GUNUNG SERAPI OF MATANG
Date : March 19, 2006
I had been hiking in this mountain for a few times since my teenagehood. There is an earth satellite station & a few communication towers at the summit, therefore you can not climb up to the summit (2988 feet).
In this hiking trip to re-visit this beautiful mountain, I decided to go deep into lower montane forest and a habitat looks like mossy forest to search for some species of pitcher plants.
There are some secret jungle trails near the summit which are not known by most of the people.
10 minutes after entering a shady montane forest, I found Nepenthes hirsuta.
20 minutes later, my friend, Lau informed me that he saw a pitcher plant near a short tree. I was shocked to see that beautiful plant....it is Nepenthes albomarginata !!! This is my first time to see a wild N. albomarginata !!! I told Lau that this species is very unique as it got white band of hairs below the pitcher mouth.
Then, less than a meter away, I saw a big population of Nepenthes tentaculata grow embedded in clumps of a species of moss, genus name is Sphagnum. At the moment, I was speechless and excited. At last, I found 2 species of pitcher plants which I never seen in the wild before.
Another interesting thing about N. tentaculata is those scale insects looks like the cocoons of moth clinging on the inner wall of the pitcher!!! This is really amazing as most of the insects can not climb on the wall of pitcher and escape from being become the victim of this carnivorous plant. However, I was shocked to see those scale insects which looks like cocoons of moth on the wall of the pitcher. This is truly the wonder of the nature!!!
Click on the title below to view the photos :
View from a point around 2500 feet above the sea level.