Calliandra surinamensis - Powder Puff Flower

Common name : powder puff flower, pink tassel flower, pink powderpuff, Surinamese stickpea

Classification : Magnoliophyta - Magnoliopsida- Fabales - Fabaceae - Mimosoideae - Ingeae

Origin : South American

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Description :

Fast growing evergreen shrub/small tree, can grow up to 15 feet in height.

Leaves alternate, evenly bipinnate compound. Leaflet 2 -4 inch, oblong, entire margin.

Flower pink colour, pleasant fragrance, showy.

Fruit pod 3- 6 inch length, flat, turn brown and dry when matured, dehiscent, contain 5 -6 seeds.

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Cultivation :

Propagation by seeds.

Cucumis melo Inodorus 蜜瓜

Common name : Honeydew, 蜜瓜, 白兰瓜

Family : Cucurbitaceae

Honeydew is an American name for the French variety White Antibes.

Cultivation

Originated from France.

Introduced to China by Henry A. Wallace, Vice President of the US in 1940s, who donated the seeds when visiting China. It is grown near Lanzhou兰州, the capital city of Gansu province甘肃省. The name was named bailan melon白兰瓜, for its whitish ( 白 ) coloured fruit, and the area Lanzhou ( 兰).

Description

Annual or sometimes perennial (in wild form), trailing, prostrate or rarely climbing herb.

Stem angular and hirsute, sometimes becoming circular and glabrous.

Leaves ± reniform, 5-angled or shallowly 5-lobed, lobes obtuse, both surfaces covered with soft villous hairs; size variable, 5-15 cm long and as much broad, smaller in wild forms.

Male flowers fasciculate; peduncle 5-3 cm long. Calyx tube villous, 5-8 mm long, sepals subulate. Corolla 1-2 cm long.

Fruit round to slightly oval shape, 15 – 22 cm long. 1.8 – 3.6 kg weight.

Seeds white, oblong and emarginate.

References

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeydew_(melon)

2. http://www.eol.org/pages/584424

Thailand : in a glimpse - fruits

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Cocos nucifera

Common name : Coconut, Kelapa (Malay), 椰, ma phrao-มะพร้าว(Thai)

Family : Asteraceae

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Areca catechu

Common name : Betel Nut, 槟榔, Pinang (Malay), mak-หมาก (Thai)

Family : Asteraceae

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Annona muricata

Common name : Soursop, durian belanda (Malay), 红毛榴莲, ทุเรียนเทศ (Thai)

Family : Annonaceae

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Pyrus sp

Common name : Pear, 梨子

Family : Rosaceae

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Manilkara zapota

Common name : Sapodilla, Ciku (Malay), 人心果, lamoot-ละมุด (Thai)

Family : Sapotaceae

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Psidium guajava

Common name : Guava, Jambu batu (Malay), 番石榴, fa rang-ฝรั่ง (Thai)

Family : Myrtaceae

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Syzygium malaccense

Synonyms : Caryophyllus malaccensis, Eugenia malaccensis

Common name : Malay Rose Apple, Jambu Bol (Malay), ชมพู่มะเหมี่ยว (Thai)

Family : Myrtaceae

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Bouea macrophylla

Common name : Kundang (Malay), มะปราง (Thai)

Family : Anacardiaceae

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Mangifera indica Chauk anan

Common name : Mango, Mangga(Malay), 杧果,ma muaang-มะม่วง (Thai)

Family : Anacardiaceae
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Leucaena leucocephala

Common name : Petai Hutan (Malay ), Krathin- กระถิน (Thai)

Family : Fabaceae

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Arachis hypogaea

Common name : Peanut, Kacang Tanah (Malay), 花生,thuaa li sohng- ถั่วลิสง (Thai)

Family : Fabaceae

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Tamarindus indica

Common name : Tamarind, Asam Jawa (Malay), ma khaam- มะขาม (Thai)

Family : Fabaceae
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Hibiscus sabdariffa

Common name : Roselle, 洛神花, krajeab-กระเจี๊ยบ (Thai)

Family : Malavaceae

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Citrullus lanatus

Common name : Watermelon, 西瓜, Tembikai (Malay), taengmo-แตงโม (Thai)

Family : Cucurbitaceae
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Tricosanthes dioca

Common name :  timun potol (Malay)

Family : Cucurbitaceae
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Piper betle

Common name : Betel, 蒌叶, Sireh (Malay), พลู (Thai)

Family : Piperaceae

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Capsicum frutescens

Common name : Thai pepper, 小米椒,Chili Api (Malay), พริกขี้หนู (Thai)

Family : Solanaceae

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??

