numpty Posted February 21, 2013 Report Share Posted February 21, 2013 I recently made a quick visit to Cambodia, with a few days set aside to look for CPs. Not the best time of year, being the middle of the dry season, but there was a fair amount to see nonetheless. First, I had a few days in Thailand ... mainly to look for wildlife, but there were quite a few ponds around with floating, yellow-flowered Utricularia. I'm guessing this is Utricularia aurea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
numpty Posted February 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2013 Next, I crossed the border to Cambodia at Koh Kong. My main goal was Nepenthes kampotiana, as François had been kind enough to provide me with details of spots I could check for this species. I chose one. Looking at the map, I'd expected to be alone in this area, but when I got there I was surprised to find all manner of vehicles rumbling along the small road. Only later did I find that this was the access point for one of several Chinese-sponsored hydro-power schemes currently threatening Cambodia's protected areas. The first spot I stopped at was a small stream. A closer look revealed some Utrics growing at its edges. I'll hazard a guess that it's U. bifida, but I really don't know for sure. Maybe somebody can tell from my fuzzy photos? (I had a horrible time trying to get my camera to focus properly ... time to get a new one, I think.) There were quite a few ant plants and orchids too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
numpty Posted February 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2013 (edited) Not far from the stream in a dry grassy field, were the first Neps. I was surprised to see a bit of a mirabilis look to these, and indeed François says there's quite a bit of hybridisation between mirabilis and kampotiana hereabouts. The mirabilis influence seemed to be a bit stronger here than in other nearby fields I checked ... perhaps the soil was a bit damper because of proximity to the stream. Still pretty dry though. Having left the stream to a truck driver, who wanted to take a bath, and the grassy field to his buddy, who wanted to take a crap, I headed further along the road and into another grassy field. This one had been burnt off. There were a lot of charred Neps, but I scraped the sand away from the stems of a couple of burnt plants, and below the surface new stems were starting to sprout. At the edges of the burnt fields, and even in the middle of them, plenty more Neps were growing strongly. These, to my novice eye, showed much more of the expected kampotiana influence. Edited February 21, 2013 by numpty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
numpty Posted February 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2013 Burmannii was growing all around here in the sand. Finally, right on the edge of Koh Kong town, there was some marshy ground with yellow-flowered Utrics. These might be the same as the ones shown above, which might be U. bifida, or one or other or both might be U. odorata. Again, awful photography. Oh, and to finish off, a snapshot of some Utrics growing in the pond in front of Angkor Wat. Thanks for looking! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zlatokrt Posted February 21, 2013 Report Share Posted February 21, 2013 Very interesting, beautiful plants (i particularly like the glistening burmanii pics), but some parts are quite sad (Chinese-sponsored hydro-power schemes) and one surprising. I am quite surprised to see an Utric growin in a pond which looks so nutrient rich (the last pic from Angkor Wat). The plastic cup nearby makes quite surrealistic composition... Anyway, thank you for the report, i hope the neps and the land will survive the near future. Regards Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudo klasovity Posted February 21, 2013 Report Share Posted February 21, 2013 Thanx for a very nice and interesting report. It is always gret to see the plants in habitat. Love the burmannii shots! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werds Posted February 21, 2013 Report Share Posted February 21, 2013 Very nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodrigo Posted February 22, 2013 Report Share Posted February 22, 2013 Fantastic images, mainly of Nepenthes. Incidentally know the IDs of all of them? Best regards, Rodrigo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
numpty Posted February 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2013 Thanks for the replies. Adam: I saw Utricularia growing in all sorts of murky ponds out there. The Utrics in the first pictures (U. aurea, I think), were thriving in a dirty-looking pool full of deer droppings and rubbish. I've read that U. aurea grows well in rice paddies, which I imagine also have a fairly high nutrient level, so perhaps this species has an unusually high tolerance for nutrient-rich water, or even prefers it? Rodrigo: according to François, the only Neps known to grow in this particular area are N. kampotiana and N. mirabilis (with N. kampotiana the dominant species), so the pictures show either N. kampotiana or hybrids between these two. That's all I feel confident saying! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andreas Eils Posted February 22, 2013 Report Share Posted February 22, 2013 (edited) Hi Numpty, an interesting corner of the world. Not a hotspot concerning CPs I suppose but Cambodia and Thailand have magical landscapes (I´d count Laos and Vietnam as well to the magical countries. :-) ). Well, HOW LONG will they be still magical? François reported about worrying activities to open up wilderness (for building sites and industries). It is really amazing to see Utrics grow next to Angkor Wat! Most amazing for me is to see burnt Nepenthes stems sprouting again from undergound. (Perhaps I should set on a fire in my lowland tank, too.... ....a couple of Neps behave naughty!!) Finally I love the crab spiders on the Nepenthes pitchers waiting for prey. *grin* Cute beings! ;-) Thanks for your very nice report! Andreas Edited February 22, 2013 by Andreas Eils 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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