Lillies....Oh, my beautiful Lillies....

One of my favourite and beautiful plants that blooms in my potted garden is the Cardwell Lily (don't really know the derivation of the name) or the Northern Christmas Lily (as it usually flowers around Christmas). Locally, the plant is known as Pokok Bunga Sepenuh or by any other names and botanically, as Proiphys Amboinensis, named after the island of Ambiona, now known as Ambon in Indonesia. The plant also naturally can be found in the rainforest of Southeast Asia, Indonesia and mostly on the northern parts of Australia. Another similar plant to the Cardwell Lily is the Brisbane Lily or the Moreton Bay Lily (botanic name, Proiphys Cunninghamii) which was first discovered in abundance on the banks of Brisbane river, at Moreton Bay, Australia (I guessed that's where the name Brisbane Lily was derived).

The main visual differences between the Cardwell Lily and the Brisbane Lily are the leaves and the flowers. Though the leaves are both similar in shape, the leaves of the Cardwell Lily are slightly larger than the Brisbane Lily. The small white petals of the flowers of the Brisbane Lily are slightly rounded compared to the Cardwell Lily which are more narrow and longer.


The Cardwell Lily is an attractive perennial bulb plant with large beautiful, deeply-veined, heart-shaped glossy leaves which are produced on long petioles*. The Cardwell Lily is an easy plant to grow and make a good container plant.



The Cardwell Lily blooms are produced in an umbel*-like clusters of 5 or a maximum of 25 blooms on a long stem that can reach up to 50cm long. The small six-petaled white blooms with yellow stamens are lightly frangrant. Occasionally, fruits (last picture) will develop on the flower heads and often germinate on the plant ie. new plants can be grown from these.



The Cardwell Lily can be propagated from seeds or from separation of bulbs, where the latter is much preferred onto well-drained medium consisting of garden mixed soil with peat. The medium should always be kept moist but not wet and prefer a shaded location with filtered sunshine for the leaves to be glossy and healthy.




*petioles - leaf stalk

*umbel - umbrella like flower cluster with stalks of about equal length, springing from a common centre

A Dumb Cane???

I am confused as anyone else, why another confused name to a nice plant? The confusion began with the common name that I discovered for these few pots of my plants with beautiful foliage. The Dumb Cane, Leopard Lily or by any other names, is a very common houseplant that has more than 30 species worldwide. It is one of the local favourite here with some having a few species in their collection. Botanically, the bold & popular plant is known as Dieffenbachia, an Araceae family and native of Caribbean, Central & South America.


The beautiful, variegated leaves of the Dumb Cane come in a variety of colours in all shades of green, light yellow to white and some with a dash of red whereas, the designs on the leaves are in a very unique pattern for each different species.

Due to its low light tolerance, easy propagation and attractive foliar variegation, the Dumb Cane has always been one of the popular choices for home decors to include as an indoor houseplant. If the leaves received too much light, they will become faded but once in a while, the plant need to be put for a few hours under a full sun in order to keep it from becoming top heavy and in need of support.




The plant is known to be poisonous especially to small children & animals if consume in a high quantity which will result in swelling of the throat tissue and constrict breathing. The sap contains a potent irritant that is painful and may cause damage if contact is made to the eyes and irritant to the skin. Matured plants do produce blooms that not as bold as the foliage.

When the plant becomes gangly and unattractive, cut-off the cane leaving about 4 inches above the soil. The stump will re-sprout and grow a new plant. The top section of the plant where the foliage is on can either be rooted in the pot containing well-drained medium or rooted in water.

Water when the soil is dry to the touch and be careful not to overwater the plants because overwatering can cause the stems to rot. On the other hand, if they don't get enough water, their leaves will get brown edges.

Herbs anyone??? (Part 3) - Kaffir Lime

Citrus Hystrix DC or commonly known as Kaffir Lime is a native of Asia. It is widely used as a culinary herb especially in Southeast Asian cuisine. Locally, it is known as Limau Purut (Malay) and by any other names in different countries such as Jeruk Purut (Indonesian), Bai Makrut (Thai), etc.


The leaves of the lime have a unique, characteristic shape due to their winged petioles*, double-shaped that looks like two leaves joined end to end. The strong lemon-like frangrance of both fruit as well as the leaf can be quite dominating and penetrating but can be quite refreshing. The leaf of the Kaffir Lime is popularly used in Thai cuisine such as the popular Tom Yum & curries whereas in Malay cuisine, the leaves are crushed or shredded and add into delicious Rendang..uummmph, yummy!! The frangrance and the distintive flavour derived from the leaves is irreplaceable or cannot easily be substituted by any other spice.


In Indonesia, the juice and rind of the fruit (size like the normal lime but with wrinkled skin texture) are traditionally used as a medicinal herb in the Jamu (concoction of herbal medicine) and Lulur (body scrub). The oil produced from the rind also has a strong insecticidal properties while the essence of the fruit is now popularly used in modern aromatherapy.

In some parts of Malaysia, other than the wide usage of the leaves in their cuisine, it also utilised as one of the ingredients of the traditional Malay sauna bath or 'mandi wap' because of its refreshing frangrance.

