Rafflesia Research & Monitoring Team

The Rarest of the Rare

2008-09-16T13:30:00.001+08:00

Helosis ruficeps (Ridl.) R.K. Eberwein In Oct 2007, a group of bird watchers came accross this plants in Penang Island and one of them, Kayev Choong, took a photograph and GPS reading and marked it on the map. A month later, He sent the photo to his friends Peggy Tan, Alastair Bishop, and Hooi Peng Kwan, asking for the name of this plant, thinking that this is probably a ginger (it was indeed growing next to the ginger plant). Hooi and Peggy Tan then seek help from another friend, Dr Chan Ah Lak of Taiping whom was similarly clueless on the identity of the plant and forwarded the photo to me in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia for the ID. Unfortunately, the email on 20 Nov 2007 was sent to my Yahoo account, the seldom open junk filled old address. It was not until in April 2008 that I discovered and read the email, found by accident when I went looking for archives. I decided to reply to Dr Chan Ah Lak on 7 May 2008 asking for more information on the plants that I thought was an unknown and strange Balanophora of Gerik, Perak. Dr Chan promptly replied and told me that he has to trace it back the owner of the photograph. Nearly a month later, he wrote back with detail information not only on the owner (Kayev Choong) but forwarded us a map on the locality and the GPS reading of the site in Penang Hill. At the end of oral examination of Ng Suan Beng, one of my final year students who was working on the Balanophora of Cameron Highlands, I showed him the photograph of "Balanophora from Gerik" and commented that it was not Balanophora. He later confirmed that I was probably of Exorhopala Steen., a genus related to Balanophora based on illustration in Bertel Hansen's paper on Balanophoraceae in the Flora Malesiana. Data minning then started at UKMB and soon it was discovered that the monotypic Exorhopala ruficeps (Ridley) Steen. was originally described as Rhopalocnemis ruficeps by H.N. Ridley based on the collection from Bukit Penara, Penang with notes that it is also to be found in Taiping's Maxwell Hill. The sspecies was later transfered in 1931 to a new genus, named Exorhopala by the late C.G.G.J. Van Steenis on the basis of the exogenous origin of its inflorescences. In August 1986, Anton Weber came to Penang and photograph the plant (photos here) for the first time in the original locality and collected a specimen which later studied by Roland K. Eberwein in Vienna. They concluded that this rare root endo-parasite of Malaya is actually belong to South American Helosis, a genus then known only to occur in Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Costa Rica and Belize. This was based on the fact that the inflorescences of this plant originate endogenously (as in all other Balanophoraceae) with "no volva and the tuber-tissue covering the emerging inflorescence crumbles into pieces" and the inflorescence and flower characters are "neither in full accordance with Rhopalocnemis nor do they justify a genus of its own (Exorhopala)". The species then was transfered to Helosis, which thus the genus becomes transpacific and no longer restricted to Latin America. Our RRMT was despatch and finally managed to locate and inspect the area and came out witn a fisrt full set of photograph in 13 Aug 2008 and recently returned to site witn better equipment (but still without me who could not make it in both occasion due to severe back-pain).

Both Che Aini and Nor Laddawan Graduated

2008-06-12T16:29:00.002+08:00

With the delayed viva of Laddawan yesterday, boeth Che Aini and Laddawan graduated and the theses on Rafflesia of Pecah Batu, Gunung Bubu and Lenggong are both ready for reference. These will be published soon in Latiff's Forest Biodiversity series.

Tahniah Che Aini, Siti Nor Laddawan

T-Shirt is ready

2008-06-04T08:17:00.008+08:00

Good News !
The t-shirt is now ready. You can pick-up the t-shirt in my room.
You can see more photos (and design) in my Flickr photostream. The entry on the s-shirt is here
The price is RM25, for I will give RRMT members a discount for bulk order, and one free t-shirt of your choosen design.

Update:
The Pos Malaysia has given this rates for postage, so the total cost per tshirt would be as follows:
Note:

Zone A:
ASEAN countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam

Zone B
Developing countries in Asia Pacific excluding ASEAN and industrialized countries in Asia Pacific listed under Zone C

Zone C
Industrialised countries in Asia Pacific - Japan, Australia and New Zealand

Zone D
Countries in Europe including the Russian Federation, Central Asia and the Middle East including Egypt

Zone E
Countries in the continents of North America, South America and Africa (excluding Egypt)

Postal Charges:

International Airmail (for 245 gm):
Zon A: RM8.95
Zon B: RM9.00
Zon C: RM9.45
Zon D: RM13.00
Zon E. RM17.90

International Surfacemail (for 245 gm):
Zon A: RM5.75
Zon B: RM5.80
Zon C: RM5.85
Zon D: RM5.90
Zon E. RM5.95

Domestic Airmail: RM1.00

The cost for the t-shirt, inclusive of the postage then, would be set as follows:

