# The Bucephalandra motleyana of Borneo



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

_Bucephalandra motleyana_ is an interesting aroid from Borneo. In different locations, the leaves can be different from one & another.

First, I want to show you the most unusual _Bucephalandra_ that I ever found: Y shaped leaves!!!





































The biotope:










Even in same location, the leaves can be varied in different spots:


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

All the _Bucephalandra_ from the same location, I called it as a tribe. The tribe above & below is from Serian.



















This is the Sebauh tribe (at least 600km away from Serian tribe):



















Sebauh tribe:




























Sebauh tribe is growing together with the smallest _Aridarum _from Borneo. This _Aridarum_ is a new species:


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

Sebauh tribe looks a bit like _Aridarum caulescens_ from nearby areas....but if u touched their leaves, you can feel that _Aridarum caulescens_ is harder & thicker than this _Bucephalandra_:










And this is Seri Aman tribe, 100km away from Serian tribe. You can see how different they are in different location:




























Seri Aman tribe;










The biotope of Seri Aman tribe;










Tatau tribe. This tribe looks a bit like _Piptospatha_.:


----------



## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Good God man, please figure out a way of getting those back to the US 

I have no idea why you are in Borneo, but you are the luckiest person I know. I would love to go there and do some treks through the woods...


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

Zapins said:


> Good God man, please figure out a way of getting those back to the US
> 
> I have no idea why you are in Borneo, but you are the luckiest person I know. I would love to go there and do some treks through the woods...


Yup...I'm lucky to be born here.


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

Batang Ai tribe:





































The biotope. (a dried up waterfall in dry season)


----------



## countcoco (Dec 28, 2010)

Fantastic photos!


----------



## wabisabi (Dec 4, 2010)

Thank you for sharing your great photos with us. 

Do the plants labeled 'Batang Ai' signify they live in a black water environment?


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

Thanks countcoco & wabisabi.

No, Bucep "batang Ai" lives in clearwater stream.....


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

Finally, I found _Bucephalandra _in Sabah! It is a new record cos nobody found it there before.....





































It is very very rare to find a _Bucephalandra_ in Sabah....it is considered a very big discovery for me to find this plant there!!!! Hooooray!!!


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

_Bucephalandra_ "grey" from Sarawak.




























Underwater shot:









_Bucephalandra_ "dark grey"




























Bucep. "dark grey" variant's biotope: a jungle stream:


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

Another tribe of _Bucephalandra_ at Padawan area:





































Underwater shot:


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

This one is under direct sunlight, so the leaves are a bit yellowish coloured....










But this one below is not under direct sunlight & yet, the leaves got very strange pattern:




























Biotope shots:


----------



## lbacha (Apr 12, 2011)

I love the shots keep them coming, I have used them for inspiration for my next project, recently I have acquired 8 different species of buces along with some crypts from Borneo and I'm planning on setting up a terrarium featuring buces and patches of crypts all grown emersed. Keep the inspiration coming because your biotope shots are what I'm going from.

Thanks for the inspiration

Len


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

lbacha said:


> I love the shots keep them coming, I have used them for inspiration for my next project, recently I have acquired 8 different species of buces along with some crypts from Borneo and I'm planning on setting up a terrarium featuring buces and patches of crypts all grown emersed. Keep the inspiration coming because your biotope shots are what I'm going from.
> 
> Thanks for the inspiration
> 
> Len


thanks Len for viewing my photos.


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

Hi all, I just created a new blog for the photos taken in the jungle, streams & rivers of Borneo:

http://junglemikey.blogspot.com/


----------



## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Do they actually grow submersed in the wild permanently? Or is it only a seasonal thing or flooding event?


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

Zapins said:


> Do they actually grow submersed in the wild permanently? Or is it only a seasonal thing or flooding event?


In rainy season, most of them will live under the water but some of them in Kalimantan can live permanently in the water.


----------



## lbacha (Apr 12, 2011)

junglemike said:


>


I like the shot of the Bucephalandra and crypt together, do you have any more where they are together, I know alot of the Buce shots you take are faster running streams not really typical crypt habitat

Len


----------



## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Now that I see there are crypts as well it makes me wonder are there any other types of aquatic plants you have seen? Any pictures?


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

lbacha said:


> I like the shot of the Bucephalandra and crypt together, do you have any more where they are together, I know alot of the Buce shots you take are faster running streams not really typical crypt habitat
> 
> Len


Sorry, no more. Bucep. sometimes grow in big river where u can find Crypt.


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

Zapins said:


> Now that I see there are crypts as well it makes me wonder are there any other types of aquatic plants you have seen? Any pictures?


