Red Hibiscus and White Passion Flowers

Red Hibiscus Flower

I spent approximately 12 days in the forest of West Papua early this week with two tourists from the United States. We explored the islands of Raja Ampat, the lowland and hill forest of Sorong, and the tropical rainforest of Arfak mountains in search of flowers, birds and other interesting animals. The early part of the trip was quite challenging because we experienced strong wind and waves in Raja Ampat. The rainforest tours in Vogelkop region went well. We were able to see a lot of flowering trees, shrubs and vines.
There was one red hibiscus shrub plant near our birding ground in Sorong regency. We stopped in front of it to take pictures. Its petals look different from the Red Hibiscus that I saw in coastal area of Tambrauw regency and in Arfak range. Because I do not have field guide book of tropical flowers, I could not identify the scientific names of the flowers that I saw.

Pygmy Passion Flower

We also saw small beautiful passion flowers at the sides of the road. Its petals were white. The inner part of its corona filaments was pink. It was smaller than the red hibiscus. We also saw other flowers such as Crepe Ginger and Terrestrial Orchid in the same area.
While traveling in Arfak range, we saw Rhododendron shrub plants. They were Rhododendron konori. The flowers were emitting soft fragrant smell.
New Guinea has got a lot of flowers that grow in the coastal, forest edge and in the middle of densed tropical jungle. They are beautiful and are often used as decorative plants in cities and towns. Flowers that emit fragrant smell have not been developed as raw material for essential oil.
Well, when I travel again into forest area, I will take more pictures of flowers and upload them into this blog.

Rainforest Flowers

Flowers in My Neighborhood

I made pictures of some beautiful flowers today. I have just returned from my afternoon walking exercise around my neighborhood. I walked to a football field around 500 meters (1,640 feet) from my house. A long the way to the field, I saw some tropical flowers. There were Yellow Beach Hibiscus, White and Red Bougainvillea in the frontyard of Saint Agustinus church. 

Yellow-beach Hibiscus

When entered the military compound next to the church, I saw some flower plants along the road-side too. Very beautiful white plumeria stood by the wall fence. There were also jasmine flowers on the other side of the road. They were planted by families of the military officers who live in the compound. In Bali the plumeria is called Frangipani but here in West Papua, we call it Kamboja.

White Plumeria

Crepe Ginger Flower (Cheilocostus speciosus)

Near the corner of the road that turns to right, I saw another white flower that usually grows in the forest edges. Its English name is Crepe Ginger Flower (Cheilocostus speciosus). I approached it and took one photograph of the flower. I did not bring my pocket camera Fujifilm XQ2. I only used the camera feature of my Samsung Tab A. In wikipedia, it says that this plant has got a lot of medicinal functions such as for fever, rash, asthma, an intestinal worms. 

As a walked up the slopes to the football field, I saw some pink orchid flowers at the front yard of a house. I stopped for a while to take pictures of the orchids. They look like Cattleya Orchids.

Orchid

The weather today was nice. It was not very hot. So, I enjoyed my walking exercises around the track of the football field. There were tens of people in the field. Some were playing football whereas others were just jogging or walking. Most of them were young men and women. 

Rainfall in this city is decreasing in its frequency starting from June. I hope to see more flowers where ever I travel. written by Leo Charles Roring
Also read:

• Rainforest Flowers
• Red Hibiscus and White Passion Flowers
• Passion Flowers
• Wild Flowers

Birdwing Butterfly and Red Hibiscus Flower

Please, support this blog by clicking and purchasing the following artdrawing of mine below that is printed on various products in Redbubble website: This birdwing butterfly Ornithoptera priamus lives in the jungle of New Guinea - the largest tropical island in the world. I saw this butterfly when I was guiding a British tourist on a rainforest tour in the northern coast of West Papua. 

https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/20916614?asc=u

Butterfly and Red Hibiscus

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