Monday, 3 February 2014

Panoramic Green tropical Forest

Climbing up the hill and looking down at the green tropical forest always make me feel great ! 
This view is near Batang Air and hopefully it will remain forever.


Costus Woodsonii (Red cane, Scarlet spiral flag, Indian head ginger)

It took me many months to find the name of this plant and I finally got it. These plants were found in Malacca and Penang. 
It is another type of Crepe Ginger. 
The red cylindrical inflorescences on the stem tips are actually floral bracts, shiny, red and tightly overlapped . 
Flower only emerges one at a time in between the bracts and is orange to re-orange in colour. The leaves are glossy, dark green, spirally turned and elliptic to egg shaped.
  

Costus Speciosus (Crepe Ginger)

This tropical plant grows wildly on my farm near the lowland stream. It is also commonly found in many gardens (including my Sarikei home) for its unique red/maroon bracts and white trumpet flowers. It can grow up to 3m and is easily propagated by rhizomes or seeds.

Sunday, 2 February 2014

Bidens Pilosa (Railway beggarticks)

The petals appear sloppy, this 1m height plants are often popped out of the garden, probably spread by the insects or birds.
As a herb, it can be consumed as "body cooling" tea for cough or throat sore, as well to treat insects bite using the raw plant juice.


Hydranchea

The plants seem to be ignored in the remote part of my garden. The flowers are too numerous that they lose the attraction and prominence.
In fact, by just zooming into the small section, the beauty of the flowers can be revealed.


Psidium Guava (Apple guava or common guava)

The yellow skin fruit is sufficiently ripe for eating while the other two yellowish green fruits have to wait for another few days.
The flesh is hard and not many people like it. It is not that sweet but delicious.
This fruit tree can reach a height of 5m and need 3-8 years to fruit. The reddish flowers are small but beautiful.
These fruits are now commercially made into juices and can be used as one of the ingredients for shampoo.


Who planted these white and pink flowers in the Friendship Park?
Well, these are not the real flowers, don't know why he/she planted in the public area! Perhaps, for praying the local deity to give the winning four-digit number!
In Sarawak, some people need the money so much that they pray to any god/ghost/alien to get a winning bet!