Journey to northern Peninsular Malaysia

**kuching** · 13th Aug 2007, 18:46

Aug. 10 2007, I took a direct flight from my hometown to Penang island in the north western part of Peninsular Malaysia.

In this trip, I found:

(1) One of the rarest Crypt. in Peninsular M'sia - Crypt. elliptica

(2) I found slipper orchid, Paphiopedilum barbatum & a wild orchid eden in a secret location at Kedah

(3) a big population of red coloured Nepenthes albomarginata (pitcher plant)

And many more.....

note: I took almost 300 photos in this trip, so I may take a week to upload some of the images to the forum or my website. It was another wonderful trip in 2007!!!

Penang bridge, the longest bridge in Southeast Asia!!! (13.5 km long)

Jungle Mike in the jungle of northern Peninsular Malaysia:

Crypt. elliptica - this is the only species of aquatic aroid which can propagate from the leaf & it is a rare species!!! I think I'm too lucky to find it.

Nepenthes albomarginata is very common in the hills & mountain of Penang & Kedah:

My "jaw dropped" when I saw this slipper orchid, Paphiopedilum barbatum !!!

To be continued.....

**kuching** · 14th Aug 2007, 18:35

August 10, 2007. I stayed a night at a budget hotel in Penang. I was travelling alone. My initial plan was to photograph the red coloured Nepenthes ampullaria (pitcher plant) at the summit of Penang hill. However, when I reached the foothill of Penang hill on the following day, I saw so many tourists buying tickets at the cable car station. I changed my mind to explore this hill as I don't like to go tourist destination. I prefer to explore places where there are not many people hanging around.

Beautiful night scenary of Penang:

I drove for few hours from Penang to Kedah state in the northern part of Peninsular Malaysia. About 10am, I saw a beautiful mountain near a small town. I decided to climb that mountain. When I drove pass a bridge, I saw a lot of water plants on the drain. I went down to check it out & saw Egeria densa and a species of Blyxa growing abundantly there:

Egeria densa and a species of Blyxa

I almost fell into the drain when I spotted this aquatic plant which I never seen before.....Ottelia alismoides !!!! WOOOWWW!!!

**TS168** · 14th Aug 2007, 22:18

Hey Michael, nice trip. Nice cryptocoryne. Will you try the leave propagation method? If you do so, let me know thanks.

This C. elliptica might need higher humidity than any other. Happy growing.

**kuching** · 14th Aug 2007, 22:49

Originally Posted by TS168

Hey Michael, nice trip. Nice cryptocoryne. Will you try the leave propagation method? If you do so, let me know thanks.

This C. elliptica might need higher humidity than any other. Happy growing.

Yup...I'll try to propagate it using the leaf.

**kuching** · 14th Aug 2007, 23:00

According to my reference book, this Ottelia alismoides is common in Penang & Kedah but uncommon in southern Peninsular Malaysia. And, I never found it in Borneo.

The beautiful leaves of Ottelia alismoides .

I heard that this species is not easy to cultivate in the aquarium.

I also spotted Panchax ,Aplocheilus panchax in the drain. It is very common in Peninsular Malaysia but I never seen it in Borneo.

Aplocheilus panchax (male)

**kuching** · 15th Aug 2007, 06:18

August 11, 2007. I decided to explore this mountain in Kedah to find red coloured Nepenthes albomarginata. I drove my car until 1,000 feet and parked at the roadside. Then I walked slowly to the summit. N. albomarginata was found abundantly there. That is the only species of pitcher plant which I found in that area.

The beautiful mountain of Kedah. As there are too many exotic plants growing here, so I do not disclose the name of this mountain:

The habitat of pitcher plant:

The upper pitcher of Nepenthes albomarginata.

Red coloured Nepenthes albomarginata.

**kuching** · 15th Aug 2007, 06:24

The giant sized N. albomarginata.

So many upper pitchers ......

The leaves are dark reddish colour!!!