Piptospatha / Ooia also found there.


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

Bucep. from Tebakang area got narrow leaf & the margin of the leaf is undulated:




























More pictures can be found in my new blog:

http://junglemikey.blogspot.com/2011/10/bucephalandra-undulated-leaf-from.html


----------



## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

Hello Mike,

awesome!!
As I understand, all the Buce's in Your pics are forms of the one species B. motleyana, aren't they? Do You know if the botanists at the time do treat Bucephalandra catherineae as distinct species, or rather as synonym of B. motleyana?
I wonder if the different B. motleyana forms are ecotypes with adaptations to particular habitat conditions, e.g. if there are ones more adapted to submerged growth than other motleyana forms.

-Heiko


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

miremonster said:


> Hello Mike,
> 
> awesome!!
> As I understand, all the Buce's in Your pics are forms of the one species B. motleyana, aren't they? Do You know if the botanists at the time do treat Bucephalandra catherineae as distinct species, or rather as synonym of B. motleyana?
> ...


I was told by researcher before that all Bucephalandra in Sarawak are B. motleyana even they look differently from different habitats/biotope. Never found B. catherineae before, so I can't comment about it. However, I believe some are new species but I need to ask the researcher again about how to define a new species.....


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

Hi everyone, here are some shots taken recently in Sarawak:

Bucep "white-greyish" colored leaves:










Bucep. "grey" near a waterfall:










Bucep "white-yellowish colored" from Pichin:



















Bucep "dark green" with red petiole & stems from Sedong:



















Bucep. "pawan":










More images posted in my blog:

http://junglemikey.blogspot.com/


----------



## Jim Lockhart (Jan 27, 2004)

Michael, your blog is awesome, thx for posting,

The flower on the Bucep pawan, is that typical of the Buceps ? Looks very unique

Jim.


----------



## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

The last picture that shows the flowers turned up. Makes me think they are pollinated by rain drops splashing into the flower. Is that the way this species pollinates? Just like liverworts...


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

Jim Lockhart said:


> Michael, your blog is awesome, thx for posting,
> 
> The flower on the Bucep pawan, is that typical of the Buceps ? Looks very unique
> 
> Jim.


Thanks Jim. Yes, Bucep "pawan" is a bit like those from Kalimantan - margin of the leaf is undulated & long leaf.


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

Zapins said:


> The last picture that shows the flowers turned up. Makes me think they are pollinated by rain drops splashing into the flower. Is that the way this species pollinates? Just like liverworts...


I think it is pollinated by insects.


----------



## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

Zapins said:


> The last picture that shows the flowers turned up. Makes me think they are pollinated by rain drops splashing into the flower. Is that the way this species pollinates? Just like liverworts...


Bogner & Hay 2000: http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/72772/Tel9Bog179.pdf
That are inflorescences after flowering, or already infructescences. During flowering, the upper part of the spathe drops off, later also the upper part of the spadix with the male flowers and the sterile appendix.
The lower part of the spathe is persistent and wraps the lower spadix part with the female flowers and later the fruits like a cup or funnel. According to Bogner & Hay and others there's really a "splash-cup mechanism" - for seed dispersal. Aridarum and Piptospatha have the same infructescence type.


----------



## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Interesting! Thanks for posting that. So I was partially correct


----------



## lbacha (Apr 12, 2011)

Mike

Keep up the inspiration my hard scape will be built for my Borneo stream biotope over the next week and you pics are what started it, I now have a bunch of different bucephalandras for it as well as some piptospatha and a couple Bakoa. I'm really hoping to do justice to what the pics show..

Len


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

Thanks all for viewing my pictures.


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

Feb. 2012. I just came back from northern part of central Sarawak.There is a type of strange looking Bucep. from Tatau. I never seen the flower....so, it could be something else:


----------



## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

Hello Mike,
thank You for sharing; there are some B. motleyana forms in the trade with similar roundish leaves. Also the nearby other plants with narrower leaves look interesting to me. Are the presumable Buce. and the other plants partly covered with silt? Is it a limestone area?


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

Not limestone....it's the white clay. It grows together with Crypt. bullosa....but no picture of Crypt. bullosa cos water is too high, only this Bucep. at higher ground of riverbank.


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

The leaf of this type of Bucep. looks like Piptospatha....but funny thing is it doesn't grow big like Piptospatha....all are small & short.Height is not more than 15cm.


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

Bucep. from Sabal:


----------



## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

Nice!
In the 3rd pic there's apparently some kind of rheophytic shrub in the background.

