Vol41n3p148-157
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148 PRINCIPES [Vor-.4l Principes,4f(3),1997, pp. 14&157 Rattansand Rheophytes-Palmsof the MubiRiver Wnlm*r J. Bernn Departmentof Botany, Plant ScienceInboratories, Uniuersityof Re.ading,Whiteknights, P.O. Bot 221. Reuding, Berkshire,RG6 6A5, United Kingdom The island of New Guinea holds some of the where I would collect around the Mubi river. Hav- greatest botanical mysteries left on earth. It is a ing already spent a week being flou.n around olace where vast tracts of rain forest still stand in Mount Bosavi by helicopter, courtesl' ,,f \\'S-F, I an unexploredand impenetrablelandscape, where didn't think things could get any better. but I rvas Asia meets Australia in a melting pot of fantastic wrong. biological diversity. Although this uncharted par- Accompanied by my field assistant. l-artrence adise seemssomewhat distant now, with the help Kage, I was driven by car from the S S F base at of my field notes and, no doubt, a little imagina- the Chevron oil camp at Moro along the r,,ad that tion, I shall attempt to tell a few tales of my {irst follows the main pipeline from the oil trell. around field trip to collect palms in New Guinea. Lake Kutubu in the Southem Highlan,ls to the As is the case for many plant groups in New coast in Gulf Province where the pipeline r'ontin- Guinea, the palms of the island are very poorly ues to a marine terminal outside the m,,uth of the known.This is a result of the severelack ofbotan- Kikori river. Only an hour out of \lor,r. \\e \\ere ical collections from the region, principally due to halted by a flood on the road and lere ju.t on the the inaccessibilityof mostparts of the island,cou- point of turning back when we made ratii, contact pled with the old bugbear that general collectors with our hosts in Kantobo who agreed tr) nleet us do not like makingspecimens of bulky plantssuch on the other side of the flood. Haling lerried our as palms.Enough said! Althoughthere havebeen gear across the rather unappealing. tepitl rtater, several specialistpalm collectorsactive in New we were met by Pamero, a wizened oid nran rrith Guinea, there is still a dearth of material in her- dreadlocks and a serious lust for life. * ho drove baria. Thankfully, a number of palm botanistsare like a lunatic, although he could onlv just reach taking a strong interest in the palms of New the steering wheel, along the limestone road to a Guineaand the situationshould change. Recently, point where a path led into the forest. There we I was fortunate enough to be asked to spend two met porters who helped us carry our gear dortn to months studying rattan diversity in Papua New a launch on the Mubi river. Pamero. being -.611s- Guinea (PNG), the eastem half of the island, as what multitalented, took control of the boat and, part of a larger rattan project at the Royal Botanic having introduced us to the villagers at Kantobo, Gardens, Kew funded by the European Union. set off to take us some 15 minutes do'trnstreamto Naturally, I was more than happy to oblige and the lodge where accommodation had been consequently spent January and February 1996 arranged. indulgingin someof the mostexciting plant explo- As I relaxed in the knowledge that rre were ration that I have experiencedso far. actually going to reach our destination. I took I do not intend to give every detail of the trip, more notice of my surroundings. Either side of the but rather an account of some particularly excel- broad river, whose turbid waters flowed calmly, lent collecting that I enjoyed while I was a guest but swiftly, magnificent forest rose from the allu- of the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) project vial flats along the banks clothing the limestone in the Kikori basin. As part of the packed program hills behind. Along the river margins, some ubiq- very kindly organized for me by Tanya Leary of uitous New Guinea tree palms, or limbuns, to luse WWF, it was arrangedthat I should spend three the PNG pidgin term, could be seen. Metroxylon days based at Kantobo in the SouthernHighlands sagu, the sago palm, grew gregariously in large reeTl BAKER:PALMS OF THE MUBIRIVER t49 quantities, which is fortunate, as the local people few days of fieldwork. Lawrence visited Kantobo are dedicated and enthusiastic saso eaters. Here village to gain permission from the landownersto and there, flowering specimenscould be seen, collect in the area. Unlike most other countries, spreading their massive candelabrasof inflores- PNG has retained traditional land rights and it is cenceshigh abovethe foliage.These individuals vital to talk to the local landownersbefore doing are quite uselessto the local people as the energy anything on their property. The following day, two required for this reproductive effort exhauststhe guides from the village joined us for our first day edible starch, which is stored in the trunk of