Mount Kinabalu goes through 5 different vegetation zones, one of which is intermixed mossy forest with ultramafic soils. Ultramafic soils are high in metals that are toxic to most plants, so unique plants grow in these soils - like pitcher plants!
This is a Rajah's pitcher plant. They're the biggest species of pitcher plant, and they're beautiful! Rajah's pitcher plants are endangered and are found only on Mount Kinabalu. This one is ~10 inches long. Pitcher plants are carnivorous, mainly digesting insects that fall in the "pitcher," but they're not picky and can even digest frogs and mice. The large pitchers like this are quite old, possibly ~80 years.
We also saw lots of orchids (there are over 800 types on Kinabalu). Many of them are epiphytes, meaning that they're not rooted in the ground but instead grow in moss along branches or trunks of trees, or in the crook where a limb meets the trunk. I must have walked past hundreds of plants that weren't in bloom before they were pointed out to me. A lot of them are surprisingly small! I don't remember what this one was called but I liked the pic...
Your photography skills are impressive.
ReplyDeletethanks! really, it's that i was in such an amazing place it was hard to take a bad photo! plus the beauty of digital, take 50 and you're bound to have 1 or 2 good ones. anyways, someday i'll get a fancoer setup than my point and shoot, i hear they have them at costco from time to time...
ReplyDelete