Three flowers

Gingers are some of the most commonly found plants in the dim and humid ground of the rainforest. This red beauty growing in the MacRitchie Reservoir reserve is the flower of an Etlingera sp., which is co-generic with E. elatior, whose large flower buds are a component of rojak salads. A horde of small black ants can be seen swarming around the flower. Are they the pollinators? Or have they just gathered for a feast of nectar? Ginger pollination and seed dispersal is still a little known subject. Even the household ginger, Zingiber officinale, seldoms blooms, if at all, and has to be propagated vegetatively. How little do we know about the staples of nature that feed our meals and spice up our senses!

The daily showers and associated dim in ambient temperatures have also spurred some pigeon orchids (Dendrobium crumenatum) into a hasty display of sexual exuberance. The delicate blossoms dangle from thin stems on wayside trees and offer a brief shower of floral ardour to craggy trunks and fern-decked bark.

Many (including wannabe naturist naturalist ducks) would identify this flower as the Singapore rhododendron. In fact, Melastoma malabathricum belongs to a different family (Melastomataceae) altogether and is called Sendudok in Malay. The generic name came about as a result of the plant's berries, which blacken the mouth and tongue when consumed. A common plant in secondary forests and disturbed areas, M. malabathricum is buzz pollinated by carpenter bees (those large, black and fat bees that can be seen in gardens) whose wings beat to a frequency that causes the anthers to spray pollen onto the bees for transport to other flowers. The plant is hardy and the flower not unattractive, yet for some reason, it's never seen to be purposely cultivated in gardens both private and public. Perhaps heaven dwells not in the heart of a wild flower too crass for manicured grounds.

Comments

[monkey]

melastoma also means black mouth

[Mable]

The gloomy weather/heavy downpours almost every afternoon don't seem normal for this time of the year but the good thing is that it brings surprises here and there where flowers are concerned. I seldom see pigeon orchids bloom on trees and now I will keep my eyes open for them. Thanks!

[Axel Dalberg Poulsen]

The top picture is not an Etlingera but Hornstedtia cf. scyphifera.

Sincerely yours,

[budak]

thanks for the correction!