Amo-te Muito

Certainly no lover of plants! Irritating habit of teenage visitors to the garden. I used to joke that the Agaves were the only plants at Monserrate that had names upon them. But this is about to change. Topographical and botanical surveys are underway to label the gardens plants. As for the agaves they will need some even spikier ground cover around them to protect them from love-sick vandals.

Peking Nightingale

Red-billed Leiothrix (Leiothrix lutea)

There is a small colony of these birds (escaped or released from captivity) at Monserrate. They have persisted for some years suggesting that a breeding group has become established. Not real nightingales, nevertheless De Visme would be delighted!

In 1998, the Red-billed Leiothrix was added to Appendix II of CITES (Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species) because its native habitat is being destroyed and the demand for Leiothrix for the cage bird market.

Size: 13 cm. Weight: 21-25 gm.

Identification: The Red-billed Leiothrix is a babbler beautifully marked with bright coloring. The adults have bright red bills and a dull yellow ring around their eyes. Their backs are dull olive green and have a bright yellow-orange throat with a yellow chin. They have forked blackish tails. Female Leiothrix are similar to males but with a duller shade. Juveniles have black bills and gray coats. There are two sub-species - the rarer and western L. lutea kumaiensis (red on edge of inner primaries absent), and the eastern and relatively more common L. lutea calipyga (inner primaries edged with red).

Distribution: Red-billed Leiothrix are native to Southern Asia ranging from central Himalayas in India and Nepal, eastwards to Burma and Vietnam. Leiothrix prefer to inhabit underbrush at all elevations with a cover of dense vegetation near the ground. These birds are found at elevations 700 m to 2000 m in winters and 1500 m to 2700 m in summers. Flocks of Leiothrix's have been known to fly up to elevations of 4500 m for a short period of time. These birds favor areas with at least 40 inches of rain.

Habits: These conspicuous birds often travel in small flocks and are active fliers. In the wild the breeding pairs seem to get along well when overlapping each other's territory. To get around, these birds walk, hop, climb, and also fly. Leiothrix's frequently bathe in shallow pools. In the wild, they are generally monogamous.

Calls: The Red-billed Leiothrix is also known for it's vocalizations. It sings a loud, melodious warbling song somewhat similar to that of Red-whiskered Bulbul. While feeding it utters a clear 'pe pe pe pa' or 'pu pu pu pu'.Food: Fruits and seeds compromise the majority of their diet with the remainder made up of invertebrates. Their diet also includes: larval and adult butterflies, moths, millipedes, and spiders. They have been known to eat mealworms and mollusk. These birds often drink from pools of water on fallen leaves.Breeding: Singing is most constant during the breeding season. Nesting usually occurs in underbrush at all elevations. The nest is built shaped like a cup and consists of leaves (including bamboo), moss, and lichen, lined with fine threads of fungal substance. The nest is placed on a horizontally forked branch of may also be bound to stems or twigs. Female Leiothrix usually lay three to four eggs. The average size of an egg is around 15.4 x 20.4mm. These eggs are pale blue and contain reddish-brown spots. Since the nesting sites are so low to the ground, they are highly vulnerable to predators, especially rats. Adults may distract predators away from the nest by running and calling on the ground. Incubation takes approximately 14 days. Newly hatched nestling have a bright reddish apricot skin. Both parents take turns feeding the young. Babies are mostly fed insects and sometimes fruits.

Doryanthes excelsa in flower at Monserrate

I have corrected an error in previous posting Doryanthes. D. palmeri grows in Queensland and northern New South Wales and D. excelsa only grows in NSW. Thanks to both recent correspondent and also to commentator who first spotted mistake.

Flowering of D. excelsa is an uncommon event at Monserrate. There is only this small group of plants, whereas D. palmeri is represented throughout the garden. Since the clump does not flower every year this is always a welcome sight. Actually it has now flowered two years in succession 2008 & 2009.

The distribution, relative abundance and conservation status of Doryanthes palmeri (Doryanthaceae) in New South Wales

D. A. Perry

Agave atrovirens

Looks a bit like what is known in California as "Green Giant"

Any suggestions on ID?

Thanks to knowledgeable friends for identifying this one as

Agave atrovirens Karw. ex Salm-Dyck
Hort. Dyck.: 302 (1834).

