Calabash tree pictured is of the Crescentia cujete species belonging to the Bignoniacea family, it is a plant native to Central and South America but now widely distributed in the tropics. It is propagated by seed or stem cuttings.

The other similar looking calabash tree is of the Crescentia alata species, the difference can be seen in their respective fruits, the Crescentia alata are more rounded, while that of the Crescentia cujete fruits is egg shaped. The fruit takes up to several months to ripen by turning brown and dropping off the tree.

In their native countries, it has been documented that its fruit’s woody shell with its pulpy inside removed when dried are hollowed out to make receptacles, cups and bowls.
Locally in Malaysia, it is planted generally as an ornamental tree or as a shade tree. Other uses of the plant include boiling the flesh of the fruit pulp in water and drinking its content to treat high cholesterol and cancer (be warned that this practice is not substantiated with any documented medical studies for its efficacy). In Suriname's traditional medicine, the fruit pulp is used to treat respiratory problems. There are also conflicting reports on the Calabash tree fruit, one that stands out is from the Forest Service (U.S.A) which states that the fruit is poisonous but there is plenty of conflicting research on this subject.

There is a published study performed on the nutritive and anti-nutritive compositions of Calabash Fruit Pulp by Mare Nwosu Ogbuaga, Department of Chemistry, Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture, Nigeria with the following conclusions:
“The values of the ash, crude protein, fiber and carbohydrate in the dry pulp as well as the ether and thiamin values in the wet pulp are very reasonable. The values of the mineral elements are also high. These are indications that the pulp, in addition to its useful contributions to human health, as a result of the presence of phytochemicals, can also make useful contributions to human nutrition”.

From the conclusion of this study, it appears that there is no harm from consuming the pulp of the Calabash tree fruit and some good might actually come out of it. But I can imagine it would be far from tasting like milkshake, fruit juice or beer

Peacock Fern (Selaginella willdenowii)

With it fronds glistening of iridescent metallic blue caused by the reflection of light often enhanced through the gentle breeze sweeping through the tropical rain forest and moisten from the wet environment of the forest floor, ignoring the uniqueness of this fern would be difficult as it stands out amongst the foliage of the forest floor.

This fern can be found climbing and twirling around other plants forming into many smaller branches at times. The fern is endemic to Indo China, Peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia.

From articles I read about this fern, the purpose for this unique exhibition of colors remains unclear. As a fern it produces no flowers, so the iridescent display by the fronds to functions as a mechanism to attract pollinators does not hold water. It has been speculated that this iridescent quality protects the fern from the ultraviolet rays of the sun which I believe many a botanist will disagree. Such is the work of nature that this iridescent leave fern are among the most striking of the world’s flora.

The current explanation for this iridescent quality is best described by (David. W. Lee 1977)
“The iridescence is apparently caused by the effect of thin film interference filters in the leaf epidermis. Lee pointed out that the convex epidermal cells in this species may focus light into a single, distal, large chloroplast, possibly adaptations for the improvement of photosynthetic efficiency at the forest floor level”.
Not being a botanist, I take that to mean the iridescent fronds help in improving the efficiency of the photosynthesis process.

Cornstalk Dracaena (Dracaena fragrans)

Also known as Corn plant or Chinese Money Tree it belongs to the plant family Ruscaceae that looks like a corn stalk.

Native to West Africa, it is now wide spread across the globe due to its popularity as an indoor house plant. It is adaptable to a wide range of conditions, from full sun to low interior light conditions and grows best in half shaded areas.

It is easily propagated by cutting off segments of old canes a few inches long and then allowed to dry. Once sufficiently dried they are inserted into moist sand until rooted and new growth will emerge from old leaf scars.

The wild Dracaena fragrans has green leaves that can reach up to 3 feet long and 4 inches wide, often seen with a height that reaches almost 20 foot tall. However, once potted their size is stunted with slow growth and that is where I think its popularity as an indoor or house plant takes off.

