Eversince I got bitten by the CP bug about 11/2 years ago. I have \r
been always fascinated by the nepenthes of Mt. Kinabalu, namely, \r
rajah, lowii, villosa, edwardsiana and burbidgeae. Early May, I \r
decided to spend several days at the Park to see the natural \r
habitats of the various species. I am very fortunate to live close \r
to many of the nepenthes growing countries. Kota Kinabalu, the \r
capital city of Sabah, in East Malaysia is only 21/2 hours by \r
flight from Singapore.
Mt. Kinabalu towers 4101 metres (13,355 feet) above the tropical \r
rainforest of North Borneo in Sabah, East Malysia. It is also the \r
highest mountain in S.E.Asia. Mt Kinabalu is situated in Kinabalu \r
Park which has 754 square km terrian which stretches from lowland \r
forest to montane forest, cloud forest and subalpine meadow and top \r
most consisting of bare granite.
No special skills or equipment are needed but you need to be \r
reasonably fit to scale the summit in 2 days. The summit trial is \r
81/2 km trek to the Peak. Typically, a climb would consists of an \r
overnight stay at 3533 metres hut. Before dawn, the next morning at \r
3 AM, you will set out for the peak to catch the beautiful sunrise.
4th May 1996 - Arrival at Kota Kinabalu.
After arrival at KK I stayed overnight in the town as all \r
accommodation were full. Kinabalu Park provides accommodation at \r
the Park HQ. Reservation should be made in advance should you \r
require accommodation. Presently, it could only accommodate a \r
maximum of 150 people.
5th May 1996 - KK to Park HQ and its vicinity
This morning after breakfast, I left Kota Kinabalu for Kinabalu \r
Park. The Park HQ is situated about 90 km from KK. From the KK to \r
Mt. Kinabalu takes slightly under 2 hours, winding up the road to \r
the base of the mountain. The trip was pleasant in this equatorial \r
area, and you passed through many villages, tropical plantations \r
and roadside stalls of the villagers.
After arrival, I decide to explore the Park's HQ vicinity. The Park \r
conducts a slide show everyday at 2 PM and extra shows thrown in \r
during the weekends and holidays in the Visitors' Centre \r
auditorium. Behind the Visitors' Centre is the mountain garden. \r
Some of the Park's flora are planted here for studies and exhibit. \r
It opens from 8 AM to 1.30 PM. And at 11 AM and 3 PM the Park \r
conducts guided tours around the garden. The Park also provides \r
numerous trials around it for hikers to explore on their own.
My first encounter, after a jungle trial walk, was N. fusca. They \r
were found along the road side between the Park HQ and the Power \r
Station at an elevation of about 1550 metres. The plant sizes \r
varies from seedlings to about 1 metre high. Pitchers colour is \r
dark purple. Most of them were small plants so mainly lower \r
pitchers were spotted except for 1 large plant which 2 upper \r
pitchers, funnel-shaped and color not as dark as the lower \r
pitchers, 12 - 15 cm high and 3 - 4 cm wide. The cylindrical lower \r
pitchers were between 6 - 12 cm high.
6th May 1996 - The Summit trial.
At 8 AM, with the help of a Park staff, a guide was arranged for \r
the climb to the summit and also to show the locations of the \r
various nepenthes tat I wish to see. Scaling the summit was a last \r
minute decision as I intended to climb to about 3000 metres and \r
return to Park HQ. A guide is mandatory for any hiker who wishes to \r
climb the mountain. The bus ride from Park HQ to Timpohom Gate \r
(start of summit trail) took 15 minutes and cost RM10. Along the \r
start of the trail at 1800 metres N. tentaculata were spotted along \r
the trail and some can be seen climbing onto bushes. The larger \r
plants were as high as 1.5 metres. Lower pitchers were between 4 - \r
8 cm high, light green with purple to red blotches. The upper \r
pitchers were between 6 - 10 cm high, light green with purple and \r
pink blotches.