Very red coloured small pitcher:

The pitcher:

**kuching** · 15th Aug 2007, 06:30

Three by three.

The green coloured upper pitcher:

The fruits:

The victims are mostly black ants. Unlike in Sarawak, the termite is rarely found inside the pitcher. I also found some mosquitoes larvaes & white worms living in the fluid of the pitcher.

And a frog was found sleeping inside the pitcher! (For photography purpose, I woke it up & placed it on the leaf)

**royss78** · 17th Aug 2007, 02:26

hey kuching, will you be coming again to Johor anytime soon? I would like to go for a field trip if you're all right in taking me along. I used to do this before when I was in my secondary school days but now with so much development in Johor, most of the old spots where I used to go to harvest fishes and plants have all vanished.

Let me know. Maybe we can arrange for another one when you are free.

**kuching** · 18th Aug 2007, 00:08

Originally Posted by royss78

hey kuching, will you be coming again to Johor anytime soon? I would like to go for a field trip if you're all right in taking me along. I used to do this before when I was in my secondary school days but now with so much development in Johor, most of the old spots where I used to go to harvest fishes and plants have all vanished.

Let me know. Maybe we can arrange for another one when you are free.

Thanks ...but I am not coming to Johor.

**AngelAddick** · 18th Aug 2007, 01:43

Bro, come to Johor lah. I'll drive in from Singapore, we can go around my home state and explore.

Cheers,
Phil
p/s: Royss78, you're welcome to come along... heh!

**kuching** · 18th Aug 2007, 19:43

Originally Posted by AngelAddick

Bro, come to Johor lah. I'll drive in from Singapore, we can go around my home state and explore.

Cheers,
Phil
p/s: Royss78, you're welcome to come along... heh!

Thanks...but not at the moment.

**kuching** · 19th Aug 2007, 23:04

When I walked up to 1,500 feet, I saw a jungle trail and then I hiked along the trail & I found a small stream. I saw 2 species of Utricularia (a type of carnivorous plant) growing in the water or near the stream.

The jungle trail. (note: there is a N. albomarginata on the foreground):

Utricularia involvens

Close-up of the flower of Utricularia involvens :

Utricularia minutissima

**kuching** · 19th Aug 2007, 23:15

When I was hiking along the jungle trail from 1,500 feet to 3,000 feet, I was almost "fainted" when I saw wild orchids are growing almost everywhere! It was a wild orchid eden. There are so many orchids which I never seen before ....

Species A - the leaves & stems are covered by short red hairs. Dendrobium sp.???

The inflorescence of species A.

Close-up of the flower of species A.

species B - Liparis sp.???

Close-up of the inflorescence of species B.

**kuching** · 19th Aug 2007, 23:20

Species C - totally no idea what orchid is this???

Close-up of the flower of species C.

same as above (side view):

species D. - No idea. Never seen before....

Close-up of the flower of orchid species D.

Same species as above;

**kuching** · 19th Aug 2007, 23:33

Species E - headache. No idea what is this orchid?

Species F - Dendrobium sp.???

Nephylaphyllum sp. (orchid)

Species G

Flowers of species G

same species as above

Too many unidentified species of orchids!!! There are more than what I've photographed. Not going to photograph all.

**kuching** · 20th Aug 2007, 23:33

Another picture of species E (terrestrial orchid):

Another picture of species F (very small orchid):

No idea what is this (very tiny):

No idea what flower....

and ???

**kuching** · 20th Aug 2007, 23:48

August 12, 2007. I decided to go to explore southern Kedah and northern Perak to find a rare species of Cryptocoryne - Crypt. elliptica. This was a mission impossible because nobody really knows where to find it except the old location which has already been destroyed caused by development. Some people still found Crypt. in the old location at Perak, but all those Crypt. are the common Crypt. minima.

The jungle of southern Kedah:

There are a lot of rivers in southern Kedah but I couldn't find any Crypt.

Another river:

A jungle stream: