Uvaria curtisii: Remembering James Sinclair

When it beckoned from above one beautiful morning, I leaped for joy; a glorious green star lighting up an epiphany of a priceless moment. How so heartwarming it felt to know a native is still around in our treasured forest. Yes, Uvaria curtisii, you are still around in our midst! We thought you were gone for good... 'Nationally Extinct' as listed in the Singapore Red Date Book (2nd Edition, 2008). And could I ever forget James Sinclair (1913-1968) in moment like this? No, not by any chance. His prolific work on Annonaceae here in Singapore Herbarium I admire and appreciate so much. If only wishes could come true upon a green star, how I would love to have him standing next to me that morning. His collection of Uvaria curtisii - Sinclair S.F.N 39652, collected 27th May 1953 at Kruing Path, Bukit Timah - is the first and only record for Singapore.

Here, below, I took license to piece together some of his words for you in the remembrance of a dedicated botanist...

Large climber; expanded flower 4.5-5 cm, petals greenish-yellow, tomentose on both surfaces; calyx entirely covering the petals in flower bud up to the time of opening.

* Flowers extra-axillary.

Flowers solitary or often 2. Leaves thinly tomentose beneath on the entire surface and on the margin, the hairs rather soft and short, stellate.

Leaves oblong-lanceolate or slightly oblanceolate, apex acute, narrowed to the rounded base; nerves 11-14 pairs, prominent beneath, curving and interarching about 2-3 mm from margin.

James Sinclair at his desk in the Singapore Herbarium (old building,1959).

The above photo, and an obituary and an appreciation of James Sinclair 1913-1968 by H. M. Burkill, can be found in The Gardens' Bulletin Vol. 23, 30th December 1968.

Footnote: * Flowers extra-axillary: a description by Hsuan Keng, The Concise Flora of Singapore; Gymnosperms and Dicotyledons (1990)

Mitrephora maingayi

Tree: intact flower with 3 inner petals fused distally to form an open hanging basket.

Fallen outer petals.

Ash-colored trunk.

Poem: Shared Memories

Shared Memories 

Precious still from each day snatch  

and save till long past fetch 

two old doves on a window sill 

love rehatch 

 Joseph Lai, 5 Mar 2011

Myrialepis paradoxa: Paradoxically Yours

Myrialepis paradoxa - a climbing palm also called Rotan Kertong in Malay - is both monotypic and monocarpic. 'Monotypic' because it's a taxon possessing only one singular species, and 'monocarpic' because it's biologically programmed to flower only once in a lifetime, set seeds and then die. What can be more paradoxical than an event that involves a great burst of life, setting numerous seeds for posterity, yet ushering death, dying, of a mother in the end. A swansong to be true.

And should no one look at its fruit and not be confounded and surprised by its numerous tiniest of scales which, as if were, numbering the stars hidden in unfathomable scale of light-years but sparkle unmistakably just enough to illuminate one in wonderment? This, if not, is paradoxa in the greatest poetic tradition.

Fruit

Scales

Sepals

Remnant of stigma

Inside of fruit wall

Thorns

Myrialepis paradoxa (formerly M. scortechinii) compared to Plectocomiopsis geminiflora as found in one of my treasured books Palms of Malaya (by T.C. Whitmore). You may delight to know more of Plectocomiopsis geminiflora, a recent new record of Singapore, in the recently published paper in Nature in Singapore 2011 4: 1-4 (NUS) by L. L. Teo, S. K. Y. Lum and A. H. B. Loo. More photos of Myrialepis paradoxa are found there.

Erythropalum scandens: A most royal liana

Erythropalum scandens is a relatively uncommon liana in Singapore's rain forest today. Kulim (last photo below) and Petaling are some of the more illustrious local trees related to it in the family Olacaceae. Even if you do not know these trees, you probably heard of them by their namesake Malaysian towns. Littoral Hog Plum (Ximenia americana) - another family member - might ring a bell too.

Erythropalum scandens is a slender liana with fruits so showy as to make any keen gardener envious and eager for garden introduction. The fruit is actually a drupe enveloped entirely by an olive-green calyx which splits and recurves into irregular segments to reveal an electric burst of colours when ripe.

The inside of the calyx is a screaming red carpet upon which the royal indigo-blue seed sits like a resplendent king for all in audience to bow with adoration. Dangling freely as they do from boughs on high, I am disposed to think they attract winged creatures such as bats and birds for dispersal.

The liana climbs by peculiar tendrils which may either be singularly or doubly fashioned.

Fallen seeds expelled on the forest floor minus the coats. They reminded me of the proverbially-vain king adorned with an 'invisible coat', too proud to acknowledge his nakedness (Haha).

Note: The young leaves are known to be eaten by the Kammu Tribes.

Leaf and trunk of the garlic-smelling Kulim Tree (Scorodocarpus borneensis).

Speedy Dragonfly: Pseudothemis jorina

This dragonfly is a speed demon. The white-banded male loves to fly very fast and never ever seem to stop. For me, this is the first time seeing the yellow-banded female, and so different it proves to be.


Much thanks to Dr. Cheong Loong Fah who expertly identified it for me. For a brief moment, my excitement went up a few notches finding no matching species recorded in the guide book Dragonflies of Singapore by Tan Hung Bun et al. So, as it turns out, it is a species I have seen before and according to Dr. Cheong, not exactly rare but hard to capture on camera.


I am indeed lucky to cross path with this one perching restfully and have its photograph taken for all enthusiasts to see and to study. Enjoy!

