Kent Ridge on 19 Jan

Brought a few friends to NUS today for a bio project! (: Showed them a few plants and it was really fun. Haha. Here are some of the things that we saw today. Hopefully i didnt ID them wrongly =X haha.

This is the Tiup tiup (Adinandra dumosa). The leaves has a dark green shade on the surface and a paler shade on the underside. The young leaves are reddish pink and the new leaves look like a sword. It has alternate leaf arrangement.

Smilax (Smilax glauca? Not very sure). A climber that can have quite big leaves.

Hairy clidemia (Clidemia hirta). It has hairy stem and leaves.

Wild cinnamon (Cinnamomum iners). When you crush the leaf, it gives off a sweet smell. The baby leaves are red and it has 3 distinct veins on the leaves. Opposite leaves.

This is the Simpoh air (Dillenia suffruticosa). It has the cleavage thingie near the stem of the plant.

The fruit of Simpoh air. Beautiful, isn't it? It has red flesh and ripes in 36 days.

This is the Melastoma (Melastoma malabathricum). It has edible fruits and it will stain your mouth black after you eat them.

White leaf fig (Ficus grossularioides). It has a whitish underside and a rather rough leaf surface. Figs have 4 common characteristics. 1. They all have sap. 2. When you look at the underside of the leaf, you'll see the triangular vein. 3. It has a prominent bud. 4. There are scars on the stem of the plant.

This is the Macarthur Palm (Ptychosperma macarthurii). It is a monocot.

This is the Vitex pinnata. It has compound leaves and it comes in 3, 4 or 5 leaflets each. The new leaves are reddish too.

This is the Vitex pinnata with 3 leaflets.

Flowers of the Yellow Flame (Peltophorum pterocarpum). This tree is deciduous and it is one of the most common trees seen in Singapore.

The leaves of the Yellow Flame Tree. Compound leaves.

Let's end off with the Fishtail Palm (Caryota mitis). Haha. A lot of people didn't want to touch this after i said that this is poisonous. Most parts of the plant contains toxic crystals and may cause swelling if it is embedded in the skin. This plant starts fruiting from the top of the tree then subsequently furthur down. Sadly, it will start fruiting at the base of the tree eventually then it will die.

Hope that everyone enjoyed today and learnt something. Haha. Good luck with the bio project! :D

East Coast on 22 Dec

Went for class gathering at East Coast and went cycling. Was trying to ID the plants while cycling and went a bit crazy cos i kept looking up at the trees. Haha. Didn't bring my camera so didn't take any pictures.

But when me and truman were cycling, i saw a shell moving on the ground. We stopped and went to take a look.

My first thought was that it is a Orange Striped Hermit Crab, Clibanarius infraspinatus. But i started to think a lot and wondered why on earth will a hermit crab be stranded at the middle of the pathway? Then i started thinking if it is a land hermit crab ._. LOL. It has a poor friend beside it who got crushed terribly probably by a bicycle or vehicle that went over it. Picked it up from the middle of the pathway and put it at one side to take a picture of it.

I guess it is probably dug out by some people. Quite sad to see this happening. Hope that people will put them back to their original habitat after viewing them and not just leave them somewhere or try to bring it home.

Was thinking if i should throw it into the sea or leave it on the grass. After thinking for a while, we left it on the grass that is close to the drain that leads to the canal and to the open sea.
I hope that this hermit crab doesn't die x_x

Chek Jawa on 19 Dec

Went to Chek Jawa in the evening that day. It was my first time at Chek Jawa. Probably a bit disappointed because there weren't a lot of stuff to see and we couldn't walk out to the reef area because the tide was a bit high and the water murked up very easily. This may be due to the storm surge as it rained for quite long in the morning and afternoon. However, i still managed to get shots of some animals! (: Was trying to learn how to use my camera properly so some pics may be quite blur. Hehe.

This is the Sand-sifting Sea Star, Archaster typicus. It is named so because it sifts the sand for tiny food particles. It has tube feets which helps it to move around and can also burrow into the sand.

