Pitcher plants of Mt. Murud of Sarawak

[kuching]

I spent 3 days & 2 night from Sept 15 to 17 in Mt. Murud (2,423m), the tallest mountain of Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. There are a lot of beautiful highland species of Nepenthes growing either on the ground or on the tree with the mosses.


The scenery.





The mossy forest.









This is the coldest place in Sarawak.....the temperature after midnight is 10 degree Celcius!!!

JungleMike at Church camp....





Trekking in the mossy forest (altitude is >2,000 m from Sea level)

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At the summit, we can see this beautiful sandstone rocks called Batu Lawi. Its just a landmark in Kelabit highland of Borneo.





The beautiful mossy forest.





Nepenthes muluensis. This species of pitcher plant is named after Gunung Mulu, the 2nd tallest mountain in Sarawak.

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The pitcher of this species is one of the smallest compared to other species of Nepenthes in the highland.











TO BE CONTINUED.......

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The misty forest.




A dry river bed.





Blackwater stream. There is no fish in this high altitude due to the water here is too cold, not a suitable habitat for tropical fish of Borneo.







Before we reach the summit, we'll by pass this beautul rock garden. Its an open space.....and the ground is covered with different shape of sandstone rocks. Here is the habitat for Nepenthes murudensis and N.lowii.

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The breathtaking scenery.....




Nepenthes hurrelliana is one of the most "hairy" pitcher plants I ever seen. The whole plant is covered with short brownish hairs!!! All of them are epiphytes.

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Nepenthes hurrelliana has very large pitcher. Some of those pitchers can reach 30cm in length!!!









This one could be a natural cross hybrid between Nepenthes lowii & Nepenthes hurrelliana ??








TO BE CONTINUED.......

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Mossy forest.





Rock garden....





The highland species of pitcher plant from Borneo.....Nepenthes lowii !!!









The lower pitcher.....the lid has hair-like bristles.

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The young plant.





Upper pitcher of N. lowii.





N. lowii is a lavatories for sun bird & tree shrew. The sweet resin produced from the bristles (on the lid) attract sunbird & tree shrew to consume and sometimes, the animals leaving their droppings/faeces on the pitcher & then it became the fertilizer for the plant. Pls refer this paper: http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.o...5/632.abstract





The tree shrew faeces....

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Fruits & seeds of N. lowii.....





Inflorescences....







Beautiful upper pitcher of Nepenthes lowii.







TO BE CONTINUED.....

[deacon]

Nice, looking forward for more pics.

thanks for sharing.

[kuching]

Nice, looking forward for more pics.

thanks for sharing.

welcome...

[kuching]

Nepenthes murudensis. It is named after the tallest mountain in Sarawak (2,423m):

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There are 4 species of pitcher plants that I failed to find during this trip.....they are N. chaniana, N. fusca, N. reinwardtiana and N. vogelii. Maybe I'll come back to look for them next time.....

En route to Lepo Bunga....





Reach the summit!





The trail.





Mosses.







The highland of Borneo.

[kuching]

N. murudensis looks a bit like N. muluensis & N. tentaculata....except the size of the pitcher is....HUGE!!!

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Some more shots....







Preparing our dinner....




Dinner time.