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| ARTICLE INFORMATION: Author: Holger Windeløv and Claus Christensen Title: The Search for New Aquarium Plants Summary: Holger and Claus, of the Tropica Aquatic Plants company in Denmark, went to Thailand to collect plants. They also enjoyed the local scenery, cuisine, and people. Illustrated. Contact for editing purposes: e-mail: clc@tropica.dk Date first published: Publication: Tropica Aquatic Plants: www.tropica.dk Reprinted from Aquarticles: |
ARTICLE USE: Internet publication (club or non-profit web site): 1. Credit author, original publication, and Aquarticles. 2. Link to http://www.aquarticles.com and original website if applicable. 3. Advise Aquarticles Printed publication: Mail one printed copy to each of: Claus Christensen Managing Director Tropica Aquarium Plants Postbox 3 DK-8530 Hjortshøj Denmark Aquarticles.com |
The Search for New Aquarium Plants by Holger Windeløv and Claus Christensen It was November and the rain was pouring down. The roads leading to and from the villages were flooded, and people waded through streams which had once been streets. We were on our way south through Thailand, and the rainy season should have been over. But the weather gods had obviously decided to desert us on this occasion!
Twenty kilometres south of Ranong we re-visited a place where we knew Cyperus helferi grew, hoping to find plenty of seeds for use in propagating new plants. Unfortunately, Cyperus was not common here after all, and the original discovery in 1991 must simply have been a stroke of good fortune (note 1). But Baclaya longifolia was in flower here. When Holger Windeløv visited this site for the first time with a local collector, he had been told that Cyperus was not suitable for aquariums because it was only a weed. This is a common attitude - finding good plants for aquariums often involves seeing them from a different angle. Ranong is the best place to stay in this region. In fact, it is the only place you can find a hotel within several hundred kilometres! But it is also an exciting big city full of the sights and smells of the mysterious Orient - a wonderful place to stay. In the restaurant at the "Jansons Terra" hotel we experienced Thailand's version of karaoke - called "Sing a song". The aspiring local musical talents took turns to try and please the audience, singing melancholy songs about problems of the heart. There is a local musical genre which is actually known as "Broken Heart", and this seemed to be the most popular. But there were more cheerful songs as well, including both Chinese and Laotian folk music. The dress of the performers is hard to describe, but we Danes thought the tulle and thousands of sequins in which the girls performed seemed a little artificial as they flashed in the spotlights.
The evening was relatively cool, and we soon grew hungry. The best "Pad-Thai" in Ranong is to be found at the local night market. At first sight the hygienic conditions might look rather dangerous for tender European stomachs - but actually the food is fresh and carefully fried. "Pad-Thai" consists of fried vegetables with noodles and delicious spices, often containing aquatic plants such as "Blyxa".
The next morning we got up early to try a hot jacuzzi. The water comes from the hot springs which have given their name to the hotel, and the jacuzzi is large and round with room for 50 people. The fish market is also at its best in the morning because there is so much life down at the harbour at that time. The fishing boats tie up and dozens of workers unload masses of colourful fish caught on the coral reef. The harbour and town are also known as the focal point for a good deal of smuggling between Burma and Thailand. Dozens of so-called "long-tail boats" ply their trade across the narrow strait here, carrying both people and goods. For a few "Bath" you can hire a boat that looks like a long, narrow canoe. An old car engine powers a propeller mounted on an extended shaft, looking like an enormous electrical whisk whipping up the water. We boarded one of these craft for a trip in the direction of Burma, or "Myanmar" as it is now known.
There is an invisible border in the water running between Thailand and Myanmar. Unfortunately, we took a few photographs without knowing that we had crossed this invisible line, and the Myanmar coastguard pulled us in. We were taken ashore and had to pay a fine for crossing the border. But we were then allowed to look around the harbour town of Kawthaung - the local authorities had no wish to miss out on a potential source of income, and did not want to frighten other offenders away!
Our trip continued down the west coast of Thailand, the next stop being Ban Tumnang. The river Yar Shong Nang Klam varies enormously here over a short, 5-kilometre stretch. First it runs through a number of small lakes on a mountain plateau. Then it tumbles down a beautiful waterfall in the rain forest, after which it winds lazily through the forest and ends up in the paddy fields of the lowlands. In this short stretch of water we found more than 10 well-known varieties of aquarium plants (note 2).
Cryptocoryne albida was growing out of cracks in the cliff under the waterfall - the first time it has been recorded growing in this environment. Microsorum pteropus was growing under the cliffs where it was protected from the power of the water, but was also thriving on cliffs which were constantly exposed to spray from the fall. We collected a few Microsorum specimens here to refresh Tropica's genetic material. As we walked through the rain forest we had to keep picking off the leeches, which live both in the water and in the damp vegetation. The largest of them live in the water, and can grow up to 6-7 cm. But even when you manage to get them off, you are left with a cut which bleeds for a long time because it has a "Y" shape which keeps it open.
Once out of the rain forest the river flows through the lowlands, where the vegetation is more open. Crinum thaianum is common here, and is only to be found in this area. On our first visit the water level was high (a couple of metres), but the long, tape-shaped leaves waved in the stream growing to a length of more than five metres. The local people make a skin cream of Crinum bulbs, lemon and the local fruit known as "Kmatang". This beauty cream is supposed to keep your skin soft and smooth. Nearer the coast we found Cryptocoryne albida again, flowering in shallow areas with a gravel bottom along the river. Alongside the Cryptocoryne crispatula we also found a broad-leaved variety of Hygrophila polysperma.
Thousands of Cryptocoryne albida were growing in a small river a little further south, both under the water and between the stones on small islands. Once again we learnt something new and unexpected about aquarium plants. On the banks of a small shallow pond near the river we found Cryptocoryne albida growing in the heat of the blazing sun. The water in which the roots were growing was so hot I could not stand in it to take my photographs. I measured the temperature of the water, and the reading went above the 50ºC maximum on the thermometer.
Further south we stopped again in a small, dusty village. The combined restaurant and grocer's shop was based in a garage. The wife ran what they called the restaurant, and the husband was the local purchaser of crude rubber. The rubber lay around in piles, looking like a heap of bath mats. Once again the local cuisine was a wonderful experience. "Tom Gar Kai" is chicken soup containing coconut milk, coriander, galangal, "lemon grass", small chilli peppers and many more ingredients which I can no longer remember. The cuisine in Thailand manages to succeed in the rare and difficult art of mixing a great number of spices and herbs without drowning the individual taste sensations. Each taste plays its part like an instrument in an orchestra, and the coconut milk makes what would otherwise be an extremely spicy soup highly delicious to western palates. Further south we found Cryptocoryne cordata (Blasii variety), Baclaya longifolia, broad-leaved.
The trip ended in fine style with a quick diving holiday on board the good ship "Similan II". It takes 6 hours to sail from Ban Lam Ru out to the Similan archipelago, which is one of the 10 best places to go diving in the world. The archipelago lies a long way from the mainland in the Andaman Sea between Thailand, Myanmar and India, so the water here is crystal-clear. Coral that only grows to a height of 50 cm near the coast grows up to several metres here. The fauna is spectacular, ranging from the fascinating life of the coral reef to the large fish and marine mammals that thrive in the open sea (note 3). NOTES: |
Claus
Holger