Grown at Monserrate since the 19th century. Early literature refers this as Agave coccinea.

Camellias Monserrate

Cinnamomum burmannii

Cinnamomum burmannii (Nees & T. Nees) Blume
Bijdragen tot de flora van Nederlandsch Indië 11: 569. 1826.

family: Lauraceae Juss.
genus: Cinnamomum Schaeff.

Basionym:
Laurus burmannii Nees & T. Nees Cinnam. Disp. [Amoen. Bot. Bonn.] Fasc. 1: 57. 1823.


DESCRIPTION
“Trees; young branches terete, glabrous. Leaves glossy green, alternate, often opposite at
tips of young branches, narrowly ovate to ovate, ca. 10 cm long, 3-4 cm wide,
tripliveined, glabrous, apex gradually acute. Flowers strigose, in short, paniculate
inflorescences; tepals 6, equal, ca. 4 mm long, strigose; fertile stamens 9, outer 6 introrse,
inner 3 extrorse, staminodia present, cordate. Fruit an ellipsoid berry, subtended by a
small cupule that has the basal, truncate parts of tepals attached to the rim.” (Wagner et
al. 1999).

BIOLOGY & ECOLOGY
Cultivation: C. burmannii, along with other Cinnamomum species are cultivated for a
variety of purposes. The aromatic bark is used for making spices such as cinnamon,
perfumery, and medicine (Bailey and Bailey 1976). In Hawai’i C. burmannii has been
cultivated for ornament and for forestry plantations.

Indonesian Cassia
M. Hasanah, Y. Nuryani et al.
Indonesian cassia or Indonesian cinnamon is the dried bark of C. burmannii which is grown in the Malaysia-Indonesia regions and commercially cultivated in the Indonesian islands. It is grown most extensively in the Sumatera, Java and Jambi Islands and extends up to Timor, growing from sea level to about 2000 m. The main centre of cultivation is Padang area of Sumatra, at altitudes of 500-1300 m.

A variant of C. burmannii, which has red young leaves, is grown at a higher elevation in the region of Mount Korintji (Kerinchi). This cassia is of better quality and is traded in the international market as Korintji (Kerinci). The form having green young leaves is grown at lower elevations and is referred to in the international market as Padang cassia, batavia cassia or cassia vera. In a small scale it is also cultivated in Phillippines.

Habit
C. burmannii is a small evergreen tree, up to 15 m tall, having subopposite leaves. The petiole is 0.5-1cm long, with a blade that is oblong-elliptical to lanceolate, 4-14 cm x 1.5-6 cm; pale red and finely hairy when young. Older leaves are glabrous, glossy green above and glaucous pruinose below. Inflorescence is a short axillary panicle. Flowers are borne on 4-12 mm long pedicel, perianth 4-5 mm long and after anthesis the lobes tear off transversely about half way. Stamens about 4 mm long, staminoides 2 mm, fruit (berry) is ovoid, about 1 cm long. (Dao et al., 1999)

Cassia plants are raised from seed. Vegetative propagation is possible through cutting and layering but it is not practiced as such plants produce thinner bark of lesser quality.
Fruits are harvested at full ripening (when they become bluish black in colour), heaped for two or three days to allow the pericarp to rot, and are then washed in water to remove the fruit wall. Seeds freed from the pericarp, are dried in the shade and sown immediately in seedbeds. The viability of seeds is lost rapidly, and storing even for a few days may result in drastic reduction in germination.
Common names
CHINESE : Xiang jiao ye ? , Shan rou gui, 阴香 Yin xiang.
Batavia cinnamon (Source: World Econ Pl )
Batavia-cassia (Source: Food Feed Crops US )
Indonesian-cassia (Source: HerbSpices )
Java-cassia (Source: HerbSpices )
Korintje-cassia (Source: HerbSpices )
Padang cinnamon (Source: HerbSpices )
Padang-cassia (Source: World Econ Pl )
cannelier de Malaisie (Source: Dict Rehm ) [French]
Birmazimt (Source: S. Reichel, p.c.) [German]
Birmazimtbaum (Source: Dict Rehm ) [German]
Padangzimt (Source: S. Reichel, p.c.) [German]
Padangzimtbaum (Source: Dict Rehm ) [German]
falsa-canforeira (Source: Dict Rehm ) [Portuguese]

Cinnamomum at Monserrate