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Tropica's expeditions |
| By Claus Christensen, Troels Andersen and Ole Pedersen
This is the first part of a report from an expedition to the border region between Burma and Thailand in November 2007. It was an expedition to an interesting river system in the north-western forest district in a mountainous area, primarily to search for the place where Pogostemon helferi (Tropica no. 053H) was found, but also to search the area for other exciting plants for aquariums. |
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The Bridge over the River Kwai is really a concrete bridge, not a wooden one as in the film.
The primary goal of the expedition was to find the biotope of Pogostemon helferi. In order to get there, we travelled from Bangkok towards the Burmese border on main road 323 to Kanchanaburi. This is where the River Kwai flows, the river that was immortalised in the old film about World War II "The Bridge over the River Kwai". In reality, it is a concrete bridge and not a wooden one, and it was never blown up as it was as in the film. But the railway and the bridge were built by British and American POWs captured by the Japanese during World War II. At the time, the railway continued along the river up through the "Pass of the Three Pagodas" and on to Rangoon in Burma.
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Pogostemon video
Below the surface, Pogostemon helferi formed attractive, cohesive stands in the rapidly flowing water.
We continued on the 323 along the river and it crosses the road a few kilometres from the famous pass. This is precisely where Pogostemon helferi was found in 1992 by Thai aquarist Nonn Panitvong. He grew up in the area and, together with other Thai aquarists, very actively investigates the Thai countryside, its fish and plants. Pogostemon helferi is called by the local name of "Dao Noi", which means little star.
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We also found Cryptocoryne crispatula, which had unusually small, narrow laminae in the rapidly flowing water, in between Pogostemon helferi.
We visited the biotope at the end of the rainy season and at first glance were afraid that the depth of the water and the strong current would prevent us from finding the plant again. We first searched along the north bank of the river. After the first 500 metres we found Cryptocoryne crispatula, but not the plant we came for. But our luck was better on the south bank. The plant was growing over a large area (about 50 x 20 metres) both above and below the water. It was a terrific moment! We were delighted to have found the plant again and, not least, to see it growing magnificently in its natural surroundings.
We continued towards the northeast and the legendary connection to Burma, the "Pass of the Three Pagodas". The route from here took us back towards Kachanaburi before we drove north to Tak Province, west to Mae Sot, from where we followed the Burmese border to the north of Mae Hong Son and our target, the town of Chiang Mai. From Tak to Chiang Mai, we drove around hundreds of hairpin bends, up over passes and down through valleys with countless halts for rivers, watercourses, dams, and lakes – and we found many exciting plants. Only time will tell whether there are classics among them.
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Tropica has a long-standing tradition of visiting places where aquatic plants grow. The first journeys were made in the early 1970s, and we have since visited the four quarters of the globe. More than 50 different countries in total (primarily in the tropics) and several hundred aquatic plant biotopes! From Brazil in the west to New Zealand in the east, and from Sweden in the north to South Africa in the south.
Expeditions to lakes and watercourses in exotic countries have many purposes, including:
1) Finding new plants for the benefit of the hobby
2) Finding new varieties of familiar plants that are more suitable for aquarists or production
3) Gaining knowledge of the plants' natural growth areas and using this knowledge to provide better advice through articles, catalogues, the Internet, and lectures
4) But also because one of our hobbies is globetrotting and we are deeply fascinated by nature and the cultures of the countries we visit
How are expeditions planned?
1) The simplest way is to follow local collectors of fish and plants, but with your aquarist spectacles on. Aquatic plants that the locals regard as weeds may prove to be classics in the aquarium. This could be compared to people from remote regions who fall into a swoon over dandelions when they visit Denmark.
2) We usually plan expeditions to places where botanists have previously found plants that are related to familiar aquatic plants. But unfortunately, they only rarely bring back living plants as, in most cases, they can only manage to take dried plants or plants conserved in spirits as documentation.
3) Expeditions can also go to areas where familiar species have been found. In these places, we look for varieties of these species that are more suitable for aquarists, but also to add new genes to production to avoid inbreeding.
4) Other obvious goals for expeditions are what are known as "hot spots", where many new plants and animals can be found. These could be places that have been impossible to visit for many years due to political or transport-related circumstance. But there may also be areas that have been geographically isolated for thousands of years in which nature functions as a "pioneer area" for plants and animals, thereby enabling new species to arise.
5) Finally, we seldom neglect an opportunity when we are visiting countries with exotic biotopes in connection with business, lectures, or holidays.
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Box: Are the new plants really new?
 Unfortunately, this is very rare! Botanists will usually have already found the plant and it will be registered in herbarium records at museums around the world. But Tropica has helped to find completely unknown species such as Lilaeopsis mauritiana, in Mauritius. Really exciting when it does happen! And where Lilaeopsis mauritiana in particular is concerned, the find led to a new continent for the distribution of the Lilaeopsis family and thereby created a connection between finds of Lilaeopsis in South America in the west and Asia in the east.
Botanists may be familiar with the plants – but not necessarily aquarists. There are many thousands of species of aquatic plants that nobody has yet attempted to use in aquariums and that have often not even been brought to Europe. In other cases, there may be familiar species, but simply in new varieties due to differing growth conditions from biotope to biotope. Such geographical varieties may differ in shape, colour, and the ability to grow under the conditions we offer them in aquariums. Plants that we often look for are those that can grow with less light and in hard water. Colour varieties are similarly also attractive. An example of a plant species found in many varieties is Hygrophila corymbosa.
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