Taiwan Expedition Log

August 9-29, 2008
September 5, 2008 update

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Saturday August 23, 2008

We opted to connect with the north-south Interstate 3 just outside Tainan, which would cut lots of time off our trip north to Ali Shan. Despite a few unexpected detours trying to find Highway 3, including passing the mother of all Taiwan Buddhist Monasteries, we finally found our highway and were off. We made amazing time on Highway 3, and before we knew it, we were off to the east on Highway 18 toward Ali Shan. We began to climb in elevation as we headed up the top of Ali Shan, finally stopping for the first time at 5,000' elevation, merely to answer the call of nature. While stopped, we spotted a small hole in what appeared to be a bamboo forest and decided to peer inside. We were first greeted by more Begonia chitoensis, then a cane-type begonia, then as our eyes began to wander, we quickly spotted a huge clump of asarum, then another, then, we noticed we were in an entire forest of giant bamboo and giant Asarum hypogynum. What do I mean giant ... how about 8" long x 8" wide, with leaves in every shape, size, and leaf pattern? We had already found lots of asarum on the trip, but none a fraction of the size of these giants. Even more, they were in full bloom with flowers that resembled A. magnificum. We could have looked at asarums all day, but there was more ... large clumps of aspidistra, another cane-type begonia, white-flowered Begonia chitoensis, Disporum taiwanense, Aucuba chinensis, and one of my target plants, Arisaema grapospadix. Sometimes blind luck beats all the research in the world.

Emotionally exhausted from all of the exciting finds, we continued straight for our accommodations at the Ali Shan Forest Recreation Area. Arriving at the police checkpoint at 6,200', we paid our entrance fee and were directed to a giant parking lot. This is point zero for the Ali Shan Forest Recreation Area, stacked with a host of shops, food vendors and tea cafes, anchored by a giant Starbucks. At the bottom of a steep walk is hotel row, and above it is the entrance to the forest area.

Since it was already after 3pm, we chose one of the many cafes for lunch where we enjoyed a fantastic meal that made us ready to see more plants. Before heading back into the field, we first took the walk down the steep stairs and checked into our hotel, the Kao Feng. The Kao Feng has a nice granite interior and the rooms were certainly more than satisfactory. From here, we quickly climbed the stairs again, located our van, and exited the parking area to drive into the mountains, only to find the road inside the park area is limited to service vehicles and residents who live in the park. The only way to enter the park is by bus, train, or foot. We opted for plan 2, which was to exit the park and continue east on Highway 18 into the western side of Yushan National Park.

Our first stop outside the park was in a cryptomeria forest with Schefflera taiwanense understory, that yielded some cool finds including a perennial impatiens with swollen stems, our first spotting of Smilacina japonica, and some wonderful Arisaema formosana with jet black stems. We found another, or possibly the same calanthe orchid ... this one with light lavender flowers that faded to yellow.

Further up the road, our final stop for the day yielded some interesting woodies including what appeared to be a large version of Ilex latifolia, which doesn't match anything in their flora, so it's possible it may not be a holly. Also some very narrow-lobed Dendropanax pallucidopunctata was growing along the seemingly deserted path that in spots was completely grown up in miscanthus. We botanized until nearly dusk, then back into the van for the short 10km drive to our hotel. After dinner at another of the nice Ali Shan restaurants, except for Mark's tough sauteed wild boar, we were ready to call it a day. After laying down in our beds, it became obvious soundproofing was not a priority at the Kao Feng as we could hear the loud conversations in Chinese outside our 3rd floor window, seeming like they were standing beside us. Thank goodness it was nothing a good set of earplugs couldn't cure. The next morning, Mark told me about the ruckus outside our room around 3am, that sounded like near riot proportions. We assumed it must have been some patrons who had far too much to drink the night before.