Exploring Kuala Tahan, National Park

Recently, i'd taken the oppurtunity to stop by Taman Negara to check out the species of Dillenia at the surrounding area of Kuala Tahan. I managed to discover 3 species namely D. ovata, D. reticulata and D. grandifolia. There are a great abundance of D. ovata and D. reticulata near the camp site as well as along the route to the canopy walkway. Somehow, i didn't bump much of D. grandifolia. In fact i only found one on the way up to Teresek Hill. Although there are abundance of Dillenia there, i only manage to find one tree, D. ovata that are fruiting and at the same time at the end of flowering time which left only a few buds (picture left).

One thing that i won't forget in this trip was i was being attacked by wild boar. It actually attacked my backpack while i ran away with my camera while capturing some of D. ovata trees at the camp site. Sad to say that i missed the opportunity to see it bloom as i had to go back KL to meet my friends from Kuala Lompat the next morning. Well, i believed there are more than 3 species occuring in Taman Negara but i still haven't had the opportunity to discover thoroughly the whole area. From my herbarium work, i found out recently that there are 2 more species collected from Taman Negara. D. indica was discovered in Sepia river while D. obovata was discovered at Kuala Juram. Picture on the right with stilt root is part of the bole of D. grandifolia.

My 2nd Trip To Kuala Lompat

My second trip to Kuala Lompat on can be counted as a success although i didn't manage to find 2 species that were recorded there in the book "Plants of Krau Wildlife Reserve" namely Dillenia excelsa and Dillenia pulchella. Somehow, i was delighted that i was lucky to find Dillenia sumatrana on the first day of my exploration (picture on right). There were about 6 trees located nearby each other near a small pond. I had allocated 4 days of my time during my stay at Kuala Lompat exploring thoroughly all the tracks nearby the area in Kuala Lompat and a track at Perlok. I revisited the site where i collected Dillenia ovata to try my luck to bump into the flowers but to my dissapointment again it was fruiting without any flower. Somehow, on my way there, i discovered another location that consist this species nearby the quarter which was also fruiting. Overall, it's still another record for me as the book didn't mention any discovery of D. ovata at Kuala Lompat. I was unable to find any new species on my next day of exploration.

My third day of exploration was at Perlok. The habitat there didn't give me a promising chance to discover a new species that i intended to find. Somehow, i still venture in the area looking for my species. One can't assume only but also look for it thoroughly. As i expected, i didn't manage to find any species there. Somehow, during my lunch break near a stream, i discovered D. indica that was fruiting which was another new record for plants in Kuala Krau Wildlife Reserve. The photo on the left is the juvenile of D. reticulata. As we can notice here, the leaves are huge compared to the matured ones. On my last day there, i ventured back in Kuala Lompat trails and manage to discover D. grandifolia with the help of Pak Man (the orang asli that was my guide). This species look quite similar to the juvenile of D. reticulata and i nearly miss it without being pinpoint by my guide. After careful inspection, i'm sure it's D.grandifolia. Overall, my 2nd trip to Kuala Lompat is a beneficial one. Bravo... ;0>