Other varieties seen have leaves broadly striped with light green and yellow down the center.
When they flower and usually only very mature specimens do so, the white flowers are highly fragrant especially in the evenings, hence deriving the name fragrans. Contrary to popular believe, the plant does not wither after flowering but continues to grow.

Other properties of Dracaena fragrans not widely known, includes the plant used in the NASA Clean Air Study that shows it can help remove Formaldehyde from the environment, indicating it would also make a good natural air scrubber for the home.

Caladiums

Curiosity got the better of me again and I was wondering what these plants with bright colorful leaves I often see in gardens, homes and occasionally in the wild are called, where they come from, how many varieties are there and so forth.

Well, I found out they are called Caladiums. With their pointed shaped leaves and attractive stunning colors, splashed in shades of green, white and red, they make excellent ornamental plants in the porch or room as it thrives well in shaded areas.

These tropical plants which are very well suited to our local hot and humid climate are native to South America.

Caladium comes in many varieties of various size leaves and colorful patterns.
All parts of the plant are poisonous, the poison is caused by the presence of Calcium oxalate crystals and Asparagines, a protein found in the plant.

Common Caladiums often seen are the Bicolor variety, I found five of this variants growing in my small garden itself.

Salvadori’s Pheasant (Lophura Inornata)

At first glance, it looks like a Malaysian red wild fowl? I almost ignore it, but look closer and you will see that it looks different it is actually a species of pheasant that is not supposed to be seen here. So what is this bird doing here?

I got no idea but here it is, the proof that there is at least one individual male Salvadori Pheasant roaming wild in the forest of Peninsular Malaysia.
I took this specimen’s photo at the Bukit Larut hill forest.
It is not supposed to be found here and is known to be endemic only to the mountain ranges on the Sumatran Island of Indonesia.

After talking to some friends who are more knowledgeable in birds, it is concluded that if this is not an introduced specimen than it would be the first native wild Malaysian Salvadori Pheasant photographed.
Literature available indicates this pheasant as vulnerable, declining and becoming increasingly fragmented owing to clearance of mid-altitude forests in Sumatra.

There seem to be no other documented wild sightings of this species of pheasants reported in Peninsular Malaysia. The pheasant’s Italian sounding name came from being named after a distinguished Italian ornithologist of the time, Tommaso Salvadori.

Unidentified Moth.

The specimen photographed is definitely a Moth as it has a threadlike feathery antennae, which is a positive identification characteristic of a moth. The location where the specimen was seen is in the Bukit Larut foothills in the early afternoon during late June. With its flashy colors, it is highly probable to be toxic.

There is supposedly some 200,000 species of moths identified and many more yet to discovered, perhaps amounting to a million or more species. Coming across an unidentified moth when taken from such a perspective becomes almost probable. Moths can be found in almost every part of the world except in Antarctica and the oceans with the biggest diversity to be found in the tropics.

Moth being an insect has a body divided into three main parts—head, thorax, and abdomen—and have three pairs of jointed legs. Two antennae protrude from the head which serves as smelling organs, enabling the moth to scent for food and potential partners for mating from a distant away. The thorax, of a moth is the thickest of the body segments. It houses the flight muscles, legs and wings. A moth wings are large in proportion to its body which are made of two membranes with a network of stiff veins between the layers. The scales covering the wings give moths their colors and patterns.

Next comes the abdomen, inside the abdomen are the heart, respiratory and digestive systems, and reproductive organs. Moths breath through breathing holes called spiracles, found on the sides of the abdomen. In females, their abdomens tend to be fuller and blunter to those of the males because of the larger reproductive organs inside.

Bird Nest Fern (Asplenium Nidus)

This attractive large leaf epiphytic fern is often seen attaching themselves to large tall trees in the nooks and crannies of its branches. The large knife shaped green leafs called fronds have a prominent dark brown midrib unfurling from a tight center, giving a bird nest effect and hence the common name.