International Airmail (for 245 gm):
Zon A: USD10.50
Zon B: USD10.50
Zon C: USD10.50
Zon D: USD12.00
Zon E. USD13.00

International Surfacemail (for 245 gm):
To all zones: USD 9.50

Local within Malaysia/Singapore
RM30.00

Please send your money order (under my name) and the size+design to:
Kamarudin Mat Salleh
Rafflesia Research Monitoring Team
PPSSSA, FST
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor
Malaysia

Che Nurul 'Aini and her Lenggong Rafflesia

2008-01-20T10:28:00.000+08:00

I was waiting for the day Che 'Aini would be included in the Rafflesia Hall of Fame, for her relentless work on Rafflesia of Lenggong, which is the only known surviving site in Bintang Range. She came to my office with this photo last week.

Congratulation Che 'Aini, you are now just like one of them !

Tahniah Ng Suan Beng

2008-01-08T21:11:00.000+08:00

Faizi and Ng Suang Beng came back from Cameron Highland on 20 Dec 2007 with a set of photos of Balanophora as part of his project. They have visited a new site near the border of Kelantan and I have positively identifiied the flowers as the Balanophora fungosa that I have not seen it before. That set of photos were then posted in my Flickr collection and these were selected by the University of British Columbia (UBC) Botany Photo of the Day for today's entry.

I visited the site again last weekend, with the two chemists Prof Dato' Dr Noramly Muslim and Prof Dato' Dr Laily Bin Din and Faizi as a guide. And sure equiped with my trusted Sony A100 and 100mm macro, we came out with 5 gigabytes of superb close-up photos. We managed to get male flowers as well this time around (Suan Beng) could not get good males then.

Watch out for our Flickr, coming soon.

Best of Lucks, Zu and DJ

2007-12-30T23:54:00.000+08:00

RRMT lab is not going to be the same without some of the most senior members, who are leaving and returning back to their campuses in the late December 2007. Zu (Zuhailah Mazlan) has got a new position with Universiti darul Iman, Kuala Terengganu and Dj (Donna Jackson) was back to Bintulu campus of UPM. We are going to miss them and their leadership in the 4th floor. The lab is now being taken care of by Nery. We are expected to get both Jazreen and Izlamira who would be doing their Masters but we are not sure if they will be in our RRMT.

RRMT in Gunung Bubu

2007-12-29T08:35:00.000+08:00

Congratulation to Mat Ros for his dash-in effort for the tracking of new bloom of Rafflesia in Jeliang. While Pakdin, Donna Jackson and Mat Ros were attending Bintang Hijau Cenference in Lumut, Pak Yeop sent us a photo of a recent bloom in Gunung Bubu.

I immediately asked and despatched Mat Ros to Gunung Bubu in the morning and he came back to Lumut in the afternoon (that was 200 km round trip) not to count dirt road with scrambler.

Mat Ros was soaked in the rain, lucky not to have his camera "toy" wet as well. Mat Ros know too well that another bloom is imminent.

Returning to Bangi, we received mms alerted by Pak Yeop again that the other bud was in bloom and again, I have to despatch Mat Ros and Faizi together with Nor Laddawan to go and collect neccessary data for her thesis project.

There are several more buds are there, and one mature flower will explode soon
Details in Rafflesia-in-Bloom and more photos are available in Pakdin Flickr collections.

Siti Nor Laddawan and Bubu Rafflesia

2007-12-04T07:18:00.000+08:00

Congratulation to Nor Laddawan who was photographed with Rafflesia cantleyi of Gunung Bubu !
More news about the population of Rafflesia in Bubu will be posted in Rafflesia-in-Bloom

Photography Work-about

2007-11-15T06:34:00.000+08:00

There will be a photo-workabout that I will host in UKM on 1 Dec 2007. RRMT members who are interested need to give their names to Donna or Zu in the lab so that I can include you as a committee members from UKM.

Details are in SEMESTA forum, you can read it here:
http://semesta.org.my/forums/index.php?topic=1193.msg36599#msg36599

Kwek Mei Jiun in Travelizm

2007-11-08T10:50:00.000+08:00

RRMT members may not realised that we are being featured in other blogs. It is great to know that we are being noticed, so all har works are "berbaloi". When we say we are one of the leading groups in Rafflesia research, we have proof.

Recently, Travelizm wrote (in german!) about Kwek Mei Jiun's trip to see Rhizanthes infanticida in Gerik. Check it out here.

T-shirt: The Choosen Design

2007-11-08T10:36:00.000+08:00

Based on the consensus, I will go ahead to have this design printed, soon.
However I need input, please email me asap. My plan is to print in two base color options, white and probably green (or what esle?). The short sleeve for men and long sleeve for ladies. I would also print with and without colar, all printed in the back. What would you say ?.