Common name : orange, som- ส้ม (Thai)

Family : Rutaceae

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Gymnostoma sumatranum - Rhu Bukit

Synonym - Casuarina sumatrana.. .

Its native to tropical Asia, found in Malesia-Sumatra region. In Malaysia, it is known as Rhu Bukit. In Sarawak it is a protected species. It is official tree of Kota Kinabalu City Hall of Sabah.. .

Gymnostoma sumatranumis a family of Casuarinaceae, of order Fagales. Casuarinaceae consist of 3 or 4 genera and approximately 70 species of trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics, Australia and the Pacific Island. At one time, all the species were places in the genus Casuarina, but are now split among Allcasuarina, Casuarina, Ceuthostoma and Gymnostoma.

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Description

A moderately large tree, capable to grow up to 30 meter in heights. Twigs are evergreen, drooping equisetoid. Foliage is of multiple ronded umbrella shaped crowns. The roots have nitrogen fixing nodules that contain the soil actinomycetes Frankia. Stems are angular or tetrahedral in cross section. Female inflorescences are borne terminally . .

Propogation

G. sumatranum is propagated by seeds. Requires a well-drained medium. Germination in 30-90 days.

Propagation by rooting stem shows about 60 – 70 % of success with mature softwood stem cuttings. Rooted cuttings inoculated with Frankia were easily transplanted and established in field conditions with very low (about 3%) mortality. ⁽¹⁾. .

Economics

Its widely use as ornamental trees.

Produce superior quality charcoal in Sarawak. Annual commercial production is about 34,000 tons (weight) of firewood and 4,000 tons of charcoal. ⁽³⁾ . .

Reference

1.Goh C.J. et al, A Simple and Efficient Method of Clonal Propagation of Casuarina sumatrana, Plant Growh Regulation 17:115-120, 1995 (http://www.springerlink.com/content/t725m458205j1074/ )
2. Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymnostoma_sumatranum )
3. Innovations in Tropical Reforestation Casuarinas, nitrogen-fixing trees for adverse sites (http://nzdl.sadl.uleth.ca/cgi-bin/library.cgi?e=d-00000-00---off-0hdl--00-0----0-10-0---0---0direct-10---4-------0-1l--11-en-50---20-about---00-0-1-00-0-0-11-1-0utfZz-8-00&a=d&cl=CL2.18.5&d=HASH010c345e11867f606d9a3478.11)

Casuarina equisetifolia - Rhu Pantai

Synonym : Casuarina litorea

Common names : Casuarina, Australian pine, beach she-oak, beef wood-tree, whistling pine

Etymology

Casuarina is from the Malay word ‘kasuari’, an allusion to the twigs of cassowary bird.

equisetifolia is derived from the Latin ‘equinus’, pertaining to horses, and ‘folium’, a leaf, in reference to the fine, drooping twigs, which are reminiscent of coarse horse hair.

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Natural Habitat & Origin

Sandy coasts of subtropical & tropical ( between 12-31.5°s and 18-22°N ) - Australasia, SE.Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, possible Madagascar.

Classification

Magnoliophyta Magnoliopsida Fagales Casuarinaceae

Description

Evergreen tree with capable to grow up to 20 meters in height.

Crown shape initially conical but tends to flatten with age.

Trunk straight, cylindrical, usually branchless for up to 10m, up to 100cm in diameter. Bark reddish brown colour, rough, brittle, peeling.

Branchlets are deciduous, dropping, needlelike, terete but with prominent angular ribs, 23 – 38 cm x 0.5 – 1 mm, greyish-green.

Flowers unisexual, perianth absent. Monoecious. Pollination by wind.

Male flowers in terminal, simple, elongated spike, 7-40mm long, in whorls, single stamen.

Female inflorescence on a short lateral branchlet, cylindrical, cone-shaped or globose.

Infructescence woody, conelike.

Fruit grey or yellow-grown winged nut (samara).

Seed solitary.

Propagation & Cultivation

Propagation by seeds; cutting from branclests, treated with IBA/IAA/NAA; air-layering is practice, but too costly for large scale operation.

Inoculation with pure strains of Frakia prior to transplanting to field.

Planting density of 2,500stem/ha. Harvested at 10^th – 15^th years.

May plant up to 8,000-10,000 stems/ha for firewood. Harvested at 4^th – 5^th years. Yield 10 – 20 MT/ha/year.