This is the Pink Thorny Sea Cucumber, Colochirus quadrangularis. They usually do not burrow and are more commonly found at the seagrass area.

We saw a few Haddon's Carpet Anemone, Stichodactyla haddoni, and this is one of them. Like other anemone, the Carpet Anemone also has stinging cells in its tentacles. Although the stings do not usually hurt humans, we should not use our bare hands to touch them as they are still capable of leaving welts on sensitive skin.

We saw this Orange-striped Hermit Crab, Clibanarius infraspinatus, at the seagrass area too! Unlike true crabs, hermit crabs have a soft abdomen, thus they need to live in a shell for protection. Hence we should not collect any shells from the seaside even if it is broken as any shell may be a suitable shell for the hermit crab. If there are not enough shells for the hermit crabs, they will have to run naked along the shores!

This is the first Sandfish Sea Cucumber, Holothuria scabra, that i saw that day. This is the species of Sea Cucumber that we usually eat during Chinese New Year. However, this sea cucumber contains toxin in it thus it must be properly processed before it can be served on the table.

 This is the Sand Dollar, Arachnoides placenta. Although it is very flat, it is a relative of the Sea Urchins. It has short and tiny spines on its body to help it move around on the sand. Sometimes it may burrow into the sand too!

Lifer! This is the first Sand Star, Astropecten sp., that I've ever seen. Haha.

 

There were also many Tube Anemone that day. It got its name because they live in a tube that is made of sand and its mucus.

Ruixiang found this cute little thingie. Looks like an embryo with a small fish inside? Haha. Don't know what this is, but we can see a pair of eyes looking at us from inside! Super cute :D

Noble volute! Cymbiola nobilis. This one here is laying its eggs. Although it may seem to be gentle and harmless, it is actually a very fierce predator. It feeds on other smaller snails and clams by wrapping its strong foot around them to suffocate them. When they open up to breathe, it will feed on them.

Err i dont know what this is. Forgot already ): LOL. But it is super flat at the underside of a rock.

Fanworm! But the picture is blur x_x Haha. The feathery fan is actually the tentacles of the worm that is growing out from the head. The tentacles help the worm to gather panktons and tiny food particles from the surrounding water. However, we do not usually see the worm as it lives in a tube that is made of sand and its mucus.

Err. Dont really know what this is also. An onch? =X haha.

[Edit: This is a sea squirt, a kind of tunicate.]

Biscuit star!

A six-armed sand star. Lifer lifer! LOL.

Haha er is this a sea pen? LOL

This is the Smooth Sea Cucumber. Another lifer.

Wahh i need to learn how to take better photos next time. Is this a flower crab? LOL.

Probably another thorny sea cucumber? Not sure.. Haha. Doesnt look pink to me leh ._.

Moon snail! Quite happy to see it (: This one looks like it is hunting for its dinner. Haha.

Err what is this? Haha. Isit a ball sea cucumber? >_> LOL.

After doing this post, i realise i need to brush up my skills on IDing animals and i really need to learn how to take better photos. LOL.

Mangrove training @ Ubin on 19 dec

A super overdued post =/ haha. Ron brought us to learn how to ID mangroves when we're at Ubin a few weeks ago.

We saw an Oriental whip snake on our way there. It is able to camouflage very well among the leaves and branches. It sticks out its tongue when it is in danger or to 'taste' the air around it. This snake is midly venomous but it usually has no effect on humans.

Left: Rhizophora apiculata. Middle: Rhizophora stylosa. Right: Rhizophora mucronata.

This is the Rhizophora group which is commonly known as the bakau trees. They have prop roots to help them grow on the unstable ground.

 

Underside of the Rhizophora leaves. If you look closely at the underside of the leaves, you'll see little black dots on them.

 

Underside of Rhizophora apiculata. This species has red stipules and usually have smaller and thinner leaves as compared to Rhizophora stylosa and Rhizophora mucronata.

