UP Ibalon Bicol: Botany

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Nepenthes attenboroughii: tanom na na-nga-ngakan nin kino, aninipot, sagkod amamangui

9/03/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

“An dahon kan burak naserbing higda’an nin sarong nobya na ang Amang Diyos iyo an na-guibo---kurtina na pano nin olor, malumoy na mga hamot…”---Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778)

Naturaleza nin Kinaban

Talagang may mga tanom na na-nga-ngakan nin mga hayop. Haloy ng nadiskubre iyan--- panahon pa ni Carl Linnaeus. Tubong Uppsala, Sweden, gikan sa Unibersidad de Lund asin Harderwijk (Netherlands), si Linnaeus sarong mahigos na maestro. Siya nagpa-uso kan pag-adal, pag-grupo (taxonomic classification), pagdiskubri nin mga tinanom sa kinaban. Prominenteng nag-contribuir sa sciencia nin Botaniya. Saro sa mga enot na scientipikong nag-tukdo sa pag-apreciar kan kagayunan nin azul na planeta.

Experiencia sa Pilipinas

Kan tiempong Hapon an mga soldados na Amerikano tinukdu'an kun paano mabuhay sa kadlagan nin Pilipinas habang ang guerra ipinaglalaban. Inaram ninda ang mga tinanom sa gubat na pwedeng kakanon, mga yierbas na dapat dulagan ta nakakalason o tanom na na-nga-ngakan nin hayop o tawo!

Ang Amerikano natakot sa mga plantas na karneboro. Paglakaw ninda sa kadlagan, pirme sindang handa! Ang saindang sundang pirmeng matarom, an badil naka-kasa ingkaso. Arog sa takot sa halas o linta, ang mga guerrero maingat na naglikay. Kaipuhan ninda sa sobrevivir (survival) sa marambong na kagubatan.

An tanom na pitsil

Sa www.popsci.com, kan naka-aguing bulan, nabasa ko ang mga Nepenthes, sarong grupo nin plantas na natutuparan sa kadlagan kan Pilipinas. Sarong pagpaguiromdom nin natural na yaman kan satuyang isla sa Asia na dapat tang atamanon.

Si Stewart McPherson sagkod si Alistair Robinson, mga Britanikong dalubhasa (botanists) nin mga plantas nag-anuncio na pinangaran ki Sir David Attenborough (personalidad sa telebisyon, sarong mahilig man sa flora,) an misteriosong tanom sa kagubatan sa satuyang lugar----Nepenthes attenboroughii. Pambihira ang tanom na ini, pero magayon. Maka-nga-ngalas! Uyogon mo, na-nga-ngakan nin kino sagkod alibangbang!

Hilinga ang ang kagayunan kan Nepenthes sa mga retrato. An hitsura garo pitsil na nakolektang tubig sa ambon, ragiri, sagkod uran kan kagubatan. Makolor. Igua siya nin mahamis na taguk na gusto nin animales. Kun mapano ang pitsel kan Nepenthes nin tubig, nakakalamos ini nin mga namok, tanga, aninipot, gamo-gamo, paru-paro, kuto, mga bubuyog atbp.

Pag ang mga insekto nagadan sa pitsil, si sustansiya kan tinanom iyo ang nalusaw kan saradit na hayop. An proceso siempre luway-luway, hanggang mahigop kan Nepenthes an restos asin sustansiya kan mga insekto.

Tan’o ta maski ma-ulyas na kino pwedeng kakanon kan tinanom na ini? Kun an pistil kan Nepenthes dakula, an tubig hararom, pwedeng ang babu, halas, gamgam o ano man na hayop na daradakula mala’om sa pistil. Pwede sindang magkagaradan arog kan mga sadit na duli-duli sagkod mga amamangui.(Photo Credito Red Fern Natioal History/ www.popsci.com x 2)=0=

Nepenthes attenboruoughii among 120 species

Found in the remote mountain in Palawan, Philippines, Nepenthes attenboroughii was discovered in 2007 and was officially named this year after naturalist and TV personality David Attenborough. The plant enthusiast featured the species in his TV series Zoo Quest and also The Private Life of Plants in 1995. It’s one among 120 diverse species so far described by botanist-taxonomist Stewart McPherson in the last three years. About 30 of them are encountered in Palawan, most of them have not been fully studied and described in publcation.

The carnivorous plant produces enzymes that dissolve small mice and insects in a pitcher-like receptacle. The only pitcher plant larger than N. attenboroughii is N. rajah which British naturalist Spencer St John observed in Borneo to have drowned and digested a rodent in 1862.=0=

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Labels: Botany, conservation, environment, flora and fauna, Linneaus, man and nature, nature, Nepenthes, Nepenthes attenboroughii, pitcher plant, plants, rat-eating plant, science, Totie Mesia

UP’s plant-man extraordinaire

11/24/2008 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

For a combination of inventiveness, diligence, and genius, Leonard Co turns out to be a gem which brings gladness and admiration to those who know him. The state university’s unique botanist is a rarity who rivals the reclusiveness of Rafflesia leonardi, a diffident flower in the hinterlands of Kidapawan, Mindanao named after him. Leonard Co is known to many Ibalonians for good reasons.

