Orchids in Borneo
Traipsing through Orchid Park, Kuching
Orchids are the oldest flowers still living on Earth. Members of the Orchidoideae family date back to 80 million years, meaning that dinosaurs perhaps also marveled at their beauty. There are over 25,000 different species.
This long survival timeline allowed the plant to evolve tremendously. More than any other flower type, orchids have become masters of luring insects into them for pollination. Many resemble female or male moths, bees, wasps, or flies, to either attract members of the opposite sex in hopes of mating, or draw territorial attacks from members the same sex in hopes of driving them away. For the orchid, the result is the same; that of coating the insect’s body with its pollen.
This week the family and I visited Orchid Park botanical garden, in the city of Kuching, State of Sarawak, Malaysia. The island of Borneo possesses a wealth of orchid species, as does just about any equatorial tropical region. There was a decent selection of orchid types, both in greenhouses and outside.
Many species of orchids grow on other plants, most often the trunks and branches of trees. They may or may not be parasitic to those hosts, depending on the species.
Over half of the orchids in the park were of the genus Phalaenopsis, commonly called ‘moth orchids’. It is thought that they attempt to imitate moths or butterflies, not just by the shape of their petals, but by the flapping motion of those petals in a breeze.
The second-most common type in the park were Grammatophyllum or ‘tiger’ orchids.
Some of the stranger orchid flowers native to Borneo, strongly resembling bumblebees and wasps, were mostly absent from the park (or just weren’t blooming). I did see one type (Oncidium sp.) that is meant to imitate a male bee, thus invite attack by real male bees.
There was, of course, plenty of other great fodder for a camera, including banana plants (can’t call them trees since they are not), and a ton of bromeliads.
The park is located on the north bank of the Sarawak River, behind the new State Legislative Assembly building. It was a Sunday and very quiet in this part of town. The park itself was empty of other visitors, so it was just us, plants, and a few droning cicadas.
I’ve found that botanical gardens are a perfect place to go with the family while traveling. Unlike museums, religious buildings, or ruins, everyone seems to find an equal enjoyment in just strolling around and taking it all in.
I wrote this article for April’s monthly challenge of ‘Floral Beauty Around the World’, kicked off by Michele Maize:
I enjoyed the report by Michael Rhodes on the spring bloom in the Anza-Borrego Desert, a place I enjoyed thoroughly during my time in that state:
And another by JoAnn Ryan, also featuring tropical flowers:
Finally, I do miss seeing the spring flowers of the Pacific Northwest of the USA. Some of those same flowers feature into this article by Claire Elizabeth Levesque:
