Our accommodation at the ‘Morning Mist Resort’ was at the edge of the Khao Sok National Park.
We were to stay in small cabins that are scattered around the complex. As I dropped my bag in the room, Number 13, I noticed that there was no AC but there was a fan and mosquito nets were dangling above the beds. Perhaps I could have a good night’s sleep!
I opted to do nothing in the afternoon except explore and enjoy the flowers in the natural tropical gardens that surround the resort. How often, when travelling, do we drop our bags at the place where we’re to stay and not explore its surroundings? We just go off to explore somewhere else. Seems a waste to me.
The main entrance to the Morning Mist Resort, rather rustic, very tropical.
Red Passion-flower (Passiflora coccinea). This plant is a native of the Amazon Basin but is widely grown in tropical regions. The fruit is orange or yellow and good eating.
Butterfly bush (Turnera diffusa)
This Thunbergia grandiflora has many common names such as Blue Skyflower, Bengal Trumpet and Clockvine. It is native to China, India, Nepal, Indochina and Burma. Broken pieces of plant float down watercourses and establish easily. The large flowers are followed by pods which eject seeds several metres on ripening. It is a declared noxious weed in Queensland. By the same token it has been given an Award of Garden Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society (UK). A climbing plant, it can reach 20m in height.
The shrub Vinca (Kopsia fruticosa) occurs in India and on the Malay Peninsula. It has important traditional medicinal properties and is used in treating sores and syphilis.
Ixora sp. come from Africa and Asia.
Costus babatus is a plant closely related to the gingers and heliconias.
The Blue Butterrfly Pea (Clitoria ternatea) is a widely grown annual vine. It originally comes from Tropical Africa and South America.
Hanging Lobster-claw (Heliconia rostrata).
An especially long inflorescence on a Hanging Lobster-claw plant (Heliconia rostrata).
There are over a 1,000 species of Anthurium from tropical America. Many more 1,000’s of cultivars have been bred from the original species.
A white-flowered member of the potato family (Solanum sp.).
There are approximately 40 species of water-lily (Nymphaea) widely spread throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world.
Sometimes called Spider Lily (Hymenocallis littoralis), this plant is very salt tolerant.
After this delightful, if hot, wander in the gardens, Brian and I went for a walk down the local road to see what we could find. More of that anon.
David
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