CAMERON HIGHLANDS: It is
a plant with an awful stench but its beauty is enough to
stop nature-lovers in their tracks.
The Amorphophallus bufo, a rare species found in tropical
and sub-tropical areas, sparked interest when news of its
discovery here broke last year.
But there is fresh excitement now with the sighting of a
new variant with reddish and pinkish flowers.
Local environmentalist and orchid enthusiast Embi Abdullah,
60, said he and his friend N. Madi were trekking when they
spotted the reddish bloom in the jungles of Gunung Jasar,
Tanah Rata, here.
Most Amorphophallus bufo flowers were brown with white spots,
he said.
Within just a week, Embi and several others came across
a colony of more than 10 of the plants, five of them in
bloom.
“You only get to see these flowers once every five
or six years,” Embi said in Brinchang here.
He added that the highlands Amorphophallus bufo, measuring
about 1.5m in height, was unusually tall and dwarfed other
Amorphophallus species.
“The Amorphophallus is also a plant found in warmer
lowlands, so the Cameron Highlands species is even more
unique,” he added.
Embi said a group of them planned to approach the district
officer or the state forestry department with a proposal
to set up an Amorphophallus conservatory.
“The Amorphophallus might have some medicinal value
and the conservatory could be used for research and maybe
tourism purposes.
“In India, the tuber of one Amorphophallus species
has even been used as food,” he added.
The group also hoped to consult fellow environmentalist
Datuk Seri Lim Chong Keat, who recently led a group of scientists
in finding another variety of the plant during a Forest
Research Institute of Malaysia expedition. |
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