At 2100 metres my guide made a detour from the usual trial to look \r
for N. lowii. At about 2300 metres we found 3 - 4 of them. They \r
were between 4 - 6 metres long with mostly upper pitchers on them. \r
The leaves were between 6 - 8 cm wide and 15 - 30 cm long. The \r
upper pitchers were between 15 - 20 cm high, globose at lower part \r
and about 6 - 10 cm wide, funnel-shaped in the upper part and 8 - \r
10 cm across the mouth. The lid is ovate and distinctly keeled and \r
vaulted, 8 - 10 long and 5 - 8 cm wide. The pitchers are green \r
outside, dark-red inside. A sad sight to see 2 elegant pitchers, \r
being cut by thoughtless and irresponsible climbers, were left \r
along the path.
At about 2400 metres we made another detour and climbed over \r
slippery tree roots and rocks. There before us were several N. \r
edwardsianas. The first plant to capture my attention was a female \r
flowering plant. The flowering spike was about 30 cm long and I saw \r
some fruits being formed. The large climbing plant was about 5 \r
metres high. The leaves were 4 - 8 cm wide and 15 - 30 cm long. I \r
only spotted 3 fresh upper pitchers. The large one was about 20 cm \r
high and the smaller pitcher was bout 10 cm high. Its cylindrical \r
in upper 75% and ovate at the lower 25%. The pitchers were yellow \r
green with a tinge of scarlet. As they ere found on very sttep and \r
slippery rock as such I was unable to get a very close-up look. \r
There was a large plant dead plant with about 8 dried up upper \r
pitchers.
The next detour from the trail was at about 2800 metres. At this \r
elevation we located several plants of N. kinabaluensis, a natural \r
hybrid between N. rajah and N. villosa. The climbing stems were \r
between 1 - 3 metres long. It has the typical features of N. rajah \r
and the plant is covered with hairs like villosa. The leaves are 4 \r
- 8 cm wide and 8 - 30 cm long. The lower pitchers were between 12 \r
- 20 cm high, peristome 4 - 8 cm wide and are very coarse and \r
expanded. The colour of the pitchers were yellow, yellow-green to \r
scarlet. Several plants were blooming and the spikes were as long \r
as 30 cm.
We returned to the summit trail again and just about a stone's \r
throw away were N. villosa. It is one of the easiest to spot as \r
they can be seen growing along the summit trail from 2800 to \r
slightly above 3000 metres. The large plants were as big 2 metres \r
long and very low growing. The leaves were 4 - 8 cm wide and 10 - \r
30 cm long. The whole plant is covered with reddish brown hairs. \r
Lower pitchers were between 10 - 18 cm high, 4 - 8 cm wide, globose \r
and fringed with 2 broad wings. Some of the lower pitchers can be \r
seen buried in moss or dead leaves and only the peristome exposed. \r
The peristome is very coarse and wide. The teeth are hard and sharp \r
pointing downwards inside the mouth. The pitcher colour varies from \r
green, maroon, yellow to orange-yellow and tinged with reddish \r
hair.
At 1430 hours we arrived at the Hut for the overnight stay.
7th May 1996 - Catching the sunrise.
After an early breakfast at 2.30 AM we set off for the summit at 3 \r
AM to catch the sunrise at Low's Peak. The climb was very slow as \r
the air was thin and walking in pitch-darkness difficult. Ladders \r
and ropes were laid on the rock face to assist climbers. We reached \r
Low's Peak (4101 Metres) and caught the sunrise at 5.45 AM. The \r
surroundings was pretty spectacular. At 6.30 AM we started our \r
descent to the Hut, packed our belongings and continued our descent \r
to the Park HQ. At 11.15 AM we reached the Park HQ and collected \r
the certificate. Any climber was has successfully reached the \r
summit will be awarded a certificate. This evening I could really \r
feel the ache on both my legs.
8th May 1996 - In search of N. rajah and burbidgeae
Today, I have the opportunity of having one of the Park's staff to \r
accompany me outside the Park HQ. He told me that we should be able \r
to see N. rajah, burbidgeae and the Leopard Pitcher plant.With that \r
in mind I put my aching legs behid me as I had to see them.
