Borneo and its nepenthes: a pictorial tour

[Nep_grower]

During the summer holiday period I visited Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah.  Naturally, like any Nepenthes enthusiast would, I decided to venture into the jungle in search of these insectivorous wonders.  Here I will post selected photographs from the trip.

I will make regular updates with new photos (there are lots I'd like to post!).  I will try to put them in the approximate order I saw them myself, so Neps from a particular location will appear together.  Also, I have saved the best 'til last.

Now, onto the photos...

First, I visited Bako National Park.  This is a relatively small but unique park.  Luckily, it does not seem to attract too many tourists and so is largely unspoilt.  It is here that I encountered 5 species of Nepenthes, the first of which were N. rafflesiana and N. gracilis...

N. gracilis plants scrambling over a shrub, growing in open heath vegetation.

Close-up of dark N. gracilis pitcher.

N. gracilis vine growing horizontally over bare rock.

N. gracilis and N. rafflesiana plants.  Note the red colouring of the N. rafflesiana's leaves as a result of direct exposure to sunlight.

N. rafflesiana - upper pitcher.

Upper pitcher viewed from the side.

Nice lower pitcher of the species.

Another upper - note the ant feeding on the nectar.

Unusually coloured lower pitcher of N. rafflesiana.

That's it for now.  Next up: N. albomarginata, N. ampullaria and N. hirsuta.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.  Also, I took ~380 photos on the trip, so if you have anything in particular you'd like to see then let me know and I'll try and see if I can find something for you.

Thanks,
Michael.

 

[Tony Paroubek]

WOOHOOO AWSOME AWSOME!! Keep em coming!! I want to see all 380!!

Really great photos!

At least in that area were most growing like that in bright sun? What were the temperatures like?

Tony

 

[Nep_grower]

Quote[/b] (Tony Paroubek @ Sep. 17 2005,8:38)]WOOHOOO AWSOME AWSOME!! Keep em coming!!  I want to see all 380!!

Really great photos!  

At least in that area were most growing like that in bright sun?  What were the temperatures like?  

Tony

Hi Tony, thanks for the kind words.

All N. gracilis plants grew in open heath vegetation where they were exposed to direct sunlight.  Most N. rafflesiana that I saw, however, grew under the shade of trees in the forest itself.  I didn't measure the temperature, but I'd say they were basically typical lowland conditions.

The following neps were growing in lowland kerangas forest.

Several rosettes of N. ampullaria.

A small "carpet" of amps at Bako National Park.

More N. ampullaria pitchers.

N. albomarginata - green form.

An upper pitcher of the same type.

A different colour variant.

The red form of N. albomarginata.

What I believe to be N. hirsuta.  Sorry about the contrast - these plants were growing in quite shady conditions.

Nice green lower pitcher.

Photo showing pitcher as well as leaf and stem detail.


Coming up next: N. fusca, N. reinwardtiana and N. tentaculata.

 

[Nep_grower]

Next, I was off to that most famous of Nepenthes havens - Mount Kinabalu.

The climb would be long and hard...

...and the dangers all too apparent...

...but the reward would be worth it in the end.

I'll post the next series of photos tomorrow.

Hope you like them so far,
Michael.

 

[WalterG]

The peristome in Pic 204 is incredible. I just love rafflesiana uppers. No matter how good we get at it in the greenhouse, Mother Nature is always ready to show us up. We have been served!

 

[Flip_Side_the_Pint]

I am sooo happy to see these photos, lowlanders in thier natural environment.... delightful, most delightful indeed. I can't wait to see whats next.

 

[peter]

Wow, excellent pics, its always a lot cooler to see plants grown in the wild.  I'd like to use that worm for fishing one day! (J/K)
Are those worms pretty common in that area?

 

[killerplantsguy]

Michael,

Thank you for sharing the fantastic pictures.  It's really informative seeing plants in their natural habitat.

Can't wait to see more!!

 

[SydneyNeps]

Worm? Wasn't it a leach...?

 

[Seandew]

Certainly looked like a leech to me. Wouldn't like one of those things hanging off my ankle. Looks like it'd drain a litre of blood.

 

[rbjong]

Mike,great and fabulous photos in such short visit.were the "Dutchmen" not your camera target,beside the neps? You reached the summit of mt.Kinabalu?...it's hard to be humble..when you have reached the top..show everyone your certificate ..hee..he..

 

[JanW]

Awesome pictures. I especially liked the ant & nectar photo!

 

[Nep_grower]

Quote[/b] (SydneyNeps @ Sep. 18 2005,1:18)]Worm? Wasn't it a leach...?

