Pitcher Plants, Nepenthes, Monkey Cup

Nepenthes which is the only genus of the Nepenthaceae family are herbaceous non-woody tropical plants which generally grow as long twining vines with pitchers. The pitchers are actually highly specialized leaves that act as passive pitfall traps (for little insects). Pitcher Plant are also known locally as Monkey Cup and can also be use for cooking glutinous rice.

Pitcher Plant being a protected species is extremely exotic and can be found on the lowlands and highlands jungles of Borneo and other part of the world. Each species may often be endemic on certain areas.

The photos below were taken at Pitcher Plant & Wild Orchid Garden, located at Kota Padawan township, 10 miles from Kuching, Sarawak.

More pitcher plants photos

Nepenthes Pitcher Plant Monkey Cup

Branched coconut tree

I have seen hundreds of coconut trees (if not thousand) with one straight stem up to the nuts cache (fruit brunches) and foliage burst until recently.

The coconut (Cocos nucifera) is a branchless trunk and branched coconut tree is very rare. It is not a freak of nature that the tree branched out and branching may occur due to injury caused by insect pests.

At a private land in Kuching, Sarawak, one coconut tree produced a branch as depicted below:



More photos on branched coconut tree.

Further readings:
* Coconut freaks, Roland Bourdeix of France.
* A forked coconut tree at Fort Sindhudurg, India.

nature's freak

Rajang Port, Sibu, Sarawak, East Malaysia

Rajang Port Authority (or Lembaga Pelabuhan Rajang) was established in 1970 and it's operation commenced in May 1971. It is situated at the confluence of the Rajang and Igan rivers, about 50 miles (80 km) from the South China Sea coast. As a river port, it serves small oceangoing vessels and exports timber, rubber, and pepper.

The headquarter is located in Sibu and it's primary function is to co-ordinate the activities of the five ports placed under its jurisdiction: Sibu Center, Tanjung Manis Center, Sarikei Centre, Bintangor Center and the Sungai Merah Oil Jetty. It manages operations in all the ports except the Bintangor Centre.

RPA HQ at Sibu

Related topics:
* Rajang Port Authority website.
* More photos on Rajang Port