Golden yellow flowers of a jungle tree

 There are many "imported" or non-indigenous trees that are planted as wayside trees in Sarawak.  However, Sarawak is a wealth of forests and there are many local jungle trees can easily be taken out from its original habitat and planted in parks, home gardens or roads here. Among the successful native trees of Malaysia that are  planted in the urban towns or city environment are the Angsana (Pterocarpus indicus), Merawan siput jantan (Hopea odorata), Jelutong (Dyera costulata), Kelumpang burung (Sterculia parviflora), Eugenia oleina and Kedah Gardenia (Gardenia carinata).  At the Kambatik Park this week one jungle tree species has started to flower abundantly.  At the moment I am not able to identify the tree but it is obviously a very hard tropical wood tree.  It is located at Botanic Island One and the tree height is approximately 20 meters high.  I think this tree is a beautiful candidate for urban tree landscaping in Sarawak or Malaysia for that matter.

Location : Botanic Island One - The Kambatik Park, Bintulu.

The "Queen of Sarawak Palm" blossoms

In Bintulu, and enjoying the garden and forest views here. I have a tough day at the farm today but what kept my spirits up was a rare scene of the lakka palm, aka renda ( Cyrtostachys renda/ Cyrtostachys lakka) in full bloom. The renda is an extremely lovely palm for me. Her smooth trunk is surrounded by bright red leafsheaths making her recognizable from a distance. In my opinion it should be named the Queen of Sarawak palms. It is a native of Sarawak or Malaysia and Borneo for that matter. Its original habitat is peat swamp forests but is so versatile that it can be grown in big pots for corporate offices, in residential homes, roadsides and many types of urban landscapes. In Bintulu, the bright red stem and crown shaft are used to decorate arches and for many other ornamental uses e.g. school parade grounds, grandstands, etc., At the inset is a close-up view of the flower stalks. You have to be lucky to catch a glimpse of it when it is still a short palm because in the wild the palm can reach 30 meters high and its flowering magic will be missed. But not to worry here it is for every one to marvel - WYSWYG!!

Very rarely seen blossoms of the renda

The flower stalk of the renda has many branches with each about 30 - 70 cm long. The creamy white flowers are very small and not scented. From my observation, the flower buds are set in a pit. When the flowers fall and seeds develop, the latter are held intact in the same pit.

Dark, mysterious and delicious -looking like black grapes

It is from these seeds that the renda can be propagated. I have experimented with germinating the seeds before but it takes minimum about 2 to as long as 9 months for them to burst into life. Therefore when looking for a quick fix, I would normally remove a sucker from the clump to have an instant renda palm of various heights.

Inspired by Black Beauty

Today I am inspired. I scouted for a few flowering heliconia species at my garden to team up with the attractive dark seeds of the renda. To heighten the rich colours further, I did not hesitate to add the light red leaves of the "Red Ti" ( Cordyline terminalis) . I have had many experiments with exotic daily cut flowers before but this is the first time I'm using the seeds of the renda. I thought of using a cylindrical bamboo -weaved container to obscure the white glass vase inside.

The result is shown below. The dark orange with green tips latispatha, the " Sassy Pink" and the yellow "Golden Torch" have brought much live to the otherwise dark and mysterious stalk of the renda. I would like to name this floral composition " Black Sweet ". In Sarawak it is common to hear of people calling a darkish brown complexion lady as "Hitam Manis" ( Malay, literally translated 'Black sweet') especially when her smile is of the captivating type. So for all those lovely hitam manis girls out there, this one is for you.

Floral arrangement # "Black Sweet"

For more exotic looking floral arrangement that is inspired by the Kambatik garden please check it out here.

Challenge my dracaena !

Vegetation island no.1 at Kambatik Botanic Garden, Bintulu.

I have a find. It was there a few years ago but I did not what to show it off because I was still trying to find more information on it. Yes, I have checked many books and googled for any similar image but to no avail. I therefore decided to finally post it in this blog today before the year is gone and just have a go with it. Well, can never tell this could be a find of the century!!

The plant that I found intriguing is a dracaena species which I can't find any name for many years now ( see inset). The leaves are spirally arranged and formed a distinct collar around the stem. It is a single- stemmed treelet which grows as an understorey plant in my vegetation island no.1 at my eco-farm in Bintulu. Dracaenas are classified under the Agave family ( Agavaceae) and I'm sure I'm correct in placing this find under the dracaena genera.

The dracaena treelets

Note the environment that manages to preserve the dracaena. The thick vegetative matter, humus, plenty of shade from canopy trees, and tropical humid climate all does their magic to sustain the dracaena until I stumbled upon it. The lateral or horizontal leaves arranged in multiple tier formation resemble very much like an umbrella or parasol and a multi-tiered one at that. This formation has strong ornamental effect. The plant specimen here shows that the plant can grow into a treelet. I have not noticed any flowers yet.

Fish eye view - note the semi-woody erect stem

I consider the presence of this rare dracaena as a gift of the land to me. It is therefore a very unique botanical specimen in my kambatik botanic garden thus far. All this attest to the wisdom of preserving the vegetation islands around the eco-farm when I opened up the jungles before for the cultivation of oil palm trees.

For want of a better name I would therefore propose to call this plant ' Dracaena kambatik ' in honour of the kambatik eco-farm and the kambatik botanic garden where it was found. If any soul out there in cyber space can show me another image of the above plant and referenced its name, I am prepared to retract this posting and the proposed name. Well, guys surprise me.

Images of Bintulu Today

Late afternoon ferry boat arrives at the Kmpung Jepak jetty near Swee Joo supermarket after crossing the Kemena River from the 'tambang' wharf opposite. See more pictures and stories about Bintulu here.

Grafitti seen on the half-wall of an overhead bridge at Bintulu town.

Pinkish orange to red flushes of the Eugenia oleina tree at my Kambatik Botanic Garden.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

Lianas or climbers, rattan whips, decomposed leaves, numerous jungle tree species making up the original forest are preserved in three big vegetation islands within the farm. The strategy is to create a botanic garden around and within the forest environment.

Yesterday I started a new blog named " my Kambatik Botanic Garden". I guess this will be a lifetime adventure. It is something delightful and meaningful to me in order make a statement about the state of agroecological farming I'm developing at my eco-farm here in Bintulu.

Over the five years that I spent developing the eco-farm, I've always thought of making it an example of a sustainable oil palm cultivation business. What more to glorify it if not for the fact that along the way I can develop a botanic garden within the original habitat out of which the farm slowly evolved. Thus grew the idea of a botanic garden within a forest.

The blog will document the different species that were there originally and those that I introduced. Today, while making out a section of the mid-hill footpath at the vegetation island no.1, and trying to get pictures of the Caladium bicolour ( Angel's Wings) something dropped down from the canopy of leaves above. A tiny black bird was hopping desperately and trying to take flight but couldn't because it was too young to fly. I got hold of the bird in my right palm and there it was to my surprise, two startling red eyes caught me close and personal.

I think it is rare to catch a red-eyed starling bird. Today I consider myself lucky . Isn't it not what people say, " A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush". Just like the idea of the botanic garden, to have one at my own backyard is worth more than just dreaming about it. What more could I ask?

A special attraction of the botanic garden will be a heliconia collection, besides collection of fruit trees, herbal and medicinal plants, landscaping plants ( interior, roadside, residential, edible), fernery, etc.,.