Rhizophora stylosa. This species has green stipules instead of red ones. They are very tolerant of salinity changes thus it is an important plant for reforestation.

 

Rhizophora mucronata. They have green or red stipules and their leaves are super fat. They also have very long and large propagules.

Sonneratia alba. These two leaves are from two different trees. Although the shape of the leaves may vary a bit, they generally have a tear-drop shape. The top and underside of the Sonneratia leaves also have similar colours.

Sonneratia ovata. They have broadly egg-shaped leaves and prefer more brackish conditions, thus it is usually found at the landward side of the mangroves.

Lumnitzera littorea. It is also known as the Teruntum Merah. This genus has small, inverted teardrop-shaped leaves. This species has red flowers which attracts sunbirds to pollinate them. The other species, lumnitzera racemosa, has white flowers instead.

This is the Avicennia group. Left: Avicennia officinalis. Middle: Avicennia alba. Right: Avicennia rumphiana.

They are commonly known as the Api-api. This is one of the main group of mangroves that can be found in Singapore. They are able to secrete salt through the salt glands in their leaves.

Avicennia officinalis. This species usually has shiny leaves with green underside and rounded tips. The veins of the leaves are not very obvious. Unlike the other Avicennia species, this has salt glands on the surface of the leaves instead of the underside.

Underside of Avicennia alba. This species is easily recognisable due to its white underside. It usually has pointed leaves too.

Fruit of Avicennia alba. They have chilli-shaped fruits.

Underside of Avicennia rumphiana. The underside of their leaves are usually brown and has a velvety feeling. They leaves are usually a bit curled up and more rounded. The veins on the leaves are also quite obvious.

This is the top and underside of Bruguiera cylindrica. This is also known as the Bakau putih. Does this leaf looks like the Rhizophora's? Although they may look similar, if you look at the underside of the leaf, this leaf does not have little black dots on them.

These are the sepals of Bruguiera cylindrica. The propagules are grown then detached from them when they're matured enough.

This is the sepals of Bruguiera gymnorhiza. It is easily identified as it is the only Bruguiera species that has red flowers.

This is the top and underside of the leaf of Scyphiphora hydrophyllacea, usually known as Chengam. They have rounded leaves and the top side is usually very glossy while the underside is usually very dull.

This is the fruit of Ceriops zippeliana. This species has intricate patterns on the calyx and the propagules have a red collar on them. However, for Ceriops tagal, they do not have patterns on the calyx and the progagules have a white collar instead of a red one.

Xylocarpus moluccensis. Xylocarpus is a minor component of the mangrove and is usually known as the Mangrove Cannonball due to the big and round fruits that it has. They also have compound leaves and the leaves of this species has pointed tips.

Xylocarpus granatum. They have compound leaves too but this species has rounded leaf tips instead of the pointed ones.

The top and underside of Heritiera littoralis, usually known as the Dungun. Some people call it the 'ultraman' plant because the fruit of this plant looks like the head of the ultraman. They usually have big elongated leaves that have a whitish underside.

Underside of Acrostichum speciosum.This species has pointed leaf tips while the other species, Acrostichum aureum, has rounded leaf tips.  This is one of the few ferns that are able to tolerate the harsh conditions in the mangrove. Like other ferns, they also have spores at the underside of their leaves to help them reproduce.

 

This is the Mangrove Tit-Berry, Allophyllus Cobbe. This plant is a trifoliate and has pointed compound leaves. They have obvious veins on their leaves too.

This is the leaf of Buta-buta or Blind-your-eyes, Excoecaria agallocha. This is a deciduous mangrove plant that does not has a specialised root system. It excludes most of its salt intake by accumulating them in the older leaves, which are dropped seasonally. This plant produces a white latex which is poisonous. It can cause blindness if it gets into someone's eyes or cause blisters on bare skin.

After the mangrove training, i think i had a better understanding of the mangroves and knew more about the mangrove plants. Thanks Ron! (: I hope i've IDed them correctly =/ I went to open the bag of leaves just now and i realised most of them are rotten already O: Haha.