Jardinerong Sunog (the Burnt Gardener)

The recent years have witnessed a slew of new species descriptions in the Philippines from the genus Nepenthes , in which emerged a clearly Philippine group centered on Nepenthes alata . Historically, the species concept of N. alata  itself was overblown and included entities which bear traits that are alien, which contributed to the confusion regarding its limits. Presently, N. alata  is understood to be confined only to northern and central Luzon, with scattered populations on the island's eastern seaboard. Nepenthes alata is distinguished by its petiolate leaves, evenly distributed lid glands, a basal lid keel, the presence of indumentum, and fringed pitcher wings that are retained up to the upper pitchers; the species name translates to 'wing' and refers to this character. Photo below illustrates a N . alata  in its native habitat, on the province of Ilocos Norte where it was originally found: The plant featured here bears a strong resemblance to N. alata , b...

Kohleria hybrid What does forest deforestation have to do with losing plants in my collection? Over the years I have managed to expand the plant collection in waves- many were obtained either via trades or given as gifts, or simply bought. This was a time when I was as rabid a collector as anyone could possibly be, a time when I always had my eyes set on a plant or two and will seek out anyone who happened to have that plant I want. Now, as many of you probably already know, I have made it a habit of trekking into forests to observe plants in their natural habitats and fortunately, there is one within my area, although much of the old growth has already been harvested way even before I was born. But on my later visits, I was appalled by the sudden influx of charcoal producers- trees were being cut down and land being razed to the ground to make way for coal production. And this was particularly troubling because this forest is one of the two sources of water for our town. It wa...