The slow jeep ride took about 11/2 hours to reach the foothills. \r
The ride was through very rough terrian and only a 4 WD vehicle \r
could gain access to the location. The ridge was just outside the \r
boundary of Kinabalu Park. I could see that developments were going \r
on as we were approaching the foothills. It is matter of time the \r
area near foothills will be affected. We followed a poaches' trail \r
and another sad sight to see 2 pieces of 1 metre and 1 piece 2 \r
metres long N. rajah lying dead on the trail. The plant must have \r
been left behid after the poacher encountered difficulty removing \r
the plants.
After 45 minutes of climbing, we saw several rajahs. It is a low \r
growing plant. The leaves are about 10 - 15 cm wide and 20 - 40 cm \r
long are peltate-tipped. Most of the plants do not have any \r
pitchers. The lower pitcher we saw was about 15 cm high, 10 cm wide \r
and fringed with 2 broad wings. The lower pitcher's mouth is wide \r
and peristome is expanded and wavy, 12 mm broad in front and 20 mm \r
near the lid. The peristome is dark purple. The large oval-scooped \r
lid is 10 cm long and 5 cm broad. The pitcher colour is purple. \r
According to my guide, some pitchers are twice as big as the one we \r
saw in other parts of the Park.
After N. rajah, out next search was N. burbidgeae. We literally had \r
to cut and bash through bushes that were as high as 1 metre. In \r
doing so, I suffered several bruises and cuts on the hands. \r
However, it was worth the sacrifice when we found the burbidgeae \r
habitats. It was like a "carpet" of burbidgeaes. Every 1 - 2 metres \r
you could find a plant. My guide was pretty suprised to see so many \r
of them growing together. We even accidently stepped onto some \r
plants.
The climbing plants were as high as 5 metres. The leaves 4 - 6 cm \r
wide and 20 -25 cm long. The lower pitcher we saw was 15 cm high \r
and 6 cm wide, creamy white with red blotches both in and outside \r
the pitcher. A dried lower pitcher nearly double the size was found \r
on the same plant. It has very colourful purple blotches lid. The \r
glads are very prominent. We found a plant with several nice upper \r
pitchers. They were between 12 - 15 cm high, 4 - 6 cm wide, \r
funnel-shaped and contracted below the mouth.
Around the vicinity, we found 8 natural hybrids of N, rajah X N. \r
burbidgea (Leopard Pitcher Plant). It is a very beautiful natural \r
hybrid. The lower pitcher was bigger than the N. rajah we saw \r
earlier. According to my guide they could attain the size of rajah. \r
The lower pitcher we saw was oval with wide mouth like rajah. The \r
colour is like that of burbidgeae creamy/green with red blotches in \r
and out. The peristome is broad and wavy like rajah. Indeed, it is \r
much more beautiful than both the parents. I saw saw a dried 25 cm \r
lower pitcher in one of the plants.
As most of the burbidgeas and rajah X burbidgeae were found outside \r
the Park boundary, I suggested to him to bring them back to the \r
mountain garden. If not, very soon, they will all be gone once \r
development sets in. We collected 2 rajah X burbidgeas and over a \r
dozen burbidgeas for the mountain garden. As it was about to rain \r
which will make the road inpassable to vehicle so we decided to \r
head back to the Park HQ, He said that he will make another trip to \r
salvage the plants. I reckon he could collect over 50 plants as I \r
could see plants of various sizes from seedlings to 0.5 metre high \r
as we were walking back to our jeep.
It was an interesting trip despite my aching legs, which took \r
severl days to recover. I saw what I wanted to see. I also have the \r
opportunity to see the handsome hybrid of N. rajah X burbidgeae and \r
also to witness the "carpet" of N. burbidgeaes. The Park staff and \r
guide were very helful and friendly throughout my stay, especially \r
Jimmy (my summit guide). He massaged both my legs when I had cramp \r
at 2200 metres elevation. If not, I would have missed all the \r
beautiful plants further up and this article would not be possible \r
too. I also requested Park staff to plant the various \r
species/hybrids in the mountain garden for those who are unable to \r
climb the mountains.
Regards,
Joseph.