Trip 2004
That was
my second time in
The
Chulalongkorn Herbarium
The
first time in the Chulalongkorn herbarium I found some unnamed Nepenthes specimens
from Sakon Nakhon (on the specimen's page that's called "Sakol
Nakorn"), a city in the north-east. I think they were N. smilesii, as they
had a big rootstock as N. smilesii has and they had the same kind of leaves and
small flower. I found some other unnamed specimens that had been bought at the
Weekend market (they had the same leaves of the N. smilesii I've seen in
cultivation, even if with bigger and more variable pitchers). I found a
specimen named "N. rafflesiana" that was probably N.
"Viking", found 4 Km west of Trang, a city in
the south. And I found a specimen named "N. smilesii" (and that's
what it looked like) found on Phu Kradung in the
1948 (!). Phu Kradung is a national park that consists of a 1300 mt. high
mountain in the north-eastern region. Here some
photos:
pic1, pic2, pic3, pic4, pic5, pic6
The
second time I went to the Chulalongkorn herbarium, after my 2 months spent
travelling around in national parks, I wrote down a couple more N. mirabilis, ampullaria
and gracilis sites and, while I was waiting for a kind lady who was writing me
down the address of the third Bangkok herbarium (that I've never visited. It’s
called BK, Sirindon Building, Dept. of Agriculture, Kasetsart University, close
to the Dept. of Forestry and BKF), I met a girl. She was studying and she asked
me if I needed any help. God bless these people’s kindness. I explained her
about my interest in the Mokao Moken Lin (that means Nepenthes or better
"monkey cup"), and she gave me a big book, a degree thesis wrote by
her brother, about the Pha Taem National Park... but
you can read the rest on the northeast map
notes...
The BKF
The
first time I went to the BKF, the largest herbarium in
The
second time I went to the BKF, during the few days left before going back to Italy,
I had the possibility to clear up some more points that had remained obscure.
In the National Parks Department, thanks to the great, fast and effective Mrs.
Air, I found all the parks phone numbers that I didn't have or that had
resulted to be wrong (I had previously found them on a website). Then I gave
another look at the herbarium specimens of N. mirabilis and gracilis to complete
my maps with their locaions. And finally I found Dr. Rachun Pooma, who helped
Martin Cheek in his Nepenthes research in the natural habitat (http://www.dnp.go.th/Botany/BOTANY_eng/visitors_2000.html).
He showed me the pictures of the plants they found (you can find their description
here and there on the maps) and revealed me about some
new locations.
The
Weekend Market
The
first time at Chatuchak, the weekend market, I found a small stand where you could
see about 20 or 30 Nepenthes, mainly N. mirabilis and then a few unhealthy N.
ampullaria and one N. gracilis, all grown in coir and sand. But there was also
another not well identified species that immediately made me think about one of
the new or not very well known ones. Unfortunately, as you can read down here,
that was not the case… Here some photos: pic1, pic2, pic3, pic4
The
second time, after my 2 months expedition in the north, I went back to
the same Nepenthes stand. This time the guy who grows the plants was present,
he realized that I was a Nepenthes lover and ran to show me the pictures of his
plants (cp people are recognizable everywhere!). He was even growing a
Sarracenia rubra at home! The guy's name is Krissada, but you can call him Kris
(even if there they'll make it "Kiss" or "Kit" because of their
pronunciation). His phone number is 01-5647655. Well, I asked him about the
plants. What two months before I had thought to be a new species revealed to be
coming from Phu Kradung, so that was nothing but some form of N. smilesii. But
then he showed me something else, something new. Kris had found this plant on
Ao Phang Nga Island, in the south, in a private territory, where that's
apparently the only Nepenthes species you can find. He showed me the pic of an
adult specimen and I was shocked seeing how impressive that was. Now we know
it's for sure the new undescribed species N.
"Viking": pic1, pic2
The Maps
After
visiting the two herbariums and the Jatujak market, I looked at a map of
Thailand and I decided to go to Khon Kaen, in the north-east, between Phu
Kradung and Sakon Nakhon. I had in fact realized that the more worldwide spread
species N. mirabilis, gracilis and ampullaria were growing in the south. While
the unknown or poorly known species N. smilesii and thorelii were found in the
north and north-east.
Phu Kradung at that time appeared to be
the only or the main source of Nepenthes in the whole north and north-east.
This opinion was going to change a lot during the following months...
That was
just the beginning of an amazing adventure in lost and dangerous places, among
strange people and animals, following the utopia of satisfying my curiosity.
You can read everything about that on the maps, where
you'll be able to follow my adventures and look at a few picture of the Mokhao
Moken Lin (it means "monkey cup"), the local name for the tropical
pitcher plant.
To make
the results of such a quest more easily readable, I made in fact 4 maps. They
show the regions of Thailand. Every site about which I know something has a
number. To each number corresponds a note that you can read in the map page. If
you follow the order of numbers, you can also read my adventures in order of
time. Where you see a red spot it means that there you can find Nepenthes. All
the areas with crossed lines were explored directly or indirectly
("indirectly" means that I was told by someone...) and no
Nepenthes are growing there.
