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.