Post by Robert on Sept 25, 2007 21:14:32 GMT 8
Sometime last year after meeting Esther Koh and mike Lo i mentioned that I am planning another trip to Bario in 2007. Esther expressing her interest ,I had managed to find the appropriate time on 19th -23rd Sept, 2007. Included in the group were Charlot (a Taiwanese-chinese cps book writer), Amos Yu –a Taiwanese plant lover who found the cultural diversity and abundance floras and faunas of Sarawak a breath- taking natural wonders, sharing the same was Georges Schneider,a French, who was on holiday with his local wife Jacinta, a holiday that will last 2 months but ended up till now 3 years in Sarawak.
Staying a night in Miri town ,the next day we left for Bario with a Twin Otter aircraft. The low flying, approx.8,000ft, from Miri to Bario provide every traveller a clear bird eye view of the greenery and rugged mountain landscape.
Our luggages
It’s free seating-first come first serve. You can also talk to the pilots.
Mountain ridges
Logging tracks by bulldozers criss crossing over the land for commercial timber extraction.
Batu Lawi – a neps and plant haven, can be seen clearly on a fine day
Bario lies on a flat land surrounded by mountains. Rice farming being the main occupation.
Our visit coincide with blooming orchids-just to show some that I had taken
Bario also contained many interesting flowering plants.
The surrounding heath forest contained neps. The most common being stenophylla, reinwardtianan, veitchii and hybrids.
A surprise passerby-Borneon cobra
We headed to the heath forest that afternoon and came across stenophylla on the way, some on the slope of the drain.
Lichens are a common sight in the heath forest of Bario
The sight of sphagnum moss make ones drool. They are like wild grasses to the Locals who would scoop them up and dumped by the roadside.
Thick mist blanketing the air around Bario and the surrounding mt. A natural phenomenon in early morning that brings the cool and moisture to the plants.
Humidity and temperature recorded- temp and humidity varies greatly during the day and night. Air is always cooling. On a fine sunny day when there is moving cloud or overcast temp. would drop immediately or vice versa.
#1 7.30 am morning
#2 10.00am and #4 10.30 am -both taken on same morning
#3 Taken around 10.00am inside house shade.
The busy couple
Stenophylla growing like vine on trees-dead or alive
Lower pitcher and vine structure of steno.
It is interesting to note many interesting activities goes on along the tendrils to the pitchers.
Young pitcher with spider web on tendril.
A jumping spider whose web (not visible) was constructed on the spur , fend off the worker ant-polyrachis sp.
More stenophylla photos
reinwardtiana tend to thrive ,like steno., in the open heath forest. Tendrils can be long.
This reinwardt. Pitcher has strange 3 eye dots that were space on the sides and middle.
The Bario red form is longer, tubby on the lower and more colourful than the short light pink lowland cousin.
hybrids reinwardtiana x stenophylla
The left one ,possibly recross back to reinwardt., as there are 2 eye dots present, and the wings along the front pitcher were absent.The opposite is quite obvious compared to the right a reinwardtiana x stenophylla.
There seem to be fewer hybrid between veitchii and steno., and reinwardt. but I stumbled upon 3 plants in one location–a steno x veitchii- represent the true colourful form of veitchii (possibly red form) while pitcher structured to those of steno.,
The sight of veitchii would make everyone drools and make all the pitchers of Bario a minnow. Their form, shape and colours so diverse and very mixed within the same location.
Pitchers development shown from different plant
broad leaves
The most adorable pair ;D
Their growth habitat.and behaviour .
Like most part of Borneo land clearing for village development and state own village project destroys many rare and exotic plants. Bario is not an exception and is very much in need of a good road to link the outside world.
Staying a night in Miri town ,the next day we left for Bario with a Twin Otter aircraft. The low flying, approx.8,000ft, from Miri to Bario provide every traveller a clear bird eye view of the greenery and rugged mountain landscape.
Our luggages
It’s free seating-first come first serve. You can also talk to the pilots.
Mountain ridges
Logging tracks by bulldozers criss crossing over the land for commercial timber extraction.
Batu Lawi – a neps and plant haven, can be seen clearly on a fine day
Bario lies on a flat land surrounded by mountains. Rice farming being the main occupation.
Our visit coincide with blooming orchids-just to show some that I had taken
Bario also contained many interesting flowering plants.
The surrounding heath forest contained neps. The most common being stenophylla, reinwardtianan, veitchii and hybrids.
A surprise passerby-Borneon cobra
We headed to the heath forest that afternoon and came across stenophylla on the way, some on the slope of the drain.
Lichens are a common sight in the heath forest of Bario
The sight of sphagnum moss make ones drool. They are like wild grasses to the Locals who would scoop them up and dumped by the roadside.
Thick mist blanketing the air around Bario and the surrounding mt. A natural phenomenon in early morning that brings the cool and moisture to the plants.
Humidity and temperature recorded- temp and humidity varies greatly during the day and night. Air is always cooling. On a fine sunny day when there is moving cloud or overcast temp. would drop immediately or vice versa.
#1 7.30 am morning
#2 10.00am and #4 10.30 am -both taken on same morning
#3 Taken around 10.00am inside house shade.
The busy couple
Stenophylla growing like vine on trees-dead or alive
Lower pitcher and vine structure of steno.
It is interesting to note many interesting activities goes on along the tendrils to the pitchers.
Young pitcher with spider web on tendril.
A jumping spider whose web (not visible) was constructed on the spur , fend off the worker ant-polyrachis sp.
More stenophylla photos
reinwardtiana tend to thrive ,like steno., in the open heath forest. Tendrils can be long.
This reinwardt. Pitcher has strange 3 eye dots that were space on the sides and middle.
The Bario red form is longer, tubby on the lower and more colourful than the short light pink lowland cousin.
hybrids reinwardtiana x stenophylla
The left one ,possibly recross back to reinwardt., as there are 2 eye dots present, and the wings along the front pitcher were absent.The opposite is quite obvious compared to the right a reinwardtiana x stenophylla.
There seem to be fewer hybrid between veitchii and steno., and reinwardt. but I stumbled upon 3 plants in one location–a steno x veitchii- represent the true colourful form of veitchii (possibly red form) while pitcher structured to those of steno.,
The sight of veitchii would make everyone drools and make all the pitchers of Bario a minnow. Their form, shape and colours so diverse and very mixed within the same location.
Pitchers development shown from different plant
broad leaves
The most adorable pair ;D
Their growth habitat.and behaviour .
Like most part of Borneo land clearing for village development and state own village project destroys many rare and exotic plants. Bario is not an exception and is very much in need of a good road to link the outside world.
Robert, you always make us drool, never fail us. Those are gorgeous N.vietchii !!! Just love it. Imagine if those growing in my garden... like a queen in the garden! ;D Thanks Robert for posting the pictures.
