Friday, May 4, 2012

Species Diversity in our Vicinity

There is a trend now in preservation and multiplication of native or endemic species of plants and trees in many countries. This is the best way to enhance reforestation and controlling soil erosion because these species are already growing favorably in the conditions of the area. In Ecology in college i remember having laboratory exercises to make a transect line to enumerate all the plants in the area. With the data, the biodiversity index and/or species richness of a specific area is attained. As college students, we enjoy this out of school room exercises and we had fun learning the unfamiliar. 


I have long been thinking of taking species richness in our place, who knows there might be species which are endangered in the country or those which needs to be multiplied for their economic importance. Since i am living in the big city and seldom stay at home in the province, with only a few weekends available, this self imposed project has been shelved. Maybe now i can do one plant at a time and put them in these site. Our area has a lot of plants that just grow tall unhampered, because the property is just laid fallow with nobody managing it. Now i will start with one of our tallest trees, if not one of the oldest trees in the property. This is the Alstonia scholaris, we locally call dita.


 Its trunk at the bottom can be 2-3 ft in diameter, but the height i will not attempt to guess. Its habit is just to grow just straight up even if nothing in its vicinity is covering it to have branches.  It just produced short branches at the canopy. 


 This tree is at the street sidewalk at an inner curve. It favorably holds soil in that area, but the cemented road is often broken by its massive and strong roots. Some people already offered to cut it, but i strongly declined their offers. I love this tree not only for the practical purposes but because a lot of birds roost in the canopy. Most often i see the yellow orioles playing in the canopy, and maybe they even put their nest there. It is lovely to hear the singing orioles, and also nice to watch when they declare war with the crows. Their fights are not concluded easily and they fight on air with both parties having very loud cries. 


A few lizards also inhabit its trunk, although i haven't observed any being plucked by the birds. This tree is also a well-known traditional source of herbal medicine from its milky sap. A lot of health  benefits have been medically found  with its leaves, sap and bark. In India it is also used in ayurvedic medicine concoctions. Its alkaloid and flavoid contents for medicinal purposes have been researched on. It is fairly summarized in Wikipedia. However, the trunk is not very hard but can also be used for making pulps and paper. This tree is common in Southeast Asia but also found in the Indian sub-continent, Queensland and Guanxi and Yunnan provinces in China.


If i can have more time, i will collect its seeds and give them to interested parties.

17 comments:

  1. Lovely look at the dita. Not one I know, but it sure is a beauty. Nice angle for the photos too. Congrats on a new blog, nice name.

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    1. My gratitude for you too Donna, for the visit and appreciation. I hope you will be able to visit again. I am much honored!

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  2. beautiful tree and i like the composition of your first photo. congrats on your new blog Andrea.

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    1. My gratitude to you Life Ramblings. I am still enthusiastic because it is new, i hope i can manage well. thanks.

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  3. I much enjoy your new blog! (Can I just ask you to make this font colour a little darker, not so easy to read, and I WANT to read your words!)

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    1. Thanks Diana for mentioning about the font, and the visit. I actually want to change it sooner but am still fumbling on how things are done, i forget so easily. If not for Autumn Belle's simplified instructions, making a new blog is difficult to do, hahaha!

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    2. Thank you, now I can read with pleasure and fascination :~))

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  4. What attention-grabbing photos you have here, Andrea. I like the angles - always good to look up and enjoy the foliage.
    Rosie

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    1. Wow, Rosie you are so quick, i just left your site and you are already here. Thank you very much for the visit and appreciation.

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  5. I've found your new blog and it looks like it's going to be a very interesting one. I love the tree photos in your first post. What an impressive tree.

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    1. I appreciate that Bernie. I hope you will come and visit again.

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  6. I adore this new blog Andrea....the whole premise is wonderful as is the name...I subscribed by email since I don't want to miss a post!!

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    1. Thanks very much Donna for subscribing. I hope i can sustain our enthusiasm!

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  7. The height and straightness of that trunk is amazing. Reminds me of our tuliptrees with the tall straight trunk and high canopy!

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    1. I am not familiar with tulip trees, do you mean African tulip trees or those with orange flowers? If so, they are introduced here and are very invasive.

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  8. I agree with you not to agree to the tree being cut down. It is such a majestic tree. Imagine how many lifetimes of people, animals and plants the tree can support throughout its life which may last for many generations.

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    1. I am sometimes guilty of not fully conserving trees too. I once cut 4 hardwood trees which are already old with damaged trunks, also to give way to my newly planted fruit trees. The next typhoon season, a strong gust passing through that path destroyed all the plants behind them. My mother said it was because those wind brakes were cut, and i agreed.

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