Field Trip To Shah Alam Botanical Garden Dec 2011

I had a second visit to Shah Alam Botanical Garden since the last semester on 12 January 2011. This time there are only 19 students who were joined the trip. It took about four hours trekking and measuring tree girth at diameter breast height (dbh). Amazingly, we had managed to record 58 trees of commercial species of dipterocarp and non-dipterocarp families. What a tremendous efforts from DBK1 Dec 2011 batch I must said.

My students and I arrived at the Arboretum around 9.50 a.m. and the weather being nice to us even it was a cloudy morning ever since we arrived. As usual, I would have a memory with the students by taking a photo at the Arboretum entrance.

The first tree in the list was Kempas (Koompassia malaccensis). Frankly speaking, I observed that this batch so enthusiastic since the beginning of our trekking. Without  any complains they energetically did their job well and surprisingly managed to record 58 trees.

Climbing and towering, that were they did to ensure that every single huge trees being measured and recorded. This is the sacrifice that student have to be made for becoming the premier graduates, no offend.

The largest tree girth that ever recorded since my last visit still held by this Meranti Sarang Punai (Shorea parvifolia) tree that broke the 2.5 m barrier and my students faced their all out challenge while measuring this tree girth.

Something that makes me so proud that I'm the person who was the first to discover this magnificent colossal Cengal (Neobalanocarpus heimii) tree when I had my first trip last semester at Shah Alam Botanical Garden if there is no one claims. I also believed that this tree is one of a kind seems there is no other trees have been sighted in vicinity. Cengal is so easily to identify based on the dark scaly bole and crispy papery lanceolate leaves.

Keruing Kipas (Dipterocarpus costulatus) is one of the dominant species at Shah Alam Botanical Garden along with Meranti Sarang Punai (Shorea parvifolia) and Melantai (Shorea macroptera) and it is characterized by large leathery leaves with ridges between the secondary veins and lenticellate boles.

Along the journey, I had an opportunity to take pictures of some astonishing plants that grow on this fertile humus-rich terrain.

At the end of the trekking, my students and I enjoyed this green scenery very much and hope to come back again in the future. We headed back for PSA at 1.12 p.m.

Yours truly,

Zaril Faizal b. Zaral Gaffar

12 January 2012