Cleisostoma

Various species from this genus are coming from 0m to several hundreds meters altitude in Malaysia. Its overall habitat may be well established along eastern Pacific to India and could be also extend to south until Australia. From strap to terete leaves, Cleisostoma orchids bearing the inflorescence low down the stem carrying several small short-lived flower.

A Cleisostoma sp. of some kind

Some of the species like Cleisostoma discolor, started with several flower but for months to go, a bunch of flower keep on opening all the time at the end of the extending inflorescence. As the old one fade away, another flower opens and new buds established.

Cleisostoma complicatum

This year in September, marked the flowering cycle of some of my Cleisostoma in collection. The above Cleisostoma complicatum is the most exciting since the flower last around 3 weeks.

Cleisostoma williamsonii

 The above is the widespread species Cleisostoma williamsonii which in Malaysia can be found quite easily in all the orchids infected area particularly where the dry season is distinctive. It has terete leaves and just like any plant in this genus, without flower it is hard to differentiate with each other.

A Cleisostoma sp. from Sarawak

Above species collected from Sarawak also celebrating flower this September. The plant is much shorter with terete leaves but the flower slightly bigger than Cleisostoma williamsonii. I don't have any id for the plant. Anyone knows?

Renanthera auyongii

This is the plant which known habitat has been wiped out in place of a newly built hospital. A fate which is quite interesting to learned. A species need to be lost forever in an effort to save another.

This one is from a recent bloom in my collection after 2 years or so. It is quite hardy and tolerate much if remain overlooked for some times. Endermic to Sarawak, this is real deal of silent beauty.

Dendrobium langkawiense

Orchids are so unique in their own way. One such, is featured below taken its name from a famous legendary island located in north Malaysia.

Its habitat may be limited only to limecrop hills in this island to the extent of very small area of mainland Malaysia.

If not in flower, the plant may be seen like a clump of dead grass. The brownish twigs of its leafless stem are prominent sight of this plant. A cycle of new growth may take place after rainy seasons but very soon drop their leaves after the stem reach maturity.



In the realm of orchid huntings there's always a greatest prize we're all put our efforts at. Searching carefully every trunks of trees while cautiously step ( for not to stomp on a jewel orchid!) we just crave onto finding something so special. We will never could guess what is the prize to bring back and that can be just another bloody bruises or the arching pain as the only things we would bring back home. A hunter may look for something that he already had and he only come back to find some more of it in the same area. Another hunter would prefer to venture another place and he must pray to The Most Merciful to find some bounty so that he can cherish for it, for the rest of his life.

Another new species added to the collection is usually suffice enough for me to collect my trophy for the day. I love to have new species but to get something i never imagine is really something out of my mind (in my wildest dream - yes!)

This species, is the one i'm talking about. Found on a palm oil tree, it grew downward with one brach after another. Its growing pattern is somehow different for a dendrobium but all the stem and leaves seemingly to suggest it is one. Perhaps it is an Eria sp but it lack of flower bracks and the root pattern suggested it is unlikely to be an Eria sp. Recently it bloom in my yard, and i just so amazed by the flower. It also put me in another surprise when the flower last more than 3 weeks!..

January Season

It's January again. For days and days now the sky is has been flushed with deep blue and more often than usual the presence of moderate breeze to bring dryness in this northern part of Malaysia. Light downpour occasionally sweep by in the night and whenever it pours down, the mean temperature of the night's steaming hot atmosphere will drop rapidly triggering to flower the less appreciated but abundant dendrobium species here- Dendrobium crumenatum.

A typical day would start around 0730 and it will be all bright with sunny sky until sundown. All the stark heat, a clear bright sky, the dry blowing wind sets such a dramatic theater for many events of the folks here in the north and it all lay wonderfully in contrast with the red, yellow and greenish backdrop scenery this season bring. Along the highway, you can see the vastness of paddy crop being harvested and the funnel of smokes when they burned the remnant that seemingly a picturesque of a masterful art portrait.

