Pha Tad Ke Botanical Garden Newsletter Nr
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Pha Tad Ke Botanical Garden Newsletter Nr. 7 - July 2012 PHA TAD KE - T HE C LIFF T O U N T IE AND RESOLVE Newsletter number 7, the magical number, honours the banana tree, the Fruit of Paradise. Under its good sign admire the work of our staff who have transported over 400 trees from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang. Our Botanists who have just returned from Singapore have made remarkable photos and our chroniclers show that art and gardens are a great match. RI K GADELLA , PHA TAD KE BO T ANI C AL GA R DEN Orchidaceae calanthe Content 1-4 Friends of Pha Tad Ke 5-10 News from Pha Tad Ke 11-12 Book Publications from Pha Tad Ke 13-21 Botanica of Laos by Elisabeth Vilayleck Bananas - the Fruit of Paradise 22-25 Chroniques by Baj Strobel Nature, Art, Paysage 26-31 Portfolio: Keooudone Sanvanakonmane & Kithisak Phathavong - Botanists in Pha Tad Ke. 32-35 Some Books & Other Affairs we Love 36-40 Project Space • Luang Prabang The Pha Tad Ke Newsletter is distributed 3 times a year via e-mail. Big thanks to our volunteer collaborators, and if anyone is interested to writing articles or help us with occasional translations please let us know. © Pha Tad Ke & the authors, 2012. Subscription at www.pha-tad-ke.com Zingiberaceae Hedychium coccineum Friends of Pha Tad Ke Botanical Garden In January 2010 the Friends of Pha Tad Ke Association was created in France followed in July 2011 in the Netherlands and September 2011 in Laos. Each of these non-profit associations helps the creation of the Pha Tad Ke Botanical Garden with scientific support, fund raising efforts and educational projects. In addition the Luang Prabang Fund for Culture and Conservation that was created in 2011 in the USA accepts donations that are tax-deductible for the benefit of Pha Tad Ke Botanical Garden or other cultural and conservation projects in the Lao PDR. Helping the Friends of Pha Tad Ke will allow you to follow the day-to-day evolution of the garden, look behind the scenes of its operations and participate in the Pha Tad Ke adventure ! Information: www.friends-pha-tad-ke.com Zingiberaceae Zingiber sp ‘Khin Pa’ When you become a member for the creation phase, your 5-year (2010-2014) membership will entitle you to: Member - € 100: Members can increase their involvement in the • Sponsor a research post: € 1,800 for one year • Our newsletter (3 times a year, english/french) contains creation of Pha Tad Ke by supporting one or more of Given the heavy workload at the university and the very low news about the garden, on-going work and actions, our individual projects: salaries in Laos, there is little time left for building research and articles about the flora, arts and culture of Laos. projects. With this grant PTK will enable a post doc to do a • Adopt a tree: from € 50 to € 2,000 year’s research on a topic chosen in consultation with PTK. Friend Member - € 300: Buying and planting a tree is only a beginning. It must then • Private visit to PTK, including boat trip and picnic be fed, cared for and pruned. This takes time, money and • Sponsor a field trip: € 10,000 (for 2 pax, booking required) care. Love your tree and adopt a seedling or a mature tree. In conjunction with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, • A 30% reduction on the garden’s publications and we have set up a three-year partnership to train our hor- products (except Folies) • Sponsor a Bookparty: € 400 ticultural team and to carry out an ambitious program of • Access to our favoured travel agent in Laos, reductions Guided visits to the gardens for groups of children or monthly field trips to gather specimens for a collection of on hotels and restaurants etc. students, who will spend a day learning about Pha Tad living plants that will be unique in Laos. At the same time (see list of the partners of the Friends) Ke’s work and plants. The package includes transport to we will collect specimens for a herbarium. Each trip will • Mention of your name on our website the garden and lunch. At the end of the day, every partici- require a substantial investment in time and money but this • An invitation for two people to the official opening. pant will receive a copy of our specially published books. work is imperative as it will form the very foundations of our garden and its collections. Support Member - Institutions & Companies - € 2,000: • Sponsor a student: € 4,400 for 4 years • Mention of your name on our website with your logo In conjunction with three institutions, PTK has set up a • Sponsor a building: from € 15,000 • Discount of 10% on one of our editions « Folies » grant for the best first-year student. At the end of the first Several