A Quest for the Uncliche

Dream. Explore. Learn. Repeat.. Let's traverse on the paths less taken and explore whole new worlds

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Un-mundane Mondays – Part: IX

The dawn of a new power packed Monday amidst the Summer Solstice and the recent Solar Eclipse might have revved you all up for the coming week. The Summer Solstice brings hope and heralds the shortening of days, resulting in the advent of colder weather in the days to come. Let’s add to the enthusiasm a bit and help remove the “blues” a bit further. Seeing the cover picture, you might be questioning, what’s in store in a “thoroughly” explored place like Singapore? But what if I ask you “Has Singapore been really discovered “thoroughly“?

Photograph

Mysterious flower observed in MacRitchie Reserve Forest, Singapore.. Copyright: Abirbhav Mukherjee
Picture 1. Let’s zoom it a bit
Mysterious flower observed in MacRitchie Reserve Forest, Singapore.. Copyright: Abirbhav Mukherjee
Picture 2. Zoomed in

Where

MacRitchie Reservoir Forest, Singapore.

Singapore needs no introduction. It’s a thriving city state located in the strategic Straits of Malacca, now serving as a Modern Utopia of a Multi-cultural democratic society with one of the highest standards of living, development, technology and happiness. It’s a popular notion among tourists that Singapore consists of a bunch of concrete jungles only. But the reality is a bit different, and there comes the need to take the paths less traveled..

What

The discovery of this peculiar flower was as flabbergasting as discovering a dense Equatorial rain-forest in the middle of Singapore.

I took the 6km one way (Total 12 km) walk cum hike in the dense MacRitchie Reserve forest to visit the fabled “Tree Top Walk” – a walk on a cable bridge atop the tall trees of the forest.

Looking down from the Tree Top Walk might be enough to induce acrophobia (I had a bad habit of underestimating the heights of trees, which stood corrected post that visit). However, never in my dreams did I expect flowers so peculiar and mysterious.

As usual, my friends and peers could not give me a satisfactory answer. Parts of the flower or inflorescence do resemble the lids of pitchers. But, the pitcher per se is absent. Also, there are mysterious bulbous structures which seem alien to pitchers. Moreover, as far as my knowledge of pitcher plants go, they are carnivorous and require animal protein because the soil where they grow is arid and cannot offer them the nutrients to manufacture the proteins themselves. Equatorial rain-forests should be among the last places on Earth to be arid. Hence, the pitcher theory doesn’t have too many arguments in it’s support as of now.

Thus, Google once again comes into the scene. Google Image search yielded that the species might belong to the Genus of Cypripedium Orchids. The word “pedium” comes from the Greek root word “pedilon” means sandal. In a way, the species of this genus has flowers resembling “feet” or “slippers”.

Though the closest options in Google Image search has only partial resemblance to the strange orchids (?) shown above, yet they are as follows:

  • Cypripedium calceolus (Lady’s Slipper Orchid)
  • Cypripedium tibeticum (Native to Tibet, but also found in some other parts of Asia)
  • Cypripedium kentuckiense (Kentucky Lady’s Slipper Orchid – native to the USA)

Do you know the name of this mysterious flower? Do share your thoughts in the comments section below so that the same can be updated.

When

The picture was taken in September 2017 CE

Equipment

Asus Zenfone 5 Max Mobile Phone Camera

Hope you liked this mysterious orchid flower and the forest of Singapore.

One needs to take the paths less traveled, or the uncliche, to be able to not only explore spectacular sights and scenes but also get a chance to learn something new or be awed by something enigmatic.

Obviously, since one doesn’t know about such mysterious species, one should be safe and not touch or consume such items without prior medical consultation. Yet, one can be adventurous enough to explore and be mystified through these sightings. Beauty, as I say, may lie right under one’s nose, if one is observant..

Looking forward to interacting more with you and “Make Mondays un-mundane”..

Cheers..!!

© Abirbhav Mukherjee. All the pictures / videos posted in this article are my own unless otherwise mentioned.

24 comments

  3. Nein, ich weiß den Namen dieser Blume auch nicht, aber sie ist sehr hübsch.
    Danke für deinen Bericht aus Singapur.
    Die Welt ist überall außerhalb der weniger befahrenen Wege wunderschön.
    Liebe Grüße
    Brigitte

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Vielen Dank Frau für Ihre schönen Kommentare wie immer .. 😊😊

      Ich stimme voll und ganz zu, die Welt ist wunderschön und zeigt sich in hohem Maße auf den weniger befahrenen Straßen.. 😊

      Grüße an Sie und Ihre Familie .. 😊

      Abir

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  4. The flower is so beautiful and mysterious. Exploring the paths less traveled gives you such wonderful gifts of nature. You are right, one should not touch or consume such unknown wild species in the jungle. Thank you for sharing! 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Thank you so much Madam for your prompt and lovely comments as always.. 😊😊
      As you rightly mentioned, the paths less traveled do give one the opportunity to see spectacular sights and scenes which are largely unknown.. 😊😊 And safety is paramount too.
      Thank you Madam for your comments.. 😊😊

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  5. This was great! I too don’t recognise the flower, but it somewhat resembles a pitcher plant (yeah, pitcher plants are insectivorous). You are lucky enough to get to travel to so many amazing places. I envy you😂 How do you manage that?

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Thank you Tisha for your enthusiastic comment.. ☺️☺️
      Glad that you have read it and shared your own conclusions.. ☺️☺️
      Well, for one, I didn’t travel much, yet.. I just try to explore some place quite deeply.. And that includes places off the beaten tracks for sure.. ☺️☺️

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. But you have indeed been to many places. And I enjoy reading about those. How do you manage your time between work/study and travelling? Do you travel in your vacations or in festive holidays? And where do you belong to?

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        1. Well, in some cases like Sri Lanka, Singapore, I went for work.. In others, I went for a vacation. And I have no set rules for vacations.. I mean I take them when I want to.. As regards to time, well, one has to make time for these things compulsorily, just as one makes time for maintenance of their machines.. 😉☺️
          And I belong to India.. currently stuck in Mumbai..

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

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