EtnoFlora

Plants from Bario

2008-09-30T09:50:00.002+08:00

All the pictures was taken during my short visit to Bario.

Plagiostachys crocydocalyx

2008-03-04T14:31:00.004+08:00

Zingiberaceae, or the Ginger family, is a family of flowering plants consisting of aromatic perennial herbs with creeping horizontal or tuberous rhizomes, comprising ca. 52 genera and more than 1300 sp., distributed throughout tropical Africa, Asia and the Americas.

During my trip to Lambir Hill NP, i found one species of wild ginger which known as Plagiostachys crocydocalyx. In Iban, this species called banjang and it is edible. It is a tall herbs easily recognizable by the inflorescence breaking through the leaf sheaths and thus appearing lateral on the leafy shoot, while in fact it is terminal.

Those 2 picture above representing the inflorescence and fruits of Plagiostachys crocydocalyx. It is actually a poorly known group of gingers due to the early disintegration of the inflorescence in many species into a mucilaginous mass that make studies of herbarium specimens difficult or impossible. Basically, this giant clump-forming plant has an enormous, slimy inflorescence and the flowers are yellow.

The scientific name refers to the woolly calyx & is base on collections made in Sarawak in 1865-67 by Italian botanist Beccari. The distribution is throughout Borneo.

Black Pepper......

2008-01-30T11:30:00.000+08:00

Black pepper (Piper nigrum) is a flowering perennial woody vine in the Piperaceae, growing up to 4 metres in height on supporting trees or poles. Cultivated for its fruits which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. Black and white pepper is one of the important spice in Sarawak. Black and white pepper is produced from the semi-ripen berries of the pepper plant. White pepper consists of the seed only, with the fruit skins is removed by soaking fully ripe berries in water for about a week.

The leaves are alternate, entire, five to ten centimetres long and three to six centimetres broad. The flowers are small, produced on pendulous spikes 4 - 8 cm long at the leaf nodes, the spikes lengthening to 7 - 15 cm as the fruit matures.

2007-05-04T19:23:00.000+08:00

I never seen this terung before with very small buah. Its not Solanum torvum. I took this picture during my trip to Poring Hotspring, Sabah. I was curious and wanna know what species does it belong to. In Sabah, the local took it as sayur. Can anybody help.... above picture is the inflorecense and below is buah yang telah masak.

Picture below is one of the wild ginger and very common di Borneo. Can be found easily anywhere. Locals in Sarawak sometime used it as rempah in their daily dishes if available.

If you look at the picture below, i think you can guess bunga apa is this. Most Malaysian like to eat this fruit. It is well known as 'The King of all Fruit'........haha durian la..!!! The inflorecences boleh di buat sayur or as kerabu pedas or goreng with sambal belacan.....sedap la!!

Picture di bawah ini is one of the wild orchid from Poring, beautiful and elegant kan! Can you guess what orchid is this ? I think most orchid lover know about this orchid....

This is Calanthe pulchra.

Alocasia......

Durian.............

2007-03-01T17:21:00.000+08:00

If you seen the picture below, you will know what fruit it is but how many of you ever taste it?????................ Taste is a bit different from the real durian that we used to have and less smily.

Botanically, its known as Durio kutejensis, if i'm not mistaken. You can buy the durian at the local market in Sarawak especially during fruiting season.

Welcome Home!!!!

2007-01-30T17:53:00.000+08:00

Now that i have internet access, so, i'm back to update on the etnoflora of Sarawak. During school holiday last year, i was back to my hometown and my routine house chores keeps me busy endlessly. Somehow, apart from routine chores, i managed to do some botanizing at my village. Not many medicinal plants can be found because logging are actively on operation within that area. It is quite dissappoiting to me.

Is Rafflesia part of Sarawak Etnoflora?

2006-10-19T17:40:00.003+08:00

Many communities in Peninsular Malaysia claim the benefit of Rafflesia in traditional medicinal practices. In my experience, this is not so in Sarawak. People of Sarawak do not seems to be aware of their uses. It is also noted in many publication that the use is prevalent amongst Javanese and this was spread to other parts of SEA when they migrated and settled among local communities. Illegal harvesting of Rafflesia in Sarawak carries heavy penalty and many locals would not dare to take Rafflesia from the wild in Sarawak

Plants role within an indigenous communities of Sarawak

2006-10-18T14:21:00.000+08:00

This is Kaempferia galanga L. or known as ‘cekur’ to Iban. The rhizome may be eaten raw or cooked as a vegetable. The rhizome is mixed and chewed together the leaves of sireh & pinang. The paste is smeared on the stomach, usually after childbirth treatment.

Urgency for documentation on ethnobotanical knowledge

2006-10-18T14:02:00.000+08:00

Most of the knowledge on the usage of plants has unfortunately not been recorded. It is tend to be handed down from generation by word of mouth. In this respect, oral history and the collection and recording of ethnobotanical knowledge is of the utmost importance before this knowledge on the utilisation of plants is lost to posterity. Wild plants are part of virtually every daily meal, and the built setting of everyday community life, the houses, farm huts, boats, house furnishing, and tools, are all constructed of materials taken largely from the surrounding forest. Local communities have always had an interest in conserving a species-rich environment by creating a variegated landscape of open fields and closed forest in various stages of regeneration.

Changes is obviously inevitable, but without access to forested areas, traditional subsistence strategies are unsustainable and in the face of competing demands, are likely to fail, exposing rural people to possible malnutrition and declining living standard. Local ethnobotanical knowledge is immensely valuable legacy. Today, in Sarawak, this legacy is being lost, creating an enormous urgency for further studies which need to be conducted within a few years. By next ten years, will probably be the ‘last call’ for conducting comprehensive reference studies on the ethnobotanical knowledge of traditional communities in Sarawak. Modernisation and globalization penetrate further and further into previously isolated communities.

Welcome !

2006-10-05T10:30:00.000+08:00

Longhouse view in my village. Modern longhouse compared to the olden day. The unroofed part is known as 'tanju'.

These traditionaLonghouses are common in those days until people moved out to town, and created a new kind of longhouses. Modernisation came with a price. Most of the inland forests is logged, and the old tradition dissapears. Most modern longhouses are made of bricks, rather than wooden. Well it is cheaper these days with cement and bricks...