Ah yes, the dry season has came here again to celebrate flowering of many of dry loving species. Some species of dendrobium already started to shed their leaves earlier and very soon their cane like stem will be covered with many small little buds along the nods. Bulbophyllum dentiferum sub. pink also will set to flower in this season. It is so far only restricted to Thai/ Perlis limestone area and had been well adapted to the intense heat to mark its flowering cycle. Ascocentrum miniatum in particular will be the showiest of them all when all of its brightly yellow flowers covering its plant clump.

Thrixpermum sp.

Thrixpermum adalah dari genus orkid yang berbunga kecil dan hampir kesemuanya mekar kurang dari sehari. Ada pelbagai spesis dari genus ini di Malaysia dan boleh didapati di kebanyakkan farmasi yang berdekatan. Ha! ha!! ada pulak dekat farmasi..

Kalau korang rajin berkunjung ke Cameron Highland atau melalui jalan yang melalui kawasan tanah tinggi, spesis ini biasanya dengan mudah dapat dilihat di tepi-tepi jalan. Ditemui pada habitatnya, spesis ini seringkali berada dalam keadaan berbunga. Bunganya seperti mempunyai 5 jari yang kurus-kurus dan menyerupai labah-labah. Dari tanah tinggi yang dingin berkabus hingga ke kawasan perkebunan di tepian kampung atau di pinggiran sungai yang berarus Thrixpermum biasanya bermukim dihujung-hujung ranting pokok yang terdedah pada cahaya matahari.Jika membaca buku-buku atau artikel orkid pula, ia akan dirujuk sebagai 'twig epiphyte" sesuai dengan pokoknya yang kecik dan berbunga comel itu dan keberadaannya yang di hujung-hujung ranting.

Terdapat lebih dari 100 spesis ini diseluruh dunia tapi setakat yang aku baru jumpa kat Malaysia ni tak sampai pun 10 spesis. Diantara spesis-spesis yang mungkin biasa ditemui, sebenarnya terdapat beberapa spesis yang agak istimewa walaupun kecik dan berbunga hanya sehari. Thrixpermum dari jenis ni agak susah dijumpai dan bunganya memang wangi sekali. Sekalipun tak wangi, bunganya mungkin unik seperti yang aku papar dalam posting aku ni.. ada iras seperti orkid tiger tapi kecik.

Bunga ni kawan yang jumpa walau kami mencari orkid dikawasan yang sama. Disebabkan tertarik pada keunikan bunganya, aku pun trade-in dengan bunga orkid aku.

Dendrobium sphenochilum

Foto ini diambil di perkampungan warga didalam daerah Minahasa, Sulawesi Utara. Waktu ni benar-benar hampir waktu maghrib dan gambar pun diambil pakai camera-phone saja.

Agaknya orkid ni agak berleluasa disini dan menurut yang empunya, orkid ni telah agak lama ia dilekatkan pada pokok yang cukup terdedah pada panas matahari itu. Bunganya memang meriah dan sepanjang-panjang hayat meminati orkid, belum pernah lagi lagi la, melihat kemeriahan bunga dendrobium daripada section yang ni. Menurut yang empunya orkid ni lagi, telah ramai juga yang berkenan tapi dia belum pernah menjualnya.

Cari Orkid lagi..

Kelmarin, aku berlepas ke Sik untuk mencari orkid lagi. Eh! orked ker anggerek?? apa-apa ajelah... Cuma anggerek bagi aku, bunyinya lebih dekat dengan alam melayu dan panorama alam yang melatari orkid-orkid dalam blog ni. Itu saja. Aktiviti ni memang tak dirancang juga, cuma secara kebetulan waktu melawat kawasan (macam YB la pulak..)aku terjumpa lokasi balak yang tak jauh dari jalan raya. Musim-musim kering ni memang ngam la kalau nak cari orkid sebab jalan balak biasanya kering dan kurang becak. Seorang jejaka yang aku jumpa di tempat balak tu cakap, kalau nak masuk dipersilakan saja, lagi pun para pekerja telah mulai bercuti sempena Raya Cina. OOO.. best sungguh, rasanya.

