Clams, proper, monstrous, giant clams.

I feel absolutely sure I've showed you something like this before but I'm damned if I can find it. It's the mantle of a Tridacna sp. clam (aka a giant clam). I'm not sure which (maybe small gigas maybe derasa?) but they are all similarly beautifully patterned.

Some of the smaller species (of the kind I thought I'd showed you) have a more electric blue or purpley mantle but they all do the same thing - feed the clam photosynthetically. Now the ones I thought I'd showed you would be clams that max out at 8-10 inches or so.

Now let's be clear - 8-10 inches is a giant amongst clams but it's not a giant clam. To show you giant clams I would have needed to a) go to the barrier reef, b) find a nice chunky Tridacna gigas and c) find a beautiful assistant to pose next to it to illustrate scale for you. Like this.....

 

Note how Becky, the dive buddy I randomly met on this boat trip, excellent diver that she handily turned out to be has stowed all her dangly equipment (gauges, octopus reg) very neatly away. If the old myths about how giant clams can suddenly close entrapping divers were true, she'd be perfectly safe as a result. They're not but both she and the reef are risk free as a result.

Dragons of a Singapore lilypond

So a couple of weeks ago my Singapore connections week was largely dragon themed with flying dragon lizards, dragonfish in ponds and captive leafy sea dragons. I could've filled out the week with dragons if I'd wanted thanks in part to the Singapore Botanic Gardens lily-pond.

Prime dragon habitat.

Below is dragon #1. This may be one of my favourite photos ever. Not sure why, I just love it.

 

I'm afraid I have no idea of the species.

I also have no idea of what dragon #2 is.

I'm thinking you were maybe expecting something more scaly, reptilian and menacing as a result of my use of the word dragon? Well there were a few of these swimming across or wandering around the pond as well.....

Will he do?

Wordless Wednesday - Firey

Sometimes camera user error and bird display patternings pay off together in semi-artistic results.

The quest for the Tinaroo Bowenia - part II

So when we left off yesterday I was staring at a beautiful, mature Bowenia spectabilis notwithstanding my being a few km from a supposed population of Bowenia "Tinaroo". After photographing this plant and a couple more, I remounted my trusty steed and drove on to join the road I was told harboured "Tinaroo". Immediately I was flagged down by the police, I'd heard of cycads having protection but this was ridiculous! It transpired that as it was a holiday weekend they were doing mandatory stops of everyone on the road for breathalyser tests - an excellent idea. Having blown into the tool and been confirmed alcohol free I thanked the officer for his time and drove on.

The roadside vegetation didn't look particularly like that I'd found spectabilis in and I didn't really expect to see any cycads for the first few km. I didn't. Eventually however I came to some very different vegetation, open, dry eucalypt forest typified by this monster.

Dear reader, I'm embarassed to say that being torchless I didn't check that cavernous hole for beasties.

A short while after that I spotted them clumped in the verge. Beautiful upright emergent little cycads.

A quick check of theleaflets for those telltale serrations and......

We have a winner! Hello Bowenia "Tinaroo", nice to make your acquaintance. There were many plants on the roadside and they were very varied. Some had been heavily chewed by something, some had horrible old fronds well past their sell by dates whilst others were a lush healthy green

 

Some were pushing new fronds.

So what is it? Well that picture above of the leaflets is rather misleading. That was a very extreme example.

 

The above for example is far less extreme. They do seem to be noticably different, the plant's shape was different, the habitat was slightly different, the leaves were different and yet, not very different. The differences were variable and as such I think it's probably a genetic variant within the overall population of B. spectabilis like different regional colour morphs of the same snake species. I'd note for example that plants I saw much further north also showed some differences in stature, leaflet shape and so on but no-one has suggested these are different. Maybe some collectors would prefer Tinaroo to have species status and maybe further examination will grant it. I honestly don't know. What I do know is it is recognisably different and worthy of acknowledgment as such somehow. I also know I'm tremendously glad I sought it out, species or not.

The quest for the Tinaroo Bowenia

So, as we have previously discussed the forests of Queensland's Wet Tropics are ancient primeval places - home to an abundance of primitive plant flora, giant crocodiles, non-placental and monotrene mammals, giant snakes and huge bipedal birds. As such it's only fitting that they house a number of species of cycad. Naturally since I was in the region I was keen to have a look for some of them and these posts will describe my quest for one in particular.

But first up some necessary background. The genus Bowenia is in the Stangeriacea family of cycads and contains 2 recognised species. These are:

1) Bowenia serrulata - the Byfield "fern", a leaflet of which is below from a speciman at Fairchild Tropical Gardens -

(note the specific name "serrulata" which references the serrated edges to the leaflets clearly visible above - this is important); and

2) Bowenia spectabilis - a seedling of which is seen below, a specimen on my windowsill -

(note the beautifully smooth edges to the leaflets contrasting with serrulata).

There is however a third form of Bowenia commonly known as Bowenia "Tinaroo". It's called that because it's populations are only found in the surrounds of Lake Tinaroo in the Atherton Tablelands which is helpful because when I found myself on holiday near Lake Tinaroo I knew I was in roughly the right place.

Bowenia "Tinaroo" is characterised by a few populations far away from the range of, and different to, Bowenia serrulata but which are in the range of Bowenia spectabilis and yet have serrated leaf edges. In other words it looks like one but grows where the other should be and doesn't quite fit either. So what is it and could I find it? Well, with the help of some web-based research, I managed to find someone with information on where a population might be found and decided to try and find it. I'm not going to share any further detail of where I went to protect the plants from collectors but it wasn't particularly near Lake Tinaroo.

Anway the detail I had was that it was to be found part way along a road from [point x] to [point y]. I had a slightly average lunch some 20km from [point x] and set off, driving along what turned out to be a particularly windy, narrow, poorly surfaced road. As I drove I mulled over the following facts:

1. it turned out the distance from [point x] to [point y] was rather further than I'd thought (in the tens of kilometres);
2. Bowenia are small and green and look a little bit like ferns and the saplings of some forest trees; and
3. my ability to find said plants was therefore somewhat doubtful.

As I pondered the possibility of this being a fool's errand I noticed something on the verge ahead. Pulling off the road safely and jumping out of the car confirmed my suspicions that I had indeed just spotted a beautiful, big healthy Bowenia.....

There was just one problem, see if you can spot what it was....

No serrations whatsoever. Whilst you're pondering that this plant was only a few km from my target location I'll leave you with this habitat shot of what Bowenia spectabilis habitat looks like:

Tomorrow we'll continue the quest for the Tinaroo cycad and I'll talk about what it actually is.