Economic Importance

Firewood : Calorific value 500kcal/kg. Highly regarded wood, ignites readily even when green. Regarded “the best firewood in the world”.

Charcoal : Calorific value 7000kcal/kg .

Paper : Wood to produce paper pulp using neutral sulphate and semi-chemical process.

Timber : Heavy hardwood. Density 900-100kg/m³. Used as house post, rafters, electtic poles, tool handles, oars, wagon wheels, etc.

Folk medicine : Root extrcts are used for treating dysentry, diarrhea, stomach ache. Twigs are used for treating swelling. Powdered bark is used for treating pimples.

Erosion control : planted along coastlines, estuaries, riverbanks, waterways.

Horticulture : Landscape, bongsai.

Weed : Reported to be an invasive weed in Hawaii, the Bahamas, Florida, Nauru.

Others : Tannin, boat making, wind breaker, living fences, nitrogen-fixing.

National Parks & Reserves in Sarawak

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There are 18 National Parks in Sarawak, of which I had only visited 5 of them. Not yet even to include another 5 Nature Reserves and 4 Wildlife Sactuaries. I think I may not have the chance to at least pay a brief visit to all of the existing Totally Protected Areas.

Compare to other states of the Federation, Sarawak surely championed other states in regard to total land area and numbers of TPAs.

However, if we look at total area of Sarawak, which is 124,450 km² ( 12,445,000 ha ), total TPAs of 492,973.47 ha is merely a 3.96% !

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	Area (ha)	%
Total National Parks	299,793.00	2.4089%
Total Wildlife Sactuaries	945.07	0.0076%
Total Reserves	192,235.40	1.5447%
Total TPAs	492,973.47	3.9612%
Total State Area	12,445,000.00

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NATIONAL PARKS

No	Name	Area (ha)	Division	Date of Gazettement
1	Bako NP	2,727 ha	Kuching	4-May-57
2	Gunong Mulu NP	52,865 ha	Miri	3-Oct-74
3	Niah NP	3,138 ha	Miri	2-Jan-75
4	Lambir NP	6,949 ha	Miri	26-Jun-75
5	Similajau NP	7,064 ha	Bintulu	20-Apr-78
	Similajau 1st Extension	1,932 ha		2-Jun-00
6	Gunung.Gading NP	4,196 ha	Kuching	3-May-88
7	Kubah NP	2,230 ha	Kuching	11-May-89
8	Batang Ai NP	24,040 ha	Sri Aman	11-May-89
9	Loagan Bunut NP	10,736 ha	Miri	29-Aug-91
10	Tanjung Datu NP	1,379 ha	Kuching	19-May-94
11	Talang Satang NP	0 ha(19,414 – water bodies)	Kuching	4-Nov-99
12	Bukit Tiban NP	8,000 ha	Bintulu	31-May-00
13	Maludam NP	43,147 ha	Sri Aman	31-May-00
14	Rajang Mangrove NP	9,373 ha	Sibu	3-Aug-00
15	Gunung Buda NP	6,235 ha	Limbang	18-Jan-01
16	Kuching Wetland NP	6,610 ha	Kuching	10-Oct-02
17	Pulong Tau NP	59,817ha	Limbang, Miri	24-Mar-05
18	Usun Apau NP	49,355ha	Miri	29-Sep-05
	TOTAL	299,793 ha

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NATURE RESERVES

No.	Name	Area (ha)	Division	Date of publication
1	Wind Cave Nature Reserve	6.16 ha	Kuching	4-Nov-99
2	Sama Jaya Nature Reserved	37.916 ha	Kuching	23-Mar-00
3	Semenggoh Nature Reserve	653 ha	Kuching	20-Apr-00
4	Bukit Hitam Nature Reserve	147 ha	Limbang	22-Jun-00
5	Bukit Sembiling Nature Reserve	101 ha	Limbang	22-Jun-00
	TOTAL	945.07 ha

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WILDLIFE SANCTUARIES

No.	Name	Area (ha)	Division	Date of Publication	Effective Date
1	Samunsam Wildlife Sanc.	6,092 ha	Kuching	22-Mar-79	1-Jul-78
	Samunsam 1st Extension	16,706 ha		3-Aug-00	29-May-00
2	Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary	168,758 ha	Sarikei, Sibu, Kapit	3-Mar-83	2-Feb-83
3	Pulau Tukong Ara Tukong Sanctuary	1.4 ha	Kuching	29-Aug-85	28-Feb-85
4	Sibuti Bird Sanctuary	678 ha	Miri	3-Aug-00	29-May-00
	TOTAL	192,235.40