Rafflesia T-shirt

2007-10-29T21:21:00.001+08:00

Long over-due !

Aren't you tired of wearing t-shirt from Sabah? Our team for several occasion have tossed about the idea of having a t-shirt, designed and distrubuted bu us and given out as momento to visitors of UKM. But no one have a time to come up with the design.

This week, my son (which has not been to the forest for ages) came up with these designs and I am hoping for input on the best design that I can print. My son will keep the account and with venture capital agreement with Pakdin Foundation we will sell it with some profit.

So please let me know which one to go first?

A1
A2

A3

B1

B2

B3

Rafflesia-in-Bloom Cited by Other Bloggers

2007-10-29T09:37:00.000+08:00

Nice to know that we have been cited. Read this piece in Thailand, here

http://tambon.blogspot.com/2007/10/stamps-with-provincial-seals.html

Keep Yourself updated via Google Reader

2007-10-07T22:52:00.000+08:00

All members of RRMT should keep themself updated on all related blogs. The best way to do that is by installing Google Reader and subscribe all Rafflesia related blogs and sites within the Reader's option. When these sites/portals/blogs are updated, you will be notified.
If you have any problem, please let us know or read some comments about Google Reader here, here and here. There is even automated instructions on how to use it, check this site, here, by Andy Webbels.

Dr.Todd Barkman and his visit to RRMT

2007-09-22T09:30:00.000+08:00

Few days before I was hospitalised, my buddy and sparring partner in Michigan, Dr. Todd J. Barkman arrived in Sabah for his tri-annual summer migration and to pay homage to the spirit of Mt Kinabalu.

No it was not the real reason.

Todd is married to a local Dusun of Kg Kiau Nulu, near Mt Kinabalu, and once in a few years he will have to be back, bringing home all his kids to see their grandies.

We managed to bring Todd to UKM for a 3-days brainstorming sessions, and to reinforce our mutual cooperation for Rafflesia research. Todd is currently a Professor in Western Michigan and widely regarded as one of the authorities on the evolution of parasitic plants. In 2000, Jamie Lim, Todd, Jamili and I published a ground-breaking paper in highly rated PNAS on the origin and evolution of Rafflesia.

Upon arrival Todd paid a visit to his ailing friend....

... and dinner with my family who are glad to be reunited with their Uncle Toddy

The next day, Todd gave a public seminar in UKM on the evolution of parasitic plants

Todd is probably one of a few caucasians who developed his craze for durians (gene transfer?) and did not miss the oppurtunity for the durian-eating fiesta

Our discussions went overdrive to cover all things parasites, and managed to help Ng Suan Beng, one of my students who is currently writing a thesis on Balanophora, to sort out the complicated taxonomy.

Well, RRMT would like to express our gratitude to Todd for his time in UKM and to the botanist-in-attendance, Mdm Donna Jackson for her patience and splendid arrangement, transport and hospitality.

More photos in my webalbum.

Tan Ai Lee's new Flickr

2007-09-22T04:21:00.000+08:00

I was notified by Ai Lee that she could no longer access her emails in old account, and now using a new ones. Both Ai Lee and Donna are victims of email phising/hijacking of their Yahoo! accounts. Ai Lee has posted several photos of her convocation in a new home called:
Botanizing & Scenaries

Visit by Qting and Nana from UNAND, Padang

2007-09-21T20:25:00.000+08:00

We are honoured to receive the loving husband and wife team of Qting and Nana, our contacts and Rafflesia (+Nepenthes) experts from Universitas Andalas, Padang Sumatra Barat. Qting and Nana were here from 26th July 2007 for a week, attending World Bryology Conference in Kuala Lumpur.

They were hosted and taken care by Donna Jackson and we thanks her for her hospitality!

Graduating Students of Rafflesia

2007-09-21T18:55:00.000+08:00

During the Istiadat Konvokesyen ke 35 UKM in September 2007, many students of Rafflesia received their scroll and I am yet to congratulate them because I wasn't in the Hall due to my treatment in the hospital then. The top honour should go to Dr Agus Susatya (Pak Agus) and he flew back to Bangi to share his joy with the rest of the Raff gangs in the Lab.

Many other Masters' students were also receiving theirs

CTIM kindly came to Pakdin's house for a short visit to her ailing sifu, and have this photo taken in the Kajang

More photos are in Pakdin's Webalbum

Congratulations to all RRMT Post-graduates

2007-07-20T01:01:00.000+08:00

I am proud to announce that all of our Masters students passed their oral exams and many are with distinctions.

All of you have been included in the Convocation in August.

The graduating students from RRMT are Ridha Mahyuni (Rafflesia of Bukit Lawang), Choon Pei (Legislative Review of the protection of Rafflesia), Aina (Conservation and Eco-tourism masterplan for Rafflesia of Taman Negara). Other student from my lab is Nik Norafida (The revision of Syngramma). One of the RRMT Hall-of-Famers, Tan Ai Lee also graduating after submiting her report on the revision of Dillenia in Peninsular Malaysia.

