Malaysian Orchid of the Day - Renanthera elongata

Renanthera elongata - Tree on Fire orchid

This is the same plant that I have blogged previously in this article. Currently it is growing well with three leads. Only the one that had overgrown the support tree has produced inflorescence.

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.

Lets go to Floria 2014 - Part 2

Here are a few more pics from Floria 2014 and Magic of the Night 2014. Remember that the two events are now at two distinct and separate location, and hence the need to move from one site to the other. For Floria, the site is hot and sunny, as mentioned in my previous post, so go armed with umbrellas and caps. Or come in the morning or later in the evening (hint - sunset is lovely).

Flower pinwheel spinning in the sun

Tag says Paphiopedilum curtisii.

Rhyncholaeliocattleya Memoria Helen Brown

Wedding bouquet arrangement

Indoor pavilion display.

Vanda lamellata x Vanda Muang Thong

Vanda Pat Delight x Vanda Guo Chia Long

Sunset at Putrajaya

You can also seek refuge in the air-conmditioned indoor pavilion and the school flower arrangement area (cooler air-conditioning).

For Magic of the Night, you can see the fireworks from Seri Gemilang Bridge or from the grandstand of the Kompleks Sukan Air Putrajaya. However, the floats will be quite a distance away. To see the floats up close, either go to the public viewing area for Magic of the Night or the areas marked with red arrows just down from the Marina Putrajaya. Fireworks are only on the 14th, 20th, 21st and 22nd of June.

The Magic of the Night is now at Marina Putrajaya, which is quite a distance away from the Floria site, and the floats DO NOT go past the Floria site.

Perlis

Perbadanan Putrajaya

Johor and the tiger...

The float from Penang, styled after a dragon boat (and spouts water too).

This is taken from the green arrow area in the map. The fireworks are partly blocked by the Pullman Lakeside Hotel.

Fireworks from the public viewing area.

More photos to come....