Chirixalus romeri (Previously known as Philautus romeri)

Chirixalus romeri is one of the 23 amphibians in Hong Kong which has a very narrow distribution in the world as it is endemic to Hong Kong. It is only found in the outlying islands in Hong Kong including Lantau, Lamma and Po Toi making them very susceptible to human disturbance or urban development. It is listed as endangered in IUCN red list 2008.

Recently there is a slope reinforcement work on Lamma Island that may affect a freshwater marsh holding a population of these tiny fragile frogs. Ex-situ conservation measures were conducted in order to reduce the impact on the natural population. There are several advantages for keeping them in captivity as it would not affect the gene pool and the competition of other population and it helps the scientists to know more about the ecology of the species including the breeding phenology and living conditions.

It's still unknown why Romer's Tree Frog is only distributed on the outlying islands but not Hong Kong Island and the New Terrestories. It's a matter of biogeography including plate tectonics and ice ages. However, too little is known in order to solve this complicated question.

Targets 2009

It's time to set some targets for plants at the start of 2009:

Tsoongiodendron odorum	觀光木
Rehderodendron kwangtungense	廣東木瓜紅
Castanopsis fordii	毛錐
Stauntonia decora	翅野木瓜
Sabia swinhoei	尖葉清風藤
Millettia pachycarpa	厚果崖豆藤
Diospyros tsangii	廷平柿
Hartia villosa	毛折柄茶
Ternstroemia kwangtungensis	廣東厚皮香
Strychnos cathayensis	華馬錢

and also for birds..

Fujian Niltava

Yellow-browed Bunting

Sulphur-breasted Warbler

Bay Woodpecker

Large Grass Warbler

Russet Bush Warbler

Dusky Thrush

Pectoral Sandpiper

Lanceolated Warbler

Greater Scaup

Japanese Robin

Diospyros tutcheri

Genus Diospyros Dunn (Ebenaceae)

One of the three genera in the family Ebenaceae which is comprised of about 500 species over the world. It is mainly distributed in the tropical region while some extending to the temperate region. There are about 60 species in China where 6 can be found in Hong Kong.

Diospyros tutcheri is widespread in Hong Kong which can be found on Sunset Peak, Tai Mo Shan, Pat Sin Leng and Tai Tam etc. However, it is still one of the rare Diospyros species in Hong Kong while another one, D. tsangii, is even rarer.

Asarum hongkongense

Genus Asarum L. (Aristolochiaceae)
contains about 90 species, mainly distributed in SE Asia. 39 species occur in China in which one is endemic to Hong Kong - Asarum hongkongense, a critically endangered species.

Flowers of Asarum are close to the ground and have strange shape. It is commonly believed that flowers of Asarum are pollinated by insects due to the traits of the flowers like the calyx surface ornamentation, tiny glands on the inner calyx surface and caudate sepal lobe extensions. Unlike most flowers of Aristolochia, flowers of Asarum give no bad odor which suggests Asarum is not imitating animal corpse that attract flies to pollinate. An old study suggested that the flowers resemble mushrooms that attract fungal gnats to lay eggs inside the flowers which may pollinate the flowers. However, more recent studies demonstrate that Asarum produces autogamous flowers which undergo self-pollination. The putative insect-attracting floral characters are therefore primitive which maybe derived from an insect-pollinating ancestor.

Flowers of Asarum are protogynous. The stigmas are receptive at the beginning of anthesis while anthers lie horizontally at the bottom of the flowers so that stigmas and anthers are spatially separated. In the later stages of the anthesis, the stamen filaments become erect (See the second picture) and the anthers dehisced to release pollen grains which promote intrafloral pollination. However, no detailed phenological study has been carried out for A. hongkongense so far, it is still not sure if its pollination mechanism is like such case.

Odorrana livida

Genus Odorrana is belonging to the family Ranidae which is comprised of 21 described species. Most of them occur in China where 16 can be found while the other 5 are in Japan. Odorrana livida is the most widespread species which is widely distributed in South-east Asia including India, China and Malaysia.

Recent study shows that Odorrana is most probably origniated at Mt. Hengduan and Plateau of western Yunnan where is the center of diversification of most fauna and flora. Odorrana is shown dispersing from the west to the east. Odorrana species occurring in the Southeast China, including O. livida, are more advanced within the genus.

Sarcococca longipetiolata

Genus Sarcococca (Buxaceae)
A small genus comprises of about 20 species mainly distributed in Asia. 9 species can be found in China while 5 of them are endemic to China. S. longipetiolata is one of the endemic species which is narrowly distributed in Hong Kong, N. Guangdong and S. Hunan.

S. longipetiolata is a very rare species in Hong Kong that is restricted to Mount Parker on Hong Kong Island. It is therefore very susceptible to human disturbance or urban development.

It has no urgent need for conservation measure as it is located in the country park area where all wild plant species are protected by laws. However, visiting this rare species becomes a gimmick of some local eco-tours. Disclosure of the location of the species to the public might bring some unpreditable influence to it.

Birding in Long Valley, HK