Red Hibiscus and White Passion Flowers

Red Hibiscus Flower

I spent approximately 12 days in the forest of West Papua early this week with two tourists from the United States. We explored the islands of Raja Ampat, the lowland and hill forest of Sorong, and the tropical rainforest of Arfak mountains in search of flowers, birds and other interesting animals. The early part of the trip was quite challenging because we experienced strong wind and waves in Raja Ampat. The rainforest tours in Vogelkop region went well. We were able to see a lot of flowering trees, shrubs and vines.
There was one red hibiscus shrub plant near our birding ground in Sorong regency. We stopped in front of it to take pictures. Its petals look different from the Red Hibiscus that I saw in coastal area of Tambrauw regency and in Arfak range. Because I do not have field guide book of tropical flowers, I could not identify the scientific names of the flowers that I saw.

Pygmy Passion Flower

We also saw small beautiful passion flowers at the sides of the road. Its petals were white. The inner part of its corona filaments was pink. It was smaller than the red hibiscus. We also saw other flowers such as Crepe Ginger and Terrestrial Orchid in the same area.
While traveling in Arfak range, we saw Rhododendron shrub plants. They were Rhododendron konori. The flowers were emitting soft fragrant smell.
New Guinea has got a lot of flowers that grow in the coastal, forest edge and in the middle of densed tropical jungle. They are beautiful and are often used as decorative plants in cities and towns. Flowers that emit fragrant smell have not been developed as raw material for essential oil.
Well, when I travel again into forest area, I will take more pictures of flowers and upload them into this blog.

Rainforest Flowers