Aku pun hubungi sorang kawan, dan merancang untuk aktiviti kami. Kawasan balak tu kalau ikut lesen yang tergantung di tempat pengumpulan balak tu sekitar 180 hektar..hmm.. luas juga. Tapi potensi orkid belum tau, lagi pun aku takut juga kalau-kalau tempat tu nanti bahaya untuk pemandu ala-ala amatur macam aku ni.

Tempat tu sebetulnya terletak kira-kira 3 kilometer dari Lata Mengkuang. Sampai aje kat tempat tu pada pagi hari yang dijanjikan, memang tak ada sorang manusia pun sebab Cuti Raya Cina. Cuma yang ada hanyalah longgokan balak-balak yang siap untuk diangkut serta jentera-jentera yang digunakan. Tanpa bertangguh, aku dengan sorang lagi kawan, terus mudik melalui jalan balak yang berbelok-belok dan berbukit-bukit lagi berbonggol-bonggol bagi mencari lokasi yang sesuai tempat yang boleh kami agak terdapat orkid. Jalan balak tu memang seperti yang aku agak, kering dan mudah aja aku bawa keta. Kawan aku yang sorang lagi naik motor dan dia jalan dulu.

Tak sampai pun 10 minit motor dia tetiba aja berhenti dan sebentar kemudian aku pun sampai.. wah!! aku nampak ekor aja seekor ular yang telah melintas jalan balak kami. Walau cuma ekor yang aku nampak, memang jenis besar ular ni, sebab ekor dia yang sekaki terakhir tu pun sebesar betis aku ni. Corak warna ekor dia hitam dan berbunga kuning. Kawan aku pala cakap, dia pun tak tau ular apa tapi corak dia memang cantik sangat. Waktu dia sampai ular tu masih melintas dan sepanjang kira-kira 2 depa dewasa. Huiii..

Lepas bab ular tu kami pun meneruskan perjalanan dan tak lama lepas tu, jumpa pula 2 brader sedang mencari buah genuak (kerdas) hutan. Berpandu dengan mereka kami berpusing balik sebab kawasan aliran air yang kami cari berada di jalan lain.

Jalan punya jalan, akhirnya terjumpalah kami lokasi yang sesuai. Waktu tu jam dah pukul sekitar 11 pagi kot, sebab panas terik sungguh. Aku pun parking kereta dan tukar kasut, ambil parang dan keluar meninjau orkid.

Diantara timbunan balak yang telah ditebang, aku menjumpai satu clump Eria javanica yang agak besar dan masih hijau bersama dengan satu spesis yang mata aku nampak seperti Pomatoculpa sp. Hmm.. jauh benar dari telahan aku yang memungkinkan aku menjumpai banyak spesis-spesis menarik disini. Kawan aku pergi meninjau jalan lain dan akhirnya kami bertemu setengah jam kemudian. Dia pun sama juga, tak dapat pun orkid-orkid yang menarik.

Kami teruskan mencari dengan menunggang motor dan berhenti lagi di lokasi lain. Kami berpecah dan aku teruskan mencari diantara puing-puing balak yang ditebang disana sini. Panas tengahari semakin membahang dan aku semakin kerap meneguk bekalan air yang aku bawa. Air botol kecik la pulak.. sebab aku tak jangka sungguh letih dan panas macam ni.. Memanjat, membongkok dan meniti ditengah terik matahari memang kerja yang meletihkan. Batang-batang balak yang ditebang dan dilonggok ditepi jalan biasanya tak begitu stabil dan mungkin bolah bergolek bila-bila masa saja andai nasib tak menyebelahi badan.

Penat lelah aku berhasil juga akhirnya, bila terjumpa satu clump Maleola sp yang agak besar. Malas aku nak kaji lama-lama, ditengah panas ni, aku terus capai parang dan terus aku menyelamatkan orkid ni masuk ke dalam karung guni yang aku bawa. Air didalam botol yang aku bawa semakin sedikit kerana kekerapan aku meneguknya. Demi keadaan yang semakin mendesak, aku pun meneguk juga air dari aliran kecil dalam kawasan tu. Airnya masih ori, cuma sedikit keruh sahaja, semestinya kerana gangguan aktiviti balak yang berlaku disitu. Rasa airnya pun masih ok lagi... hantam sajalaaah.