Urbanites will usually see them at large building entrance way as it gains popularity as an ornamental plant either being hung on the ceiling, exhibited on the floor or potted individually.
I have seen excellent specimens being displayed this way right inside Singapore’s Changi Airport.

Epiphytes are herbs or shrubs, which have roots attached to trunks or branches to a host tree to get closer to sunlight which is often shadowed by trees in the forest if you are growing at ground level. They are not parasitic as they do not extract nutrients from the tree to survive and do little or no harm to its host

It is self sufficient, with its entire mass soaking up rain water which acts as a sponge storing water when it rains and its nest-like form collecting dead leaves or any potential nutrient which happen to drop onto it that will eventually decompose and thereby forming nutrients for extraction.

For propagation, spores develop on the underside of fronds known as coenosori. The ripe spores can be collected and sow on damp peat and let to germinate in our hot and humid climate. Care should be taken to keep the growing medium constantly moist, when new plants are big enough to handle, it should be potted individually to encourage faster growth.

No soil is needed for its growth although I have seen “domesticated“ specimens being potted and maintained with soil in homes. In the wild, it is often seen growing in the protected environment in the canopy or crowns of large trees offering a bright warm, moist and humid condition.

Which brings to mind, how Isabella L.Bird (1831 – 1904) a nineteenth-century English traveller, writer,and a natural historian while travelling through the Malay Peninsular jungles during the mid 1800s described the splendor of the Bird Nest Fern she saw in her book "The Golden Chersonese and the way thither" –

"The trees and plants of the jungle were very exciting. Ah! what a delight it is to see trees and plants at home which one has only seen as the exotics of a hothouse, or read of in books! In the day’s journey I counted one hundred and twenty-six differing trees and shrubs, fifty-three trailers, seventeen epiphytes, and twenty-eight ferns. I saw more of the shrubs and epiphytes than I have yet done from the altitude of an elephant’s back. There was one Asplenium nidus [bird’s nest fern] which had thirty-seven perfect fronds radiating from a centre, each frond from three and a quarter to five and a half feet long, and varying from myrtle to the freshest tint of pea-green!"

Amorphophallus Prainii

I had previously written about this rare tuberous herbaceous plant from the Arum family and recently encounter them again as it appears to be quite common, at least around here.

In this particular encounter, I managed to spot four individual Amorphophallus Prainii plants growing wild with their flower blooming at different stages all located in rather close proximity of each other.
Technically, they are not flowers but are inflorescence (to us mortals, it means flowers on a stem), the spadix, which is the center apparatus have both the male and female components.

Before it turns into an inflorescence, the appearance is of a plant with leafs arising from a corm hidden beneath the soil. When the leaf finishes its growing cycle, the entire plant collapses and withers away and in some cases could remain dormant for a time. The next growing cycle is where the inflorescence appears but not always.
The photo below shows an Amorphophallus Prainii plant during its leafing cycle with the mottled looking bark right behind an inflorescence, note that they are both not connected and are individual plants.

Jungle Outing with the Family.

It was a late Sunday morning when I receive a call from my sister with an offer to accompany her for a visit to her friend’s 11 acres plot of land located in a secondary jungle that used to be a rubber plantation many years ago. With no plans on hand for the weekend, this unexpected trip will surely liven up an otherwise dull weekend.

Some huts seen along the way
For excursions into the jungles, I would normally prefer to go with friends that shares similar interest but on this occasion I think it will be fun to do it with family members for a change, notwithstanding the expected protest from my daughters and wife. The challenges, excitement and journey of discovery mother-nature have to offer, escape them for reasons I am trying to understand. After all it is not exactly deep jungle exploration but just a mere 2 km walk through well worn jungle paths half the way and slightly more challenging tracks towards the end. By all means, it can be considered a fun and healthy activity for the family.

