Happy Merdeka Post - FRIM Kepong Botanical Garden

Last Friday we were lucky to get a 'guided tour' by a Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) staff to visit a few of their nurseries and the Kepong Botanical Garden, which is currently under FRIM's jurisdiction. The visit was an eye opener to the rich biodiversity treasure that we have in our forest, and to hear of how these treasures were threatened by development and ignorance was sad indeed, especially when our nation will be celebrating her 57th birthday.

Crown shyness exhibited by Dryobalanops aromatica (Kapur trees) at FRIM. The forest floor was littered with their germinating seeds, which also smelled like camphor.

So here's some photos of the plants, trees and interesting stuff that kept our cameras occupied and our brain working hard.

Zingiber spectabile - one of the showy true gingers of our rainforest. I nicknamed this 'Ladies Delight' as the ladies in our group were going ooohs and aaaahs over it. Not too sure if it was the length, shape or colour that got them so excited about it.

Begonia rajah in the nursery. Our native begonias do have a lot of potential as showy garden plants

Alpinia mutica flowers - there's a bee in one of the flowers.

Nelumbo nucifera from one of the ponds in Kepong Botanical Garden

Another pretty lotus bloom that caught my eye.

Love the yellow stamens of the sacred lotus.

An interesting ginger inflorescence and bloom. Love the way the inflorescence spirals around the central axis.

Shimmering blue Selaginella sp.

Another shot of the shimmering blue Selaginella sp.

Dianella ensifolia (Siak-siak). The fruits are a striking blue colour.

Looking for Smurfs, but found none... Toadstools were sprouting everywhere.

Peliosanthes teta - Derhaka mertua. It is a medicinal herb.

Calanthe ceciliae blooms. Someone says that it looks like a dog, specifically, like Patrick the dog, lol.

Seeds of the Kapur trees (Dryobalanops aromatica) cover the forest floor, and most of them were germinating.

Seedpod of Grammatophyllum speciosum (Tiger orchid) with the petals and sepals still intact.