Lorna Vigil and Annelee Badiola-Lojo. M.D. remember him as a co- member of Samahan ng mga Mag-aaral sa Pilipino (SAMAPIL,) a socio-cultural organization in the UP campus. Ibalon doctors like Arnel V. Malaya, Julius A. Lecciones, Ray R. G. Rayel, Nestor A. Valenciano, Andy Gimpaya, and many others may have striking memories of the amazing guy of Botany who frequented the Science pavilion. Leonard was there to beguile them of his plants. A likeable personality with a prodigious drive to teach, the smart Leonard immersed himself in the world of the flora, his pure love and abiding source of satisfaction.

“The Last Dodo of Botany”
by Lorna Vigil

Leonard L. Co inspires many who know him. More than three decades after I met him the first and only time, when I was a young freshman, he still has this extraordinary liking for plants. No one doubted his expertise in botany, though in UP, for him, other subjects outside botany were irritations; they stood on the way of his focus. With a passion for nature and stubborn insistence to pursue science in his own terms, it took him 32 years to get his BS diploma ---a proof of his real mettle and purpose.

Diliman’s plant-man extraordinaire has brought some of life’s important lessons ---- the most compelling perhaps is that outstanding men like him do persist and prevail. Ignoring physics and math, Leonard’s unusual years of study has gained him recognition more than he could imagine. A phenomenal gift of our school to science, his ability is now at work in the Conservation International and the UP Herbarium. With much to share, here is what he said that I find very interesting:

“O nga pala, nakalimutan kong magpakilala aside doon sa organizational affiliations ko,” says Leonard whose school ID goes back few decades ago: 72-00993, BS Botany.

“Bilang the quintessential 'Bobo ng Diliman' who refused to let physics and math mess up with my own brand of education, ngayong taon lang ako grumadweyt. I’m the last dodo bird of the now extinct BS Botany program.”

Naging myembro ng SAMAPIL noong huling dako ng 1973, dahil sa personal appeal nito sa akin bilang kanlungan ng kritikal pero malikhaing porma ng dissent. Naively, inassume ko na pwede rin akong mahawa sa abilidad ng mga manunulat na kasapi dito.

Well, obviously hindi sapat yun and I ended up doing something else in botany and conservation science. At any rate, SAMAPIL ang unang legal na organisasyong sinalihan ko sa UP matapos ibaba ang martial law.

Palagay ko'y ipinanganak din akong artist, pero ang medium na kadalasang ginagamit ko ay oil--- cooking oil to be exact. Mahilig akong magluto (at kumain). Aside from plant specimens, I collect all sorts of protest and national liberation songs (banyaga man o dito sa Pinas, at salamat sa limewire, dumarami na ang acquisitions ko).

‘Di ako marunong bumasa ng nota, pero natutunan kong tumugtog ng oido sa harmonica (nakakainis nga lamang at ine-equate ang instrumentong ito sa pamumulubi). Inggit to death ako pag nakakakita ng mga virtuoso sa classical guitar, piano at violin.

Pasensya na po kung di ako nakakasali sa inter-aksyon ninyo sa e-group o mga jammings. Madalas kasi sa hindi, andun ako sa natural habitat ko sa mga bundok at natitira pa nating kagubatan. Pero keep in touch at tuloy lang ang pagpapadala ng mga jokes na mahirap ipagwari sa katatawanan at realidad ng buhay.

Masaya ako dahil nabigyang halaga ang aking kaunting kontribusyon sa Botany na naging pangunahing argumento ng mga supporters ko sa Institute of Biology, sa College Assembly hanggang University Council para magawaran ng UP diploma nung nakaraang graduation (2008). Kahit man lolo na akong uugud-ugod nabigyan na rin ng BS (after 32 years haha!). O ano, astig na rin akong UP grad tulad ninyo!---Leonard L. Co, Conservation International- Philippines; Herbarium, Institute of Biology, College of Science, University of the Philippines. (Photo Credits: Josefontheroad; JulieBarcelona)=0=

RELATED BLOG: "Pygmy tarsier of Indonesia rediscovered after 85 years & a five-petalled mountain flower in Mindanao, Philippines named" Posted by mesiamd at 11/23/2008

Labels: Botany, conservation, Conservation International, environment, Leonard Co, Ona Vigil Baylon, plants, Rafflesia leonardi, Totie Mesia, UP alumni, UP Herbarium

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Nepenthes attenboroughii: tanom na na-nga-ngakan nin kino, aninipot, sagkod amamangui

UP’s plant-man extraordinaire

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