The “Burmese pool”, a popular recreation area for locals being located along the journey helps drastically to ease some physical discomfort as this part of the trail is well established starting with tar roads and progressing to cemented pathways. The walk started off at a comfortable pace, with cemented paths getting narrower as you go along, ending with seldom used jungle trails. As each minute passes, you can actually sense that you are leaving civilisation, the environment becomes quieter and cleaner with less evidence of human intrusion being seen.

The end of "civilization" and begining of leech country.

As the more “civilized” path ended and the more challenging one started, all of us started encountering leeches. These blood suckers although posing no real threats to us are really an unavoidable irritating nuisance in all jungle excursions. They come in various sizes, some so small that it is difficult to see. In actual fact, mosquitoes are considered the dangerous blood suckers as it can spread diseases while leeches do not and their bites are harmless. It is really bad if you are squeamish about them and my wife and daughters definitely are. I myself attracted at least 15 leeches with more than 4 managing to make a good meal of my type “O” RH +, I even managed to unknowingly bring one home, nicely fed and dozing off inside my shoe. Their known medicinal capability of producing an anti-clotting enzyme of blood while feeding is real, one of the bites is still bleeding after more than 3 hours. It was interesting to find out that there are only 3 species of leeches in Malaysia and I will like to add it is one too many. But it has been reported, the presence of leeches is a good indicator of a pollution free environment, I take that to mean rain forest without leeches is not worth visiting?

No, it's not big foot but rather my leech bitten foot.

It is also for this reason that prevented me to stop and take photos of some nice scenery along the trail, the unpleasant reality is once you stop moving, many very desperate hungry looking leeches sensing movement and heat starts moving towards your direction, not exactly an inviting situation to be in. But all this can be solved by wearing specially made leech socks laced with tobacco extract in which we did not have access to at that point of time, although that will not stop leeches on tree branches free falling onto you, but at least you got half the situation in control.

Along the trail, we saw a few small huts and jungle streams with crystal clear water teemed with Soro Brook Carps – Neolissochelus Soroides swimming in it and the air was as fresh as can be.

Soro Brooks Carps

We finally reach our destination, a shed where it must have been a base camp set up originally for the now defunct rubber plantation. The landowner, Mr.Ho then took us further down a trail to a spot where his friend Alan has set up camp next to a stream and was waiting, it was here than Allan narrated an interesting brief history of the place.

Alan (left) and Mr.Ho

It appears that during the Japanese occupation, there were remnants of the British Forces under the Northern Command that choose to ignore the order to surrender and this was one of the spots where they have decided to hide and sit out the war. Allan further pointed out that we can see some rocks that are square in shape that was used to made walls by stacking them up, we were still able to see one of the man made structure beside a stream. He believes there are tunnels dug out there which he has not succeeded in locating yet, porcelain pieces and other items of that era was also found, regrettably he has given the items to another friend and we did not have the privilege of seeing these items. Being a decent law abiding man, he was worried about breaking some laws of the local Antiquities Act, he obviously is not a strong advocate of the saying “finders keepers”.

Man made structure seen beside stream.

Although I am unable to find any documented reports describing the past activities in this area as told by Allan, it is not an impossible scenario to imagine, with a bit of ingenuity and perseverance a person can live off the jungle for a long time, if sitting out the war as a POW is not preferable, the tranquil environment found here certainly offers an acceptable alternative (if you don’t mind the leeches).

Old machinery used for rubber sheet processing.

It would have been ideal if there was more time available for me to gather my thoughts and ask more questions but it started to rain and with a nephew that has just sprained his leg, waiting for us amongst other things we decided to make our move back home.

We left with an invitation from Mr.Ho and his friend, Allan, two well read and travelled gentlemen, to come visit again and in his own words “to leech country” to further explore the jungles surroundings. A tempting invitation being currently considered, I think by only one member of the family, namely me.
But it is all right, my sanity has been put into question more than once..........