Discovery of Dillenia albiflos

It's good to know that there are still some viewers for my blog. I'm sorry it took me a long time to update my blog. A little bit restricted by time due to heavy schedule in work this year.

I would like to share my discovery of D. albiflos (photo above) that i encountered during my fieldtrips in Taman Negara Endau-Rompin, Johor. Although it's not a new record, it's good to know that their populations there are surviving pretty well in the National Park. A lot of the seedlings can be observed on the trails.

D. albiflos is endemic in Johor. The key diagnostic of this species is by looking at the petiolar wing that is restricted at the basal of the leaf (photo above). Apart from that, take note that the inflorescence of this species is unusually very long and complex (photo below) compared to other species of Dillenia in Peninsular Malaysia. This is the only tree that i managed to spot the reproductive part i.e. the budding stage.

Apart from D. albiflos, Endau Rompin National Park also houses several other endemic species suah as Phyllanthus watsonii (photo below) that can be found on the sand bank of Endau River on the way towards Kuala Menarong (Taman Negara Endau Rompin (PETA), Johor) and also the giant palm fan Livistona endauensis that can be found at Padang Tujuh (Taman Negara Endau Rompin, Pahang)