Taiwan Expedition Log

August 9-29, 2008
September 5, 2008 update

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Saturday August 16, 2008

The trail began at 6,250' elevation and started with an overstory of taiwaniana and pinus and an understory that included stachyurus and a different-looking Hydrangea aspera. Within the first hour we were seeing lots of both Arisaema formosanum and A. taiwanense. At first all the Arisaema taiwanense had the typical green foliage, but after a while, they began blending in with the wonderful silver-leaved forms like those introduced by Heronswood Nursery. Alongside we also found Arisaema formosanum with narrow leaves and silver-center striped leaves. Also mixed in the populations were a few plants the size and shape of A. taiwanense, but with stem patterns of A. formosana. It appeared to us these could be possible intermediates between the two species.

The understory layer of Fatsia polycarpa had the most finely cut leaves we had seen yet. It seems the further we traveled, the more cut the leaves became. We saw our first stachyurus in fruit here as well. Many of the hillsides underneath the taiwania were carpeted with Syneilesis subglabrata with every leaf pattern imaginable. There were also several giant ferns here, which, if winter hardy, would be tremendous landscape specimens. One was a 4'-tall coniogramme that grew along the path, a fern resembling Diplazium maximum with 6'-long fronds, and another, possible diplazium, with stunning 8'-long fronds. The most amazing fern we saw for the first time was a 7'-tall clumper that branched at the tips ... I haven't even a clue as to its genus. As we rose in elevation, the flat areas beside the trail evolved into shear cliffs. We stopped short of the waterfall, and after admiring a huge array of epiphytic ferns including lepisorus, pyrrosia, and polypodiums growing near vertical cliffs, decided to turn around and retrace our steps.

We stopped back by the Wuling Farm store to pick up lunch supplies of beef jerky, Coke, and fruit. I opted for the wonderful peaches that grew nearby, while Mark went for the elaeagnus fruit. It didn't take but one elaeagnus, before Mark was eyeing my peach with ill intent. I was particularly interested in a vending machine with a drink called Pocari Sweat, a Japanese sports drink, whose logo looked remarkably like Coca-Cola ... possibly another knock-off?

From here, we decided to spend the rest of our day traveling south on Highway 7, and then head west on Highway 8 toward Lishan, where the road now ended about 29 km from the Highway 7, intersection, courtesy of the massive 1999 earthquake. Our entire route featured sloughed-off highway lanes as we almost reached to the literal end of the line. Although we couldn't read most of the Chinese road signs warning of danger, the universal signs were subtle enough we got the message. Where the roads aren't completely gone, the highway crews just keep adding more asphalt as the lanes continue to sink, which doesn't give the greatest sense of confidence when you are driving around twisty mountain roads, with your lane about 6" lower than the oncoming lane with giant cracks paralleling the yellow line. The horticultural finds here were few and far between, with the most exciting for us being a stretch of highway where all of the tetrapanax had very glossy dark green leaves. We also found another patch of Begonia chitoensis with both pure-white and dark-pink forms growing under Hydrangea aspera, this at a much higher elevation (5,700') compared to 4,400' for our earlier begonia discoveries. We turned around just as a light rain began to fall and returned to the hotel.