The Kaffir Lime fruit is also widely used traditionally in the malay community. The juice extracted from the fruit if washed onto hair after shampooing and left for a few minutes before the final rinse, will actually promote healthy growth of the hair follicles*. The extracted lime juice if mixed with plain water and consumed for at least 3 times per day is also believed to alleviate colds, lack of energy and tiredness.

It is also known during the olden days that the fruit is frequently used in spiritual bathing due to the belief that the fruit contains some special qualities that will invigorate the senses during self-defence training. Perhaps, its frangrance & sharp odour contain elements that provide some peculiar distinctive aromatherapic properties to the brain.

The Kaffir Lime can be propagated by stem cuttings, seeds from the ripen fruits or by grafting onto a dwarfing rootstock, carefully placed onto well-drained medium. Usually, grafted rootstock or stem cuttings are much favoured than germinating of seeds due to the latter will take a longer process to grow into an adult plant. Since it is a tropical plant, lots of sunshine is preferable.


*petioles - leaf stalk
*follicles - small gland containing hair root

Vampire or Simply a Bird Nest.....

Realising that today is Friday the 13th (oooohhhhh...), no its not that I'm being supertitious but it does gives me an idea to post something about the mythical belief among the locals and elders in this region. Oh no, I'm not going to start writing on some ghost stories but on something more related to my 'green fingers'.


This graceful species of the common fern is often associated in the Malay folklore with the Langsuir or pontianak (directly translated as the female vampire..and by the way, why the local version of the vampire must always be a female?? Something to ponder!). Thus, locally it is commonly known as Pokok Langsuir or the nicer version, Pokok Semun.

Botanically, the fern is known as Asplenium Nidus or commonly known as Bird Nest's Fern or Crow's Nest Fern. The fern is a native of Tropical Asia, Northern Australia, India and Japan. It can grow in great variety as an epiphyte* on large trees especially in rainforests. Independently, it can also be found on the forest floors or on rocks with good available light.



The unique formation of nest shaped radiating fronds has nest-like 'hairs' in its crown (that's how the name Bird's Nest derived) and water clogging should be kept away from it to prevent rotting. The roots of the fern is small, dense & spongy to keep it constantly moist.

The Bird Nest's fern is one of the easiest fern to grow. Propagation is by division of the mother plant or by spores found on the underside, mid-rift of the matured fronds or by young babies easily found in between rocks, plants, etc.


If propagation is by using spores, firstly place a leaf with mature spores onto a piece of paper or in a paper bag. Within a day or two, the spores can be collected and placed onto a pot containing moist peat moss, sphagnum moss or any moist medium. Placed the pot in a shady location and mist daily to encourage germination.

To propagate a division or the baby of the fern, placed the plant onto a well-drained medium in a pot, basket or tub and placed them on shaded areas with filtered sunlight to produce nice, green lust fronds. The roots should always be kept moist but not wet.


*epiphyte - plant growing on another

White Paw Rabbit's Foot Anyone?

No..no..no..its not another exotic culinary special of the day, its the common name for this special fern pictured below. Botanically, the fern is known as Humata Tyermanii (sounds Japanese to me..he.he..)



The fern, native to the Canary Islands gets its common name White Paw Rabbit's Foot fern from the white fur on the feet (rhizomes) that come over the edge of the pot.


It's an easy to grow fern, loves moisture & few hours of sunshine each day. Due to the nature of the fern where the fronds grow upwards whereas the rhizomes (white paw) grow around and out of the pot, it is great to plant it in a hanging basket or a hanging pot. Propagation is by cutting the rhizome (ie. the white paw) and place it into a well-drained medium.

Stem Cuttings...or should it be Leaf Cuttings!!!

It was really a surprise yesterday night to find a small red paper bag on the stairs of my house. I was opening the bag very slowly, not knowing what to expect and there it was..a few stem cuttings of African Violets freshly packed in small 'ziploc' plastic bags, individually labelled. There's only one person that come across my mind on that very moment..yes, Kak Mona. Was she really here at my place when we were out yesterday afternoon??


It was a public holiday yesterday, the Brunei Armed Forces Day. Since my spouse had a day off and the children not having to attend school, we decided to have a day 'out' in the afternoon as well as to do some grocery shopping. As a matter of fact, I was also on a mission to find any African Violet plants for sale at some of the shopping establishments here but sad to say, this particular type of plant is not commonly available here..not like back home, where we can easily find them in almost all supermarkets & nurseries. I really miss visiting the nurseries back home.

Right after unpacking my groceries and fulfilling my religious obligations, I wait no time to quickly germinate the stem cuttings. The small flower plastic pots that I bought previously was filled with the recommended combination of medium with each individual stem cutting carefully placed in the plastic pot and labelled accordingly. I was very excited with the whole process and just can't wait to see the success, only time will tell.


The re-potted plants given previously (above picture) and the new cuttings freshly germinated in smaller pots (below picture), all from the compliments of a dear friend, Kak Mona.


Thanks again Kak Mona for the cuttings and the seeds..at least part of my mission have been accomplished.