Palau's Plants & Pollinators

On November 9, 2019 the Paddling Palau team headed out for some Botanizing in the near shore environment of Ngeruktabel Island.  November is typically the driest month of the year in Palau, but some unseasonal rains had created a rush of flowering events.  The naturalists from Paddling Palau were eager to take advantage of this rare blooming opportunity.

​The first stop on the journey was Fantasy Lake which is physically protected from winds and waves by the spiraling limestone walls surrounding the deep watered bay.  Boat Captain Udoud Masaharu made the first discovery of the day, which proved to be rather monumental.  Udoud had spotted tiny pink flowers born on vertical spikes covering a previously unrecognized tree.  Despite the combined decades of experience among the Paddling Palau naturalists, no one on board could identify this precious set of flowers.

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That didn't stop photographer Oby Roland from setting up her macro kit to take advantage of the moment.  Oby set up her camera on a gimbal mounted tripod, while her assistants secured the flowers in an equally stable position.  With microscopic precision Oby focused on the minute blooms and lit the tiny flowers from a multitude of angles.  Meanwhile, veteran guide Macstyl Sasao took careful aim with his 100-400mm telephoto lens and photographed the fruits and seeds from the same tree.

The team continued on and explored a nearby lake in search of flowers from an endemic understory specialists called Discocalyx palauensis.  Though this small shrub thrives in the shaded canopy of the limestone forest, it tends to bloom only when exposed to the soft light along the shores of the salt water lakes.  After a hike over some rather horrendous limestone peaks, the team found its second prize of the day.  The minute flowers of Discocalyx were in full bloom, allowing the photographers to add another species to their floral catalog.

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Upon returning the shop, the naturalists poured through their library of Botany books as well as their archived images.  Udoud & Oby's mystery flowers were unlike anything they'd seen and they were unable to identify the species.  Ultimately they turned to the master of Pacific Botanists for some helpful advice.  Dr. Art Whistler is the author of over a dozen books on the Botanical assemblages of the Pacific Islands.  Some of his most popular titles include "Flowers of the Pacific Island Seashore" & "Plants of the Canoe People."  Art had no trouble in determining the identity of this new flower as he mentally scrolled through his Botanical keys.  The species in question proved to be another reclusive endemic known as Elattostachys palauensis of the family Sapindaceae.

The Paddling Palau team have now photographed nearly 200 species of flowering plants in the limestone islands and look forward to someday publishing a book titled, "Flowering Plants & Pollinators of Palau."  Following up on that theme, Udoud & naturalist Ron Leidich raced back out to the scene the day after Christmas to inspect their prize specimen tree.  Not only was the tree still in bloom, but it had additionally attracted a host of tiny moth pollinators.  It's taken nearly 20 years of Botanizing to compile photos of these excessively rare species, and yet the islands continue to reveal more of her secrets.  While most visitors flock to Palau to enjoy her under water treasures, many of the best kept biodiversity secrets remain hidden in the limestone forests.