Sri Lanka – Tropical Flora Naturetrek Tour Report 17 – 30 March 2018 Drosera burmanni Exacum trinervium Rhododendron arboreum Gmelina asiatica Report and images compiled by Himesh Jayaratne & Mukesh Hirdaramani Naturetrek Mingledown Barn Wolf's Lane Chawton Alton Hampshire GU34 3HJ England T: +44 (0)1962 733051 E: [email protected] W: www.naturetrek.co.uk Sri Lanka Tropical Flora Tour Report Tour Participants: Mukesh Hirdaramani, Himesh Jayaratne & Tharanga (leaders) Together with six Naturetrek clients Highlights We explored a vast area of the island’s lagoons, forests, mountains and arboretums and identified many varieties of ferns, fruiting trees and flowering plants, including a few endemics. The journey through the dry zone to the wet zone via the intermediate zone displayed the changing stature of species such as Calophyllum. Although there were many changes to the island’s weather patterns, we were lucky to see the Daffodil Orchid Ipsea speciosa in bloom in the Thangamale sanctuary. The beautiful herbaceous flowers of Sonerila zeylanica and Scutellaria violacea were also seen within this same sanctuary. A Bombax ceiba tree with bright red flowers decorated the bland surroundings of a waterfall near Belihul oya and was a welcome sight on our way to Sinharaja. After exploring the island for 12 days we were able to intensively identify 325 plant species along with 146 birds, 14 mammals and nine reptiles & amphibian species. The main tour was followed by a short whale watch extension. Day 1 Saturday 17th March The tour started with an overnight flight from the UK to Sri Lanka. Day 2 Sunday 18th March Katunayake A few members of the group met at the Airport and proceeded to the Gateway Airport Garden Hotel to meet the rest of the members who had arrived early. After exchanging pleasantries, we set off to visit the Muthurajawela sanctuary, which is a lagoon with mangrove vegetation. On our two-hour journey by boat, amongst many plants and trees we observed different mangrove species including Bruguiera, Ceriops and Rhizophora species, while a cluster of Acanthus ilicifolius plants with blooming purple flowers was a beautiful sight in the evening sunlight. Indian Cormorants, Little Cormorants and Whiskered Terns were also sighted during our journey, as were Water Monitor and Toque Macaque. We returned to the hotel at 5.30pm and did the checklist before having our dinner and calling it a night. Day 3 Monday 19th March Sigiriya After having the breakfast, we left the hotel at 8am, heading towards Sigiriya. On the way, we observed some roadside trees which were in bloom. Tabebuia rosea was the most striking species, with its rosy flowers covering the whole tree since the leaves fall before the blooming. We identified two common ornamental plants of Sri Lanka of the Plumeria species, one with white flowers, P. obtusa, and another with red flowers, P. rubra. We observed many religious sites including Hindu temples, Buddhist temples and many Buddha statues during our drive. We had a short break for tea at Kurunegala, where we observed Giant Squirrel and the endemic Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill. We also saw some fruit trees in the restaurant garden, including Mangifera indica and Spondias dulcis. © Naturetrek May 18 1 Sri Lanka Tropical Flora Tour Report We arrived at Hotel Sigiriya at 12.30pm, and had lunch before checking in. We started our evening session at 3.30pm to see the plant species found within and surrounding the hotel garden. This included the man-made Sigiriya tank habitat. Here we observed some prominent dry-zone tree species, as well as some herbaceous plants growing along the roadside and tank. The session was good even for birds, and we ended the day with a fantastic sighting of the Indian Pitta. At 7pm, we did the checklist and went on for dinner. Day 4 Tuesday 20th March Sigiriya We started the day with a pre-breakfast birding session around the hotel garden. Sightings included Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike, Plain Prinia, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Yellow-billed Babbler, Oriental Magpie-Robin and Oriental White-eye. We had breakfast at 7.30am and visited the garden area of well known “Lion Rock”. Various fig species found in the garden demonstrated the prominence of the genus in dry-zone secondary forests in Sri Lanka. Huge Manilkara hexandra trees stood in these gardens, announcing their age in sheer size. The shape of the Drypetes sepiaria and apple-like fruits of Diospyros malabarica were some species that caught our sight as our exploration continued. As the sun climbed up, we finished the garden tour and visited the Sigiriya museum, which demonstrated the layout of the Lion Rock. It also included some ruins and historical photographs. We returned to the hotel for lunch at 1pm. Late in the evening we visited the Sam