Sierra Nevada detour

A detour from my usual babble on the SE Asian scene, we took this roadtrip after finishing business in the US West Coast.

Burning the wheels down the uneventful highway out of Vegas in the early morning, the landscape became decidedly more interesting once I swirled west into a country road which twirled between and around arid hills dotted with Yuccas and brown scrubs.

I only managed to find the turn-off to White Mountains after a couple of attempts (cursed GPS). My reason for being here was to see this old timer – the eastern bristle cone pine Pinus longaeva – the oldest living organism in the world. A specimen here was said to be more than 4800 years old but we would not be told where it grew.

To be frank there were more than 1 species of pine tree here, and they all looked similar to me. However, as one climbed towards the treeline, the concentration of the real McCoy became much denser.
Supposedly, there were slivers of living tissue sandwiched between those gnarled lifeless trunks, but then again, some may have been killed by lightning – hard to tell really, especially when they have so little leaves.
We pushed north under a wide sky glowing crimson to spend the night at Lee Vining.
Before the first ray of sun, we bolted out of the door to soak in the lunar ambience of Mono Lake and its ancient tufa towers. These calcium deposit were only visible after the lake was partially drained to irrigate orchards and now the local conservationists had stepped in to stop the waterline from dropping further.
I kept my fingers crossed at Lee Vining – sometimes Tioga Pass, our planned entry route to Yosemite, would be closed due to snow in October. This time luck was on our side. This was the view of the mountain range we would be traversing …..
Patchy fall colours were were starting to show as we entered Tioga pass, which ascended up to 3000m at the western Sierra Nevada before dipping towards the valley.....
....leading us right into the glacial-carved panoramas of Yosemite National Park.

At Olmstead Point, I took a vested interest in a strangely shaped pine, and hoped it would be a hundred times smaller so it could fit into my bonsai pot …..

Signing off .....

Mr Macfarlane's exquisite WC

Amongst tall grasses away from prying eyes, these would be my inspiration for truly luxurious WCs, if I am ever asked to submit a prototype.
Nepenthes macfarlanei is named after a Scottish botanist, John Muirhead Macfarlane, who authored one of the earliest monograph of this genus in 1908. Since his original description of 51 species way back then, the list of known species of tropical pitcher plants has roughly been doubled.
The species is endemic to highlands of Peninsula Malaysia and is still relatively common. The lower pitcher is urn shaped, with its pointy end anchoring it securely in the moss or soft substrate. Literature suggests it could be as tall as 30cm. So far the few specimens encountered in this recce were sitting at the ledge of precipituous drops, I presumed the reason was that the more accessible specimens had been collected by admirers.

The underside of the lid of this species has white hairs - which is unique amongst the Malaysian species. The glands secret a nectar which attract ants. Inevitably, some will drop into the pitcher.

In one of the pitchers, I found a white grub doing a back stroke.
I am not really sure if its a resident or an ingredient of the deadly broth - but the leisurely flapping of its behind seemed to suggest it was neither in pain nor danger.

Hairy orchid

Furry bloom of Bulbophyllum lindleyanum - a smallish orchid found from India all the way to Indochina. I do not grow this as I believe its one of those plants best suited to a cooler climate although I was told with tender loving care, some specimens many still flower in the sweltering lowland.

Madangia (Hoya) inflata

First described by PI Forster and the late Mr Liddle in 1997, this plant was initially placed as a monotypic genus based on the fused corolla and fused outer corona as shown in pictures above. The genus Madangia is subsumed within Hoya now, I am retaining this in the title merely for nostalgia.

The line drawing from the original publication is reproduced as follows. The venation of the dark green leaf as well as the thin black stem is rather characteristic as well.
So far it has only been found in the Madang Province of New Guinea. After numerous attempts to establish this plant, I eventually have a flowering vine this year - so its certainly not one of those robust vines that had run amok at the plot.

Like most tropical Hoyas, a high humidity (above 80%) and a wooden trellis or pole to climb and root is important for success. Some Hoya growers coil their vines around the metal wires of the hanging pots - which will not optimise root growth. Peduncle and flowers appeared at about 30-40% shade so it does not seem to need a lot of light.