Beberapa lokasi seterusnya aku jumpa lagi sp Maleola atau Cleisostema termasuk beberapa sp Chroniochilus veriscen dan Ascochilopsis myosurus. Memang tiada orkid-orkid yang best dikawasan ni kecuali yang biasa-biasa saja. Kawan aku pun sama juga, dan dia dapat satu sp Cologyne, Dendrobium panduriferum dan Denrobium lamellatum.
Keadaan ini sedikit mengecewakan kami, tapi sebagai pencari orkid, ini adalah perkara biasa terjadi. Penat-lelah yang terbuang tak semestinya berbayar dengan pulangan yang berbaloi. Ini kami dah cukup faham dan menerima hasil yang kami dapat pada hari itu.

Akhirnya, kami berhenti rehat dan meninggalkan kawasan balak itu dengan selamat kira-kira jam 2 petang. Ok la tuuu.. alhamdulillah

Exploration 2

Searching for wild orchids means one need to really go out there in the wild. In this expedition made not so long ago, we were exploring one of the heath forest we thought may have something in her belly for us. For amateurs like us, there was an empirical evidence to suggest this type of forest could be a natural habitat of Phalaenopsis fuscata or a cornu-cervi or at least some orchid epiphytic alliance.

As we went through, there was neither a single fuscata in sight nor any of our previous expectation. Nevertheless, it never mean that we will came out empty handed though. Threre's a handful of nice suprises awaited inside we never knew we'd stumble upon. Firstly, we found a colony of Bulbophyllum pilleatum then followed by Bulbophyllum macrochillum and few other species to make our trip quite fruitful for the day.

There's some 'not so nice' video clips i've uploaded here for you to have a glimpse of our experience. Several other orchids can be seen also including Dipodium pictum and one of a kind jewel orchid. It's so much frustating to watch the video with the way I took them, didn't I. Nevermind, I will try my best to make some improvement next time. No more that lousy time-wasting picture snapping, ok.

Beside orchids, you can see that I had managed to photograph one of the rare insect that I think similar to the said already extinct in Belum, Perak. I'm not sure about this but it looked so much similar if you compare it with the one in display on the large billboard by the highway at the entrance of Banding Lake of Belum Reserved. One of the pecularity in the heath forest is their white sandy soil with occasional blackwater ponds here and there. Wild boars must have visited the area the night before since not a single inch of land saved from their plough in their search for small insects hiding in between the entangling tree roots. The vigorously disturbed soil then served as perfect living ground for other small insects and attracting their hunters too. In our case, we're just a few inches escape for not stomping on a rather small but deadly venomous viper crossing his way in front of us. Pheww..

A journey into the jungle

Indeed, Malaysia has a lot to offer in orchids for its ardent lovers. For example, deep in the lushful tropical jungle one will find plenty of small streams flowing its truly crystal clear water you won't want to miss to have a quick dip in it. In the surroundings occupied by the flow, often humidity plays a vital role in giving staple requirement to the growth of orchids and many of other plant inhabitants. Species such as Bulboplyllum rugosum thrived here abundance and at the time of our arrival their ubiquitous blooming have marked our joy delightfully.

Introduction

Orchidaciae is a kingdom of massive plant species from which 25,000 or so of them rooted in and they dwell in almost all parts of our terrestrial world. Although they are generally classified as herbs they possessed such a masterful captivating ability to human with their unique adaptive approach for survival in almost endless way that continuosly interrogating mankind's curiosity. It couldn't be any doubt for that matter that orchids already have gained some sort of reputation since the great Confucius era and still it does the same to many of its truly afficiniadotic souls in the entire world today. Welcome to my page and there's nothing to offer here but merely my personal view on the subject we all knew it too well already - Orchid.

.