Popham arboretum. It was a waste land some half a century back, but Mr. Popham developed it in to a man-made forest. In this forest, there is a rocky outcrop which has a different species composition than the previously seen dry-zone forests. Some of the species we saw here included Euphorbia antiquorum, Sansevieria zeylanica, Gmelina asiatica and Gyrocarpus americanus. We also saw a splendid Capparis brevispina shrub with blooming flowers. Upon return to the hotel we went for dinner and thereafter did the checklist before calling it a night. Day 5 Wednesday 21st March Riverstone / Kandy We left the hotel at 8am after breakfast and proceeded towards Knuckles Mountain range. During the drive, we experienced the forest gradually change from the dry-zone to the wet-zone forest, through the intermediate forest and cloud forest. The structure and the species composition changed within a 30-kilometre distance. At the lower reaches of the mountain range, where the dry-zone forest was, Trema orientalis were a distinct pioneer tree sighted. Filicium decipiens and Dimocarpus longan were the dominant trees in intermediate-zone forests. At the fringe of the intermediate-zone forest, we reached an open grassland called “Pitawala Pathana”. It was a pleasant sight to see many Osbeckia octandra shrubs which were full of bright rosy flowers. Our purpose of stopping at this exact locality was fulfilled when we saw the carnivorous herb species, including Drosera burmanni, D. indica, Utricularia bifida, U. graminifolia, U. hirta and root-parasitic herb Centranthera indica. We stopped on the way again for Exacum trinervium, a nice herbaceous plant with deep purple flowers. Our next stop was “Riverstone” where the road crosses the ridge of the mountain range. During our brief visit, we saw many mountainous species 2 © Naturetrek Sri Lanka Tropical Flora Tour Report including a tree endemic to this particular mountain range, Ilex knucklesensis. Also, we were lucky to see the Leaf- nosed Lizard, which is a lizard endemic to the Knuckles Mountains. From this ridge, we went down towards the wet zone and had a late lunch at a spice garden in Matale. Just after lunch, we had a quick tour and introduction of the spice and herb plants found here. We reached hotel Thilanka in Kandy at 6pm. We met at 7pm to do the checklist and then sat down to dinner. Day 6 Thursday 22nd March Knuckles Mountain Range We left the hotel at 9am with a picnic lunch to go to Corbet’s Gap. Since the by-road from Hunnasgiriya was washed away due to heavy rains, we diverted our plans and visited the Udu Dumbara area. We visited a Pinus caribaea plantation, which was grown by the Forestry Department after cutting the natural forest. We were able to observe the low diversity and low stratification of the vegetation within this plantation. Cuts made on barks of Pinus trees for tapping the resin were also observed. Clients were amazed by the huge canopy trees, Mangifera zeylanica which is a mango species endemic to Sri Lanka. Wild Nutmeg Myristica ceylanica was also a distinct species. Roadside embankments were full of small herbs, including Gymnostachyum ceylanicum, Cyanthillium cinereum, Vernonia hookeriana, Sida rhombifolia and Sonerila glaberrima, which had rosy, yellow, white and purple flowers. We were fortunate to see the rare Memecylon rotundatum shrubs, although they had only flower buds. During our walk, we saw some stunning males of the Sri Lanka Birdwing, the national butterfly of Sri Lanka. We had our picnic lunch and proceeded to the hotel. On the way we stopped to observe a few paddy cultivations. We arrived at the hotel at 4pm and met for the checklist at 7pm. Day 7 Friday 23rd March Peradeniya Botanical Gardens After breakfast we drove to Peradeniya and entered the Royal Botanical Gardens. Our first tree sighted here was the Nutmeg tree and we were able to see a few young fruits also on the trees. We also saw Theobroma cacao and Elettaria cardamomum. After discovering a few more plants and trees we visited the orchid house, which was full of hybridized breath-taking orchids and few collections of wild species. The group split in two after the Orchid house visit, with two staying back in the gardens with Himesh whilst the rest proceeded to the hotel, birding en route with Mukesh and Tharanga. Himesh and the rest were able to see the flowers of Alphonsea hortensis trees. These trees in the garden are the only existing trees in the whole world, since this species has been wiped out from the natural forests. Cycas zeylanica is another such plant, where the only known wild population in Sri Lanka was destroyed during the Tsunami in 2004. We were fortunate to see many flowers of Amherstia nobilis, which is considered the most beautiful flowering plant in the world. We paid much attention to the arboretum during our visit, rather than the ornamental plants.