buildings will be required to house our collections • A private reception at the pre-opening for a group from year of study, the winning student will be offered a and staff, and provide facilities for visitors. your institution/company. scholarship that will allow him or her to continue his or her These buildings will include: Nurseries (€ 15,000), Orchid studies. In exchange, the recipient will be required to do a House (€ 27,000), Butterfly Farm (€ 32,000), Reception Donor Member - € 5,000 €, or more: two-month work placement at the garden during summer area (€95,000), Restaurant (€ 95,000), offices for research • Discount of 10% on two of our editions « Folies » recesses and to work at the garden for one year at the end staff (€ 130,000), Traditional Medicines House (€ 135,000) • Inclusion of your name on the donor plaque at the of his/her studies. and Library or Herbarium (€ 190,000). entrance to the garden. The whole team at Pha Tad Ke wishes you a happy Laos New Year Sock di Pimai ! In February 4 of our staff spend 2 weeks in SIngapore Botanic Garden on a study tour. This important trip was made possible by the generous invitation of SIngapore BG and the help of the SDC grant from the French Embassy to the Friends of Pha Tad Ke Association. We would like to thank the Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden for their generous donation of special Trees. As well as the specialised nurseries in Chiang Mai for their help spending the money we raised with the action PLANT A TREE We will be very busy the coming month planting ! We have organised our first book parties to distribute the children’s books we published with the generous grant from SDC. In collaboration with Exotissimo we also organise these parties now for groups of interested tourists. Dr. Jana Leong- Skornickova, Zingiberaceae expert from Singapore BG, visited PTK in June with Tran Huu Dang (SBG) and Otakar Sida (National Museum Prague) and undertook several field trips with PTK staff. We collected over 70 species for our living collection, over 130 herbarium specimen as well as a new Curcuma species as yet undescribed. Somsanith Bouamanivong, Helena & Stefan from Sweden stay every year Director of the National Herbarium Laos, spend a a few months in Luang Prabang where they week in Pha Tad Ke in April to work on the selection teach art & ceramics. of plants for the Medicinal Plant Garden. Sim and Phat from Pha Tad Ke where their She will also author our next publication for children eager students for a 6 week workshop. on the Medicinal Plants of Laos. Dr. Carl Lewis, Director of Fairchild Botanical Garden in Florida visited PTK in April. Specialised in Palms his advise on the plantings we will be doing the coming months was very welcome. /HVÁHXUV After 2 years in preparation we are very proud to present GHODGpYRWLRQ HWKQRERWDQLTXHFXOWXHOOHDX/DRV(WKQRERWDQLTXHFXOWXHOOHDX/DRV Les Fleurs de la Dévotion %LED9LOD\OHFN %DM6WUREHO %,%$9,/$</(&. %$-6752%(/ Biba Vilayleck & Baj Strobel Now also available in France ! all orders to: [email protected] Book design by Olivier Leduc-Stein 204 pages, 339 illustrations, 25 x 22cm Published in French language January 2012, Price 35 $ / 29€ all orders at: [email protected] 1 3KD7DG.H%RWDQLFDOJDUGHQ Splendeur, sensualité, luxuriance qualifient les fleurs Splendid, sensuous, and lush, tropical flowers and plants et plantes tropicales du Laos ; bien qu’utilisées comme in Laos, also play a powerful role in Lao traditional life comestibles, pour leurs vertus médicinales ou comme not only as food, medicine and construction materials matériaux de construction, elles ont aussi un forte charge for shelter, but also as enduring spiritual symbols and symbolique et une fonction dans l’art religieux. delicate works of art. Delving thoughtfully into the living traditions of Buddhist practice in the ornate temples of Les auteurs, Michèle-Baj Strobel et Elisabeth Vilayleck Vientiane. ont observé avec attention les pratiques contemporaines de la tradition bouddhiste dans les temples monastères The authors, Michèle-Baj Strobel and Elisabeth Vilayleck, de Vientiane. Elles apportent ainsi un éclairage nouveau describe a rich tapestry of devotion and discipline in the sur le culte, les décors et l’art floral d’un peuple floral decoration, ceremony and symbols revered by profondément ancré dans son environnement naturel. generations of orange-clad monks and the people they Toutes les plantes utilisées (140) sont répertoriées par guide on the journey of life. leur nom lao, leur nom européen, quand il existe, et par All the140 plants described in the text are noted with their leur nom scientifique ; un glossaire et une bibliographie Laos, vernacular and scientific name, an index as well as complètent l’ouvrage.