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High Altitude Plants on Mt. Rinjani

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High Altitude Plants on Mt. Rinjani
Hi Dr Khadijah/Dr Juan,

Was hiking Rinjani on late April, and there is some picture I took but not much, since I was fatigued hiking from 2am to 7am to the peak and descend to village by 10pm night same day.

Most of the plants grow on the steep gradient and beside cliffs, not sure if following pictures enough to identify the species?

Cliff near to summit


Plant beside the Cliff


Regards,
Leong
High Altitude Plants on Mt. Rinjani
Dear Leong,

These photos refresh my experience of fern collection in June 2006. I have climbed mountains throughout Indonesia and I sincerely say that Mt. Rinjani is my favorite one for many reasons such as: the physical challenges, the heavenly biodiversity for the materials I need, and the unique spot where the West and East Indonesian vegetation collide with the Australian. We started from Senaru and finished at Sembalum Lawang. There were three porters with me at that time and we did it for 5 days.

Well, back to your photo. The plant is called Edelweiss. Its scientific name is Anaphalis javanica. Likewise the true edelweiss, this Anaphalis javanica is also in the family of Asteraceae. The most common example of the family is sun flower and Chrysanthemum. In my opinion, it is proper to call Anaphalis javanica as Javan Edelweiss since the plant is endemic to Indonesian volcanoes.

Edelweiss is taken as the symbol of eternity love. How and why? Because the flowers never wilt after being picked of the plant. They just dry but not damage. When the flowers are later soaked and again and again re-soak, the flowers will appear blossom freshly.

As it is an endemic plant, I do hope the edelweiss flower is respected only through photos.

Cheers
Khadijah
High Altitude Plants on Mt. Rinjani
Just found few pictures from my teammates, is it the same plant?

The leaves looks different compare with first 2 pictures


This one looks more like Edelweiss
High Altitude Plants on Mt. Rinjani
Dear Leong,

Yes, you got the second love flower. Indeed, the two are endemic to Indonesia volcanoes. The previous one (here is the last photo) is Anaphalis javanica. The above one which has longer leaves is Anaphalis longifolia - as a description onto the leaf length. Sometimes, the presence of epidermal hairs on some plants make them looking more "cloudy" - glaucous. The density of epidermal hairs has no identification value as their presence varies with ecological condition.

Sadly, these two species are critically endangered due to over harvesting.

Cheers
Khadijah

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