Monday, May 31, 2010

C. zaidiana 'Sarawak' located by my explorer friend!


My explorer friend managed to locate C. zaidiana from Sarawak last week. I was extremely lucky to be given a few specimens. Below are some close up photographs of C. zaidiana. According to my friend, C. zaidiana is = C. pontederiifolia + C. lingua + C. ciliata / 3.
 
 
 

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Bucephalandra, a genus of Aroids endemic to Borneo

My explorer friend found many species of Bucephalandra during his various field trips to Borneo. These plants are endemic to Borneo (both in Sarawak and Kalimantan) and can be found growing on rocky + sandy banks of rivers with changing water levels throughout the year (i.e. sometimes emersed, sometimes submersed). It is considered as a rheophyte.
Below are photographs of some of the various species of Bucephalandra found by him, I believed some of them might not been identified yet.
These Bucephalandra seemed to be rather hardy and easy to cultivate and can be tied to driftwood, similar to Anubias or simply be thrown inside water (see below).
These plants are apparently quite popular in Japan now and have reached similar status or even over taken exotic cryptocorynes in terms of being sought after for collection. Hobbyist are now collecting them to understand the variants among specimens found at different localities in Borneo.
Anyone has any experiences in these plants? Can they be easily sustained long term submersed in planted tanks set ups? I don't seemed to be able to find much information on Bucephalandra in the popular aquatic plant books and websites.

Monday, May 10, 2010

A hilltop stream in Bintan - a moss heaven

Caught in a sudden thunder storm, we sought refuge in a kind man's house for about an hour, waiting for the lightning to stop. Other than 2 other women who sought refuge in the same house, many animals were present too. 
After the lightning stopped, we decided to brave the rain and proceed to our final destination, a stream on a hilltop in Bintan. 
There were many different type of moss which could be found along this stream.
I caught many bettas too in this stream on top of a hill. Can anyone help me to identify the species accurately?
The pH of the water was about 6.4.
We decided to call it a day at about 1430hrs to make our way back to the hotel to wash up and pack up and catch the last ferry back to Singapore at 1700hrs. We had a late lunch (potato croquette, tapioca leaves curry and fried chicken with rice, yummy!) at the coffee shop outside the ferry terminal before boarding the ferry back. It was about 2000hrs by the time we reached Singapore (Singapore is 1 hour later than Bintan, 2hrs ferry ride between Tanjung Pinang and Singapore). Home sweet home!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

C. griffithii 'Bintan' natural habitat

I had the good fortune to visit the natural habitat of C. griffithii 'Bintan' at the eastern side of Bintan Island.
 
We stopped by a provision shop along the way to buy some tidbits for the kids staying in the farm house near to the location where my friend found the cryptocorynes.
The habitat was a stream running in a forest behind a farm.
The farms were cultivating some chilli and brinjal.
There was a durian tree in the farm and below were the flowers growing on the branches of the durian tree.
The cryptocorynes were growing on the sandy banks of the stream, some emersed while others submersed.
The pH of the water was about 6.0.
The cryptocorynes were growing in large patches along the stream,
Below were some fauna found in the stream among the cryptocorynes.
These are some close up shots of the submersed leaves.
Below are the photographs of some protectors of the forest.