Last Thursday (15 August), I went for a TreeTop Walk trails exploration. The last time that I came by these trails were quite a few years back. As usual, the long walk that took me over 5 hours did not disappoint.

As a results of the trip, a total of 4 sets of new plant images were added to my website --- Rourea aspleniifolia, Artocarpus rigidus (Monkey Jackfruit), Thelypteris motleyana and Paramignya scandens.

Artocarpus rigidus was not new as I had seen the fruits on the forest floor back in 2014 but did not add it to my website image database as no other features of the tree were available then. There were several monkeys working hard on the spiny fruits found on the ground with their limbs and mouth. Others were up on the tall tree harvesting the fruits and releasing them to the ground. Rourea aspleniifolia was identified by comparing the images of the leaflets online and those from images of the 2 similar-looking Rourea species that I already had in my record. As for Thelypteris motleyana, this relatively large-size fern was located along a small stream. It looked like Thelypteris crassifolia but was of a much larger size in comparison and its sori (spore-containing structure) did not have indusia (covers over the sori). Eventually, I landed on the name Mesophlebion motleyanum which was considered a synonym of Thelypteris motleyana according to the Plants of the World Online website. The woody climber Paramignya scandens was identified by screening the members of the family Rutaceae in Singapore in the 2009 Flora Checklist as its leaves looked like that of Calamansi (Citrus x microcarpa) and there were sharp thorns spreading sparsely along the hanging branches.

A rare encounter was the small berry-like fruits of the woody climber Maesa sumatrana. I came across a flowering specimen in Mandai area in 2012 and had not seen the plant till this round. I would not be able to recognize it in the field without the flowers or fruits. It was incorrectly named as Maesa ramentacea in the past but had since been corrected to the current name based on a publication in 2021 [1].

On the unknown plants, I spotted a Uncaria species that did not appear to match the images of the identified Uncaria species in my image record. Except for the new leaves that were pinkish red, its overall appearance looked like Uncaria gambir.

Below were the minibeasts spotted along the way displayed based on the sequence of encounter:

|| From left to right below: Dinomyrmex gigas (Giant Forest Ant); Lexias pardalis dirteana (Caterpillar); Arcastes biplagiata (Leaf Beetle); Thomisus spectabilis (White Crab Spider). ||

|| From left to right below: Hyllus keratodes (Jumping spider); Cicindela aurulenta (Spotted Tiger Beetle); Homoeocerus meniscus (Bug); Crocothemis servilia (Dragonfly). ||

References:

[1] Utteridge TMA. Flora of Singapore precursors, 26: The genus Maesa (Primulaceae) in Singapore and clarification of Maesa ramentacea in Malesia. Gardens' Bulletin Singapore 2021;73(2):267-278. | Read article |