Orchids

WILD

OF CAMERON HIGHLANDS

REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS CAMERON HIGHLANDS

 Orchids
WILD

OF CAMERON HIGHLANDS

REGIONAL
ENVIRONMENTAL
AWARENESS
CAMERON HIGHLANDS

A community based project on

environmental conservation and
awareness

First published February 2009

CONTENTS

07 Prologue

Cameron Highlands
11 A hill resort

The montane forest

16 Montane forests
18 Biodiversity hotspot in the highlands
21 Cameron Highlands; an orchid haven

The Orchid family

25 Orchidaceae a family like no other

Orchids in the wild

30 Terrestrial Orchids
71 Saprophytic Orchids
77 Epiphytic Orchids
166 A whole lot more!

Threats to orchids
182 Development and land clearing
184 Illegal orchid poaching

Conservation
189 Why protect the natural rainforest?
190 Conservation efforts of REACH
192 Ecotourism; plays a vital role
193 REACH orchid team
194 A new discovery
196 Lost and found
197 Photographing orchids

198 Index

201 Glossary

202 Acknowledgements
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Let the rivers run free.

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Coelogyne kaliana This is another lovely Coelogyne orchid. This epiphyte has pseudo-bulbs carrying long,
pendulous, 4 to 12 flowered inflorescences. The flowers are predominantly white. Sepals
and petals are snow white. Lips are white on the outer surface but brown on the inner
Flower Size 2.5cm surface which is streaked with white veins. The ‘landing pad’ on the lip is a bright
attractive yellow to lure insects. This species is found in Peninsular Malaysia in montane
forests. They live on shrubs, tree trunks and large branches at elevations of 1650 to 2000
meters.
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Monkey cups basking in the sun on the

mountain peak of Gunung Brinchang.
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Coelogyne dayana Its striking feature is the very generous white lip with brown stripes. The lip has 2 keels and
the terminal part of the lip has a rough surface. The sepals and petals are a peach-brown.
This species is relatively large with pseudobulbs around 20 cm and leaves about 10 cm.
Flower Size 2.5cm The inflorescence is about half to one metre long with many flowers blooming at one time.
They are distributed in Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo.
 EPIPHYTIC ORCHIDS
Wild orchid families
Bulbophyllum
aeolium, this
extraordinary
orchid occurs
in hill and
lower
montane
forests.
Bulbophyllum
Bulbophyllum is the largest genus in the
orchid family with about 2000 species.
There are at least 200 species recorded in
Cameron Highlands. The scientific name
comes from the Latin word ‘bulbus’
meaning bulb-like and the Greek word
‘pyhllon’ meaning leaf. This is in reference
to the pseudobulbs from which the leaves
emerge. This is a broad genus of mainly
epiphytic plants of varying sizes. The
vegetative forms range from tall, cane-like
plants, root climbers that cling onto trees
and occasionally rock surfaces to pen-
dulous plants. The flowers are borne on
inflorescences that arise from the base of
the pseudobulbs or the rhizomes. The
plants are sympodials with wide variations
in the bulbs, leaves and flowers. However
the basic criteria for this genus is that the
pseudobulbs are single-node, the inflores-
cences are basal and the lips mobile. The
flowers emit an odour of rotting carcasses,
perfect for attracting flies, their usual
pollinators. The plants prefer the cool
shade of the rainforest and occur on trees
by riverbanks and on hill-slopes. They are
found both in the lowlands and in the
highlands. Generally, however they are
found growing in small clusters or
climbers in small colonies on tree trunks
or branches between the mid-storey to the
canopy level. Sometimes they appear in
the most common and unusual of places
like on lamp posts, rooftops and crevices
right smack in the town centre. The genus
includes epiphytes, terrestrial and some
lithophytic species. They are distributed
in Southeast Asia, Australia, Africa,
Central and South America. The above
picture was taken by Antony, with him
balancing precariously on the tree
branches 5 metres above the ground!
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Bulbophyllum Words cannot adequately describe this wonderful flower, which is yet another proof of
Mother Nature’s creative genius. The flowers numbering 6 to 8 are beautifully arranged in
virescens a circle to form a crown of greenish-yellow. The sepals are long and tapering with dark
green veins. The petals are narrower than the sepals and their ends are almost whisker-like.
Flower Size 30cm The lip resembles a lolling tongue of white with a dark purple centre. They are found in
the Peninsular Malaysia, the Moluccas and Sumatra at elevations of around 760 to 1000
meters.