[Found in Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, 12 Jan2011.]

Human Affairs Naturally

They are human affairs naturally - Capitalism and Food Politics - but nothing short of an ecological learning for wanting to know them more as we do flowers and trees, seastars and worms, birds, butterflies and bees. I do believe they make essential reading for anyone who cares for the earth and wants to understand the depth and degree human impact has on the environment. These engaging books I thus recommend you, most delightfully, to weigh and consider the issues in today's world.

They can be found in our public libraries; readings guaranteed to make your train rides a breeze! Sample reviews below. Cheers!

23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism by Ha-Joon Chang

Read Review

Food Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know by Robert Paarlberg


Read Review

Book: The Beautiful Tree - by James Tooley

I enjoyed and learned so much reading this heartwarming book by James Tooley that I felt it necessary to have you read it too and discover for yourself the miracle of how poor parents, poor entrepreneurs (of low cost private schools) and poor communities across the developing world are helping themselves educate their children in the best possible way forward. And as James Tooley will tell you, much much more can be done to help the poor help themselves.

James Tooley discusses his book The Beautiful Tree on ABC News at CATO Institute website.

See James Tooley's own website on his book.

See documentary Victoria's Chance and hear poor parents speak of education.

Learn more about how you can help at Geneva Global (Performance Philanthropy)

Mistletoe Taxillus chinensis in Singapore

I think it was not long ago that Dr John Yong first recorded this species of mistletoe in Singapore but to its whereabouts I do not know. Today, however, I am pleasantly surprised to encounter one living specimen parasitic on a Curry Leaf Plant (Murraya koenigii) - a small tree about 5m tall.

This beautiful mistletoe is flowering and young fruits abound at the moment. Called by its TCM medicinal name Guang Ji Sheng, its natural distribution ranges from Southern China, through to Indo-China, Malay Peninsular to the Philippines.

Here below is a series of photos showing the various characters of the mistletoe. More info can be gotten from the Flora of China website here.

Flower: Greenish-brown, scurfy hairy; anthers 4 red; stigma red; corolla lobes 4.

Leaves: elliptic, brittle, 3 to 4cm long, edge wavy; young leaves golden brown, scurfy hairy.

Haustoria: slender, snaking; host stem seemingly swollen locally when infected.

Fruit: round to cylindrical; surface wrinkled.

New Book: A Selection of Plants for Greening of Waterways and Waterbodies in the Tropics

Generous: it's the word that stands out for me in describing this wholesome book. It is like the life-giving rain that falls down on us here in the tropics - loads of it and no holding back. The completeness to which related subjects are treated seamlessly in this book underscore the genuine effort of the main author (Bio-chemist Dr Jean W.H. Yong) and his research team to tell all there is to know and understand by bringing out the essential sciences - chemistry, biology, ecology, environmental science and engineering - in a simple crystal-clear language that any layman can wade through without trepidation. In fact, this book should bring you knee and chest deep in intimacy with the living system of water bodies.

So, go buy this book and dive in. Nature has and still is giving us so much good stuff (some stuff we only give names to not so long ago, such as bio- or phyto-remediation) that you ought to be grateful for. It is the stuff of Life we need to understand and to cherish.

Footnote: The scope of this book is truly one hard act to be replaced. Many beautiful drawings and diagrams accompany the text. Plants are sufficiently represented and photographed, but like any compendium, it is never exhaustive. Here below is the beautiful Water Balsam or Marsh Henna - Hydrocera triflora. It is a naturalized aquatic plant of Singapore rarely found today.

Dillenia excelsa var. tomentella: A new phenotype arising

Perhaps I ought to qualify my sub-title with a question mark, but I decided not to. I am quite willing to bet on my belief that a real significant change is indeed happening to this one tree - yes, this particular wild Simpoh tree in the rain forest of MacRitchie.

By all account - the leaf, flower, fruit, and tree structure - the tree is Dillenia excelsa var. tomentella; all, that is, but for one dramatic difference - it is flowering without petals. It ought to have but it has not. Never have I come across a tree of this species behaving apetalously.

In the course of my investigation, I visit the tree ten times within two consecutive weeks at different period of the day hoping to sight a flower with petals intact or fallen on the ground, but none whatsoever. Then, on the tenth day, after a much exhaustive search, I managed to find one on the forest floor.

This singularly detached petal, however, is abnormally small and hardly matching the documented size to say the least. It is even smaller that the sepals produced by the tree. For good measure, I opened up the few mature flower buds I could find but found no petals within any one of them. [Detailed photos below]

So, change is afoot though not a complete one. I do believe a new phenotype is arising but not quite there yet. As to what caused such a response from the tree, I do not know. Mutation? Effects of the environment or climate? A geneticist, a chemist or a climate scientist can tell us more. This tree certainly presents itself an opportune subject for scientific studies outside the confines of classical taxonomy, e.g. ecology and climate science.

The important test is, of course, sustainability of this new apetalous character. I would like to confirm it and also prove the viability of the seeds if any. The coming flowering seasons should hold the key.

Relative size of flower; sepals 5, white with tinge of pink, fleshy and waxy.

Buds and open flowers: no yellow petals in sight.

Some mature buds found.

Buds opened for investigation: no petals found.

Result of a 10-day search: one abnormally small petal found.

Leaf elliptic, densely hairy beneath; leaf blade 8 to 10 inches long; margin entire.

Leaf stalk densely hairy; 2 to 3 inches long.

Leaf stalk deeply grooved above.

Bole straight; bark smooth; buttress roots none.