Btw., there's a scan of the type specimen of Bucephalandra motleyana in the Kew herbarium:
http://apps.kew.org/herbcat/getImage.do?imageBarcode=K000291662
=> Big ones with quite narrow, oblanceolate leaves with acute apex. So it seems that a B. motleyana like that from Sabal in Your pics can be considered as rather "typical"!
Tiny ones: the B. motleyana plants once described as Microcasia pygmaea (Berlin Herbarium): http://ww2.bgbm.org/herbarium/view_...97143&idThumb=297739&SpecimenSequenz=1&loan=0 They seem to be similar to the B. motleyana forms from Kapit.
Bucephalandra gigantea lives up to its name...: http://apps.kew.org/herbcat/getImage.do?imageBarcode=K000291661


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

miremonster said:


> Nice!
> In the 3rd pic there's apparently some kind of rheophytic shrub in the background.
> 
> Btw., there's a scan of the type specimen of Bucephalandra motleyana in the Kew herbarium:
> ...


Thanks.


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

_Bucephalandra motleyana_ from Sadong has red coloured stems & petiole.




























_Bucephalandra_ always can be found near waterfall:


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

_Bucephalandra motleyana _from Tapah has very interesting "stripes" or pattern on the leaf blade cos the lateral veins are visible.





































Some got almost rounded leaves:










Habitat:


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

_Bucephalandra_ from a montane forest stream (above 1,300m altitude) in the heart of Borneo:










The inflorescence is a bit pinkish colored & longer...










Another_ Bucephalandra_ found in Kelabit highland:










Heart of Borneo is a paradise on earth! (habitat of _Bucephalandra_)










The montane forest in the heart of Borneo (northern Sarawak- Kalimantan Timur):


----------



## Texex94 (Jul 29, 2004)

Amazing pictures! I would love to go to these countries and observe the natural habitats that the plants are found in...


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

Texex94 said:


> Amazing pictures! I would love to go to these countries and observe the natural habitats that the plants are found in...


Thanks for viewing.


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

Few days ago, I found the smallest _Bucephalandra _near Kanowit of central part of Sarawak. There are a lot of new species of _Bucephalandra_ in Borneo...this one should be a new species. Most of them are growing under the water. Also, this is my first time discovered that _Cryptocoryne striolata_ grows together with _Bucephalandra_!


----------



## junglemike (Aug 3, 2007)

Underwater shot:



















_Crypt. striolata_ grows less than 2 meters away from Bucephalandra! Amazing!










Habitat


----------



## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

I'm selling everything I own and moving to Borneo. See you soon!


----------



## lbacha (Apr 12, 2011)

Zapins said:


> I'm selling everything I own and moving to Borneo. See you soon!


I did the next best thing I built a terrarium/palaudarium in my livingroom that will be full of the plants Mike posts on his blog and threads with Bucephalandra being the highlite plant. So far the list includes

There will be 1 species of Bucephalandra I want to keep the ecotype look to the tank so I'm probably going with Shine Blue since it is sucha good grower but I have about 20 different species to work with I just have alot of thise one from sokan. I may use some of my larger bucephalandras as highlight plants like longwave or green velvet.

2 different species of piptospatha
2 different species of aridarum
a couple nice size plants of Bakoa lucens for the waterfall
Schismatoglottis sp. 
Aglaonema simplex
Bolbitis heteroclita
a couple jewel orchids mike posted some pics of
aquatic moss and some terrestrial moss I collected while in thailand.

Also in the water there is a large patch of Cryptocoryne keei and I have a few plants of bullosa and uenoi as well to put in there.










Here is a link to the thread
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/tank-journals/151017-lbachas-borneo-stream-biotope-terrarium-planting.html


----------



## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Zapins said:


> I'm selling everything I own and moving to Borneo. See you soon!


But if you do that, who's going to plot awesome epic plots for CAPE project with me?!? Also I think you would start missing all the North American native species...

----

It's such a pity that Bucephalandra (and half of Borneo in general) are endangered - it would be amazing to go on a collecting vacation there to bring home handpicked specimens. Or at least export them to the States for hobbyists... they're such beautiful plants.


----------



## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Haha, it would be easy to get back home though, all I would have to do is run a few dozen Buceph plants over to the post office and instant plane ticket home! Either that or I'd get medivaced, drooling, back to the US after having a seizure at being around so many awesome aquatic plants in Borneo. 

I do love the US natives though, very diverse and tough!! Amazingly enough the E. americana we collected overwintered in one of my abandoned emersed tubs I left under the deck.


----------