the collecting around the falls and this proved to be palm before flowering. It is neverthelessan extremely productive. I found six speciesof Qal- impressive sight. Groups of Gulubia costata, the amus, inchding three that I had not come across most common of all the robust tree palms in New before. Although this number may not be as high Guinea, were frequent. It is readily distinguished as that which one might find in, say, most sites in by its spherical crown of straight leaves with Borneo, it was certainly a good score for PNG. drooping leaflets, although this character is not Unsurprisingly, the widespread Calamtn hollrun- reliable as it is shared by some species of Cro- gii was present. I encounteredthis species in nophyllurn, Rhopaloblaste, and, Cyrtostachys. The every locality that I visited and was very much presenceof a brush-like inflorescencenarrows the bewildered by the variation that it displayed. For options down to Gulubia and Gronophyllum and, example,some individuals bristled with numerous although probability suggests that the palm in black, triangular spines, which would penetrate question is Gulubia costata, a closer look at the my thick leathergloves as I tried to make a spec- flowers is needed to be certain. Among the gulu- imen, but others were totally unarmed on the bias, a few individuals were spotted with large, sheath. An extensive study is needed before any spreadinginflorescences which I tentatively iden- meaningful taxonomic entities can be identified tified as Cyrtostachyspeelteliana. Striking among within this complex.Another particularly interest- these typical pinnate palms was the bipinnate ing rattan found in the area was Calamus hum- Ca,ryotarurnphiana, a robust member of the fish- boldtianus.It had an altogetherpeculiar feel about tail palm genus,which is commonthroughout the it with its large leaflets, leathery and somewhat island. hooded, crowded on a disproportionately short Disembarking at a bend in the river, we were rachis with a long petiole. The most remarkable led along a board walk through the bush to the feature was a structure known as an ocrea, which lodge. As we approached,I was distractedfrom is an extensionof the leaf sheathabove the inser- rattan spotting when a hitherto distant rumbling tion of the petiole. Although ocreasoccur in many noise became gradually louder, up to the point rattan genera, they are a great speciality of New where it was difficult to communicatewith anyone Guinea Calamus species. The ocrea of C. hum- unless they were standingclose by. Arriving at the boldtianusis one of the most spectacular,reaching lodge, I walked to the edge of the river bank to a length of 80 cm or more. It is blackish purple find myself on a cliff a hundred feet above the in color with numerouscollars of soft, fine spines. river, which was now hurling itself over a great Several small palms grew in the undergrowth. precipice into a deep limestone gorge. Equally A slender Areca related,to A. nouo-hibernicawas awe-inspiringwas the forest, which toweredabove common,as was a specieso{ Calyptrrocalyx,which the gorge on the opposite side, presenting a fan- I had already found in abundance around Mt. tasticview ofthe differentlayers ofvegetation that Bosavi. The latter was a particularly ornamental appearedto be sewntogether by rattans and lianas palm. Its regularly pinnate leaf was an exquisite of various kinds. This was the dramatic beginnirrg copper shadeon emergenceand bore elliptic leaf- of Wassi Falls, possibly the most spectacular lets whose apices were drawn into fine pendent chain of waterfalls to be seen in New Guinea. drip tips. A very dwarf Gronophyllumof the type During that evening,we made plans for the next previously known as Nengella was also present, --) I' An unidentified Gulubia species growing in abundanceon karst limestone along the Mubi river. 2. An as yet unidentified spectesof Orania. 3. Caryota rumphiana, the black palm, one of the most abundant palms in New Guinea. 4. Heterospathe macgregorii growing as a rheophyte on the banks of the Mubi river. t'RINCTPI.]S lVot..4l 19971 BAKER:PALMS OF THE MUBIRIVEH 5. Heterospathe macgregorii: infructescence with ripe fruit. 6. The village of Kantobo. PRINCIPES [Vou 4I 7. Calamu reticulatus: habir. B. Close-un view of the stem oI Calamu reticulatus showins the netlike ocrea but scarce.It has been identified tentatively as G. beautiful arching leavesclinging to a ledge on the f,abellatum on accountof its entire leaf, but a thor- side of the chasmobut there was no hope of mak- ough revision of the group is required before we ing out enough detail to identify even the genus. can be certain of the standing of this species. Having recovered from the exertions of the After an unpleasantly close encounter with a waterfall trail, I decided that the following day death adder, we came to a point where the trail would be conducted in a more leisurely fashion.