Michael,nice work! Any chance of some clear water for underwaterpics??
Cheers
Chris
July 15, 2010. I was tired of the office job, so I bought a cheap airticket and flew to KL city of Peninsular Malaysia. The following day, 2 of my friends brought me to visit some habitats of Cryptocoryne in Pahang state of Malaysia.
Peninsular Malaysia.....heaven on earth!!!
About 9am, we stopped our car next to a jungle stream. We saw Crypt. cordata var. cordata in the stream:
This species is common in Peninsular Malaysia.
The substrate is sand, clay & silt.
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Michael,nice work! Any chance of some clear water for underwaterpics??
Cheers
Chris
Chris Lukhaup
Thanks Chris.....I didn't take any underwater shots during this trip.
More pictures coming up soon.
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After that, we went to explore a very large area of southern Pahang.....most of the places already become oil palm plantation. We found nothing for almost the whole day!
A beautiful river but no Crypt.
Then, we went to a peat swamp not far from the beach. No Crypt. there but found some interesting fish in the dried up swamp.
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The fish population here is too low. Only caught a few Betta tussyae & forest walking catfish (Clarias sp.) ....
And land crab....
And beautiful lizard from the coast....
Later, my friends brought me to a swampy forest where they found Crypt. nurii. When we're there, they shocked to see the logging company is starting to clear the lowland forest in this area.....
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Crypt. nurii here is a swamp type. The leaf looks a bit like Crypt. cordata.....different from Crypt nurii found in the streams & rivers.
TO BE CONTINUED....
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The following day, my another group of friends brought me to explore a secret garden near central part of Peninsular Malaysia. The scenery there is breathtaking, like a paradise on earth.
There is no Crypt. found in this river.
A dead fish.
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On the way back, I asked my friends to stop at a picnic spot near KL city. According to some info, there is a patch of Crypt. affinis growing on the top of a waterfall. I never found Cryptocoryne grows in the waterfall area, so I must try to find it before dark.
There are a few waterfalls & cascades in that area....
I failed to find it in the upper part of the river because it's getting dark. Before going back, I saw something on the rock next to a pool......and it's Crypt affinis!!
Wow! First time in my life seeing the Cryptocoryne on the top of waterfall!!! I was pretty excited to see it there!
The pool next to a cascade.....where I found Crypt. affinis. There are more plants growing under the water but I didn't have time to photohgraph them....
....TO BE CONTINUED.
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Hi Michael, I am a fan of your blog site 'Heaven on Earth'. Thank you very much for sharing your expeditions/trips. I am looking forward to the sequel of this thread.
Welcome Javanus...
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Cool! It is nice to know that there are such places near Singapore. (KL is not too far). But I wonder if we can still find places like this in Singapore. (Ha Ha - just a thought though it may be wishful thinking).
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On the last day in KL, before going to airport, I asked my another 2 friends to bring me to re-visit a habitat of Crypt. minima. When we reached there, my friends were shocked to see the undisturbed lowland forest so near to concrete city (KL).
The pool.
Crypt. minima growing in the shallow part of the pool:
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There is a jungle stream next to the pool which is under the deep shade of forest canopy, the Crypt. is much smaller compared to those growing in the pool, under indirect or direct sunlight.
Barclaya motleyi is growing abundantly here.
I'll continue this thread when I return to Peninsular Malaysia in November.
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Thanks for another interesting thread!
Are these places easy to access? Or need to walk for hours to reach?
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Next time, if you are going again, you can call on us, I guess it will be fun if we can go together. We can have a few cars to drive up.
Ok, thanks...
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End of October 2010, I returned to Peninsular Malaysia....this was the worst trip I ever had. A lot of habitats of Cryptocoryne are either destroyed or degraded.
The habitat (swamp) of a rare variety of Crypt. nurii is gone. They are now clearing the forest for oil palm:
Crypt. schulzei in other habitat:
.... to be continued.
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Just came back from northern Peninsular Malaysia few days ago.
Here, I want to show you the beautiful Crypt. from northern Peninsular Malaysia: Crypt. cordata var. cordata "siamensis":
The spathe is glossy, narrow & dark golden colored:
It is growing in under the big tree in a sandy river. Without the tree roots, the Crypt. will be swept away by fast & strong current:
....to be continued.
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