Several new graduatev students are joining our lab, and they are currently busy selecting research projects.

The best group of Rafflesia Students

2007-06-01T11:01:00.000+08:00

In my previous posting, I relate how the examiner's comment on our RRMT reports (Theses). The general feeling was that Zahidin's masterpiece on the rafflesias of Gunung Bubu is the best, but the highest mark for the group was Nornida's work. In any case, others are that too far behind.

As I have said many times, I am very happy with this year's graduating group. They are one great bunch of araimatis

So I posted here some of their bollywoodings

And they are probably among a few students so privileged to have been photographed with great botanists such us Sir Ghillean G Prance, the former Director of Kew Gardens, one of the best botanical garden of the world. We are not really that behind.

Congratulations to all RRMT undergraduates

2007-05-19T05:10:00.000+08:00

The grades for the oral exam was endorsed by the PPSSSA Examination Committee yesterday morning. All corrections were made and I have all submission forms signed by 5 pm yesterday and all of these theses should be available for binding by now. Hopefully the theses would be in the Lab by the next week.

I would like to congratulate all of this magnificent batch - very hard working and always-happy-no-matter-what-may group of students. It was our pleasure working with you. I hope you all would be a role model for the future students of our Lab.

The best thesis this year, according to our Pemeriksa-Pemeriksa, is the Gunung Bubu masterpiece, by Zahidin. Nevertheless, a big "Tahniah" to all of you, no matter what grade you have got for your thesis. After correction, all of these theses will be at par, regardless of the grades given during the exam, which were evaluated on your drafts and perfomance during the viva especially your general knowledge. After this, your theses should stand tall, and no one will know which one are an A theses except if suggested mistakes were not corrected and left open for everyone to see.

Thesis Completion Luncheon

2007-05-19T04:38:00.000+08:00

Special luncheon was organised on 17 May 2007 by the Plant Systematics Lab to celebrate the splendid perfomance and success of RRMT members in their viva on 14-16 May 2007. All members of the lab but Mat Ros (who was missing and hybernating somewhere we cannot trace) and Zu (who is currently away working in Terengganu).

Our guest of honor was none other than our close associate, Bryologist extraordinaire En Ahmad Damanhuri.

All of us enjoyed our specially tailored nasi beriyani, topped with three big kari kepala ikan. Penghulu Makmal Nery Sofiyanti brought a special homemade puding.
More pictures from Donna is currently hosted by Online PicasaWebAlbum, here.
I will append more photos from other cameras as and when available.

Research themes for new students

2007-05-05T10:44:00.000+08:00

These are the themes for our new team members:
Kwek Mei Jiun (meijiun@hotmail.com) will be studying the The systematics of Rhizanthes of Crocker Range Park, Sabah

Ebby Efrizal Mortadza (ebbyefrizal@yahoo.com), Che Nurul 'Aini Che Amri (miss_ainielektra86@yahoo.com) and Siti Noor Laddawan Johari (laddawan_johari@yahoo.com) will be covering Rafflesiaceae of Eastern Terengganu which covers HS Cherul, HS Pasir Raja and possibly Kenyir area.

Ng Suan Beng (ngsuanbeng@hotmail.com) was entrusted to search for the Rhizanthes and possibly Balanophora of Cameron Highland and write the biology of the genera.

Nik Norhazrina Nik Mohd Kamil (niknorhazrina@gmail.com) is still undecided. But she would most probably write a thesis on the distribution of Rafflesiaceae in western Pahang that covers known populations in Lata Lembik near Pos Buntu (off Hulu Sungai). She would also try to locate new populations near Sg Koyan northward and in Hulu Kecau Tui area.

Good luck

Joyce Dulce

2007-05-04T07:04:00.000+08:00

Joyce sent me an email with news from the Phillipines. Her email address was not listed in my previous posting because she did not sign the sheet as she was away hiking up Kinabalu then.

For the record, her email is pr2kad@yahoo.com

Welcome to the Club

2007-04-29T23:22:00.000+08:00

We welcome 6 new students who are officially in our group. You might see them in the lab very soon. We are complating a fieldtrip but that would depend on schedule. We are very tight now.

The six new students are:

Ebby Efrizal Mortadza (ebbyefrizal@yahoo.com)

Kwek Mei Jiun (meijiun@hotmail.com)

Che Nurul 'Aini Che Amri (miss_ainielektra86@yahoo.com)

Siti Noor Laddawan Johari (laddawan_johari@yahoo.com)

Ng Suan Beng (ngsuanbeng@hotmail.com)

Nik Norhazrina Nik Mohd Kamil (niknorhazrina@gmail.com)