In the book "Globetrotter Visitor's Guide - Kinabalu Park" Anthea Phillipps writes: "Above Pondok Mempening [a shelter on the summit trail] where the trail runs over a rocky outcrop the rare giant Kinabalu leech has been seen, but only in pouring rain.  This leech (which has still not been positively named) is bright orange-red and up to 30 centimetres (12 inches) or so in length.  Almost nothing is known about it and its habits, but it is not a blood-sucker.  It appears to feed mainly on the giant grey-blue Kinabalu earthworms [which I also saw, but sorry no photos] and to live in damp earth and leaves in cracks between the rocks."

 

[Nep_grower]

Quote[/b] (rbjong @ Sep. 18 2005,3:26)]Mike,great and fabulous photos in such short visit.were the "Dutchmen" not your camera target,beside the neps? You reached the summit of mt.Kinabalu?...it's hard to be humble..when you have reached the top..show everyone your certificate ..hee..he..

 

Heh, I wish! There were no more places left in the Laban Rata resthouse (all booked well in advance) and it would be almost impossible to complete the climb both ways in a single day. I was only really interested in the neps anyway, so I climbed about as far as Pondok Villosa (hope I didn't give anything away!).

I approached the mountain from both sides - the Kinabalu HQ trail and the relatively new Mesilau trail - in order to see as many Nepenthes as possible. I'll post the next photos soon.

Thanks,
Michael.

 

[Nep_grower]

The following photographs were taken on the Mesilau trail and surrounding area of the Mesilau resort.

This is my only photograph of N. reinwardtiana.  The plant was growing high up on a steep slope.

Only decent photo of N. fusca that I have (can't believe I cut off the lid!).  These were quite rare on the two summit trails.

Group of N. tentaculata plants growing at the side of the Mesilau trail.

Close-up of small N. tentaculata plant.

Hanging pitchers of N. tentaculata.

Nice dark-coloured pitcher.

N. tentacultata growing over some moss.

Unopened pitcher.

Very small N. tentaculata plant.

This is one of only two N. tentaculata plants I managed to see on the Kinabalu HQ trail.  Most plants seem to have been destroyed by collectors and maybe the 1997/98 El Nino?  Photo taken in very misty conditions.

Next series of photos will include: N. burbidgeae, N. rajah, N. villosa, and some interesting hybrids.

 

[chesara]

WOW
Fantastic pictures

lovely plants and scenery i can never get bored of these sort of photos ,keep them coming please.
Bye for now Julian

 

[Tony Paroubek]

Fantastic! I am equally enjoying studying the surrounding vegetation, as well as how 'peaty like' the soil appears with all the mosses and various plant debris mixed in.

Tony

 

[Nep_grower]

Next up was N. burbidgeae, which I managed to see in a protected site near the Mesilau resort.

Pair of N. burbidgeae pitchers resting on layer of moss.

Pitcher with nice red tendril.

Another N. burbidgeae pitcher.

Very large pitcher of N. burbidgeae, probably more than 20 cm high.

Whole plant.  Not sure why, but the colours appear washed out in this photo.

Next up: N. rajah.

 

[Nep_grower]

A bit further up there were a few interesting hyrbids.

N. burbidgeae x fusca.  Photo suffering from same problem as previous one.

What I was told is an example of N. rajah x tentaculata!

The greatest prize, however, lay near the top of a steep landslide, the only place in the world where one can see N. rajah in its natural habitat.  It would not disappoint!

It seemed as if every square metre had a N. rajah plant growing in it.  There was great variety in size, form and colouration of the pitchers, with both male and female flowering plants present.

The first N. rajah I encountered, baring a medium-sized lower pitcher.

Large lower pitcher.

Photo showing peristome detail.

Another colourful N. rajah pitcher.

Trio of plants including one flowering male specimen.

Medium-sized lower pitcher.

Photo showing whole N. rajah plant (relatively young specimen).

Pair of small N. rajah plants.

Coming up next: N. villosa.

 

[Nep_grower]

N. villosa.  Photo taken on summit trail from Kinabalu HQ when it was pouring down with rain.

Same as above.

While N. villosa is undoubtedly the most common Nepenthes along the old summit trail, the Mesilau trail, apart from being a generally more interesting (although longer) trail, offers visitors the chance to see many more N. villosa plants.  The following photo illustrates this point quite well:

A huge mass of hanging N. villosa pitchers, both dried and newly-opened

Very nice elongated pitcher.

N villosa lower pitcher.  Note the beautifully intricate peristome.

Red-pitchered form of the species.

My personal favourite. A hanging pitcher of the yellow form of N. villosa.