Eusideroxylon zwageri (Bornean Ironwood) Chopsticks

This is sort of a continuation of this blogpost, in which detailed my visit to the SBG's Ethnobotany Garden where I saw a medicinal pounder made of Belian wood: http://openplants.blogspot.com/2019/07/sbgs-bird-attracting-tree-and-new.html

Belian wood is another name for Borneon Ironwood, and it was written on the pounder's signage that "it is weather-proof and made to last for centuries even with outdoor use". Made me want to get some Belian wood myself. So I went online shopping and found the most inexpensive type to be chopsticks. One listing said that the chopsticks were "made of premium Bornean ironwood (Eusideroxylon zwageri)", but are they really?

This is one of the photos posted on that Amazon listing of Natural Iron Wood Chopsticks. Note the vascular bundle like spots at the cross section (top of chopsticks).

But what has vascular bundles? That's right, monocots like bamboo. Bamboo is commonly made into reusable and disposable chopsticks.

Then I went on to an online hardware shop that sells Belian wood planks. Given the price and that the physical store was located in Malaysia, I suppose the wood was authentic. The cross section of the wood also has spots. Could they be ray cells?

So how could chopsticks be reliably be determined to be made of some kind of dicot wood and not bamboo? Are the only reliable ways be to: 1. Buy the wood from a trusted source and make the chopsticks myself, or 2. Send the chopsticks to a wood anatomy expert?

Another listing of natural wood chopsticks stated that before first use, they should be soaked in cold water with a pinch of salt added for 4-6 hours, then wiped with vegetable oil after drying. The listing noted that water in which the chopsticks were placed in would change colour. The browning could be caused by tannin that is present in bark, wood, leaves, etc., to help the tree protect against predation and infection by bacteria or fungi.

Could Borean Ironwood or any other hardwood be reliably used as chopsticks "for decades" when they are constantly washed, touching hot food and placed into mouths?

Browning of water that could be caused tannin seeping out of the wood. Not dyes or paints as some buyers suspected.

Bamboo wood is a thing.

Small pits observed at the cross section of a pair of chopsticks that I found in a random drawer.

Supposedly made in Japan or made for the Japan market, and if I understand the kanji correctly, part of it reads "natural wood".

Looked like it was heavily dyed and lacquered.

Another pair of chopsticks that I received as a souvenir from Japan, which have no small pits observed at the cross section.

Looked like it was dyed but lightly lacquered. Overall it feels better made than the previous chopsticks.

Monitoring Trees Using Data from Satellites and Analysis of Spectral Reflectance (Opinion After Waiting for 3 Years)

This is a continuation (part three) of these blogposts made in May 2017:
http://openplants.blogspot.com/2017/05/monitoring-at-risk-trees-using-spectral.html
http://openplants.blogspot.com/2017/05/bogstadveien-19-oslo-norway.html

That blogspot discussed a method whereby data were collected by satellites and processed by remote-sensing software to generate spectral reflectance of trees. The spectral reflectance could, as the service provider postulated, correlate to tree stress and/or structural stability.

In one back-dated analysis, the spectral reflectance of three (3) trees were analysed from data collected on 2 Sep 2014 and 8 Sep 2015 (one year apart) from the WorldView2 satellite. One of the three trees had felled without human intervention on 10 Aug 2016.

As the service provider wrote in the article (see Reference) - in just one year, the drop in the spectral reflectance of the near-infrared band for Fallen Tree #1 was 5%. There was not much variation in spectral reflectance in the adjacent Alive Tree #2 and Alive Tree #3.

HOWEVER, Tree #1 did not fall, as seen in the Google Streetview dated May 2016 and Sep 2019.

This photo showed that Tree #2 was the one that felled, as it was present before it felled on 10 Aug 2016, and was not present on Sep 2019. Tree #2 was peeking out from behind of Tree #1 (indicated by red arrow and not a large branch of Tree #1). (Source: Google Streetview)

Further confirmation that Tree #2 was the one that felled. (Source: Google Maps)

Therefore, as suspected in this post in May 2017 (http://openplants.blogspot.com/2017/05/bogstadveien-19-oslo-norway.html), Tree #1 was indeed mislabelled, and the data and subsequent spectral reflectance analysis may be unreliable to be correlated to tree stress and/or structural stability.

Reference:
International Society of Arboriculture's Arborist News, Volume 26, Number 2, April 2017

Bagan (Myanmar) Resort Development

This a continuation (part two) of this blogpost:
https://openplants.blogspot.com/2017/07/enhancing-post-transplant-success-in.html

Sharing the resort completion photos and the state of the transplanted palms (Borassus flabellifer).
The palms were intentionally planted in straight rows to simulate the rows of palms that line the periphery of farm plots that grows peanuts and sesame seeds around this area.

Palms along the "row houses" looked like they are recovering well.

Ground shot of the above aerial shot.

Somewhere near the "row houses" as well.

Not showing much of the palm here, but rather the hot air balloons.

At another side of the development, where the main hall/reception building and swimming pool are located.

The transplanted palms lined one side of the swimming pool, and both side of the lawn.

Overlooking the ancient ruins of Bagan and hot air balloons.

Trees on Partially Enclosed Rooftop Gardens

Raffles City Chongqing (China) just opened its glass-bottom sky bridge recently. From up there, visitors could see the Yangtze River's brown merging with Jialing River’s blue below their feet. This sky bridge, named Exploration Deck or The Crystal (not sure which) is 300m in length, 32.5m in width and 26.5m high. Tickets to the Exploration Deck are priced at RMB180 (about S$36). The Crystal has 120 trees, which they think would grow to about 9m tall when they have matured.

Developer: CapitaLand
Architects: Safdie Architects, P & T Group International Ltd.
Landscape Consultant: WAA

An exterior view of Raffles City Chongqing. The sky bridge is nestled atop four 250m tall skyscrapers and linked to two adjacent skyscrapers by cantilever bridges.

Image credit: CapitaLand  

The glass-bottom sky bridge is the highest of its kind across Western China.  Note that trees at either ends of the sky bridge are the only ones fully exposed to sunlight.

Image credit: CapitaLand  

This tree is presumably somewhere near the middle of the sky bridge. Does not seem to receive any light other than the artificial light supplied by the spotlight.

Image credit: CapitaLand  

Trees within enclosure looking low in foliage.

Image credit: CapitaLand

Trees at one end of the sky bridge, which is (relatively) fully exposed to sunlight.

Image credit: CapitaLand

Coming back to Singapore at Orchard Central. There are two levels of rooftop gardens, one of which is at level 11, where some restaurants are. At one small corner, there was a tree at an "air well" but I suppose it did not do well, presumably due to the lack of sunlight.

Tree pointed with red arrow from the view within a restaurant. 

Photo taken in Oct 2013.

The tree and the "forest floor" landscaping are gone. Replaced with semi-shade tolerant plants such as Dracaena cambodiana, Tabernaemontana corymbosa (variegated), Spathiphyllum wallisii,  and Syngonium (variegated). Photo taken in Jan 2020.

Citharexylum spinosum with low crown ratio.

Photo taken in Jan 2020.

An unorthodox way to have trees/palms indoors is to install artificial ones. Disappointing as it may be. 

Concrete block base for each artificial tree/palm.