Vol
7 No 2
Aug 2000
The Truth
about Grass
Butterfly-Plant Relationships
List of butterflies
(1999-2000)
Beauty to Behold how animals see
More about the eyes of animals
Nesting Birds
at Sungei Buloh
Nesting
Little Heron
A walk with a Volunteer Guide: Keith Hillier
Nature Photographer
with a Mission:
Julian Wong
Earth Day Programmes
Nature in
the City |
|
The Truth
about Grass |
James
Gan
Senior Conservation Officer
shares with you some of the unnoticed
virtues of the Park's wild grasses
|
Sungei
Buloh Nature Park is home to mangrove trees and plants. But do you
know that there are many other plants not necessarily associated with
the mangroves found in the Park? They grow in inconspicuous places
such as the side of tracks and footpaths.
|
"A
weed is a plant
whose virtues have
not been discovered"
Ralph Waldo Emerson
|
Most
people know them as grasses. Some of them are commonly called weeds.
The grasses have been largely ignored perhaps because they are not
attractive to many people. They are, however, ecologically important
plants.
Grass flowers do not have petals. They are usually very small (no
more than a few millimetres) and arranged in a group to form spikelets,
spikes and panicles. The fruits develop on these spikelets and are
like grains of very small rice. |
Guinea Grass
|
Grass
seeds are important to grain-eating birds as a food source.
The Scaly-breasted Munia (Lonchura punctulata) and the Javan
Munia (Lonchura leucogastroides) are examples of birds that
depend on the Guinea Grass (Panicum maximum) for their food.
|
Scaly-breasted
Munia
|
This
grass is widespread throughout the Park and can also be found around
the Visitor Centre. It is a tall grass growing up to 2m high. |
Once devoid
of grass grains, the grass also serves as a lining material for the
globular nests of these birds. The dense clumps of grass are also
favourite nesting sites for birds like the Yellow-bellied Prinias
(Prinia flaviventris).
Lallang (Imperata
cylindrica) is another grass found in the Park. |
Lallang
|
It is an important
nesting material for birds such as the Baya Weaver (Ploceus philippinus).
These birds make use of the long blades of grass to construct symmetrical
hanging homes for which they are known.
Birds such as the Olive-backed Sunbird (Nectrinia jugularis)
also use the white long fine hairs of the fruits to line their nests.
|
Baya
Weaver's nests
|
Lallang
patches can also be nesting sites. Slaty-breasted Rails (Rallus
striatus) are known to have nested among lallang. |
Featured here
are just two of the many grasses that are important to some of the
birds in the Park. So the next time you see these grasses, remember,
they have a reason for being there. |
|