WenboChen Photography

Nature photographer, passionate about wildlife and natural habitats.

[wenbochenphoto]

Air plants can be easily spotted in the parks and gardens in Rio de Janeiro. I particularly like this little Tillandsia stricta, which can be found on most tree trunks with rough and mossy bark.

[wenbochenphoto]

Bonnetia rubicunda, the other Bonnetia species on Mount Roraima. Compared to B. roraimae, it is shorter with much larger foliage, but relatively rare. I only spotted a few individuals. They grow sporadically and never form a thick vegetation like B. roraimae.

[wenbochenphoto]

Bonnetiaceae is a new family to me. The species in this family are mostly shrubs and trees, such as this lovely shrub Bonnetia roraimae, which dominates the forest vegetation on the summit of Mt. Roraima.

[wenbochenphoto]

Another beautiful Maxillaria species in the cloud forest of Mt. Roraima that I am unable to identify.

[wenbochenphoto]

Epidendrum secundum on the summit of Mt. Roraima. This species is poorly understood, and there are dozens of varieties in South America with different colours. This one probably has the brightest red in orchids I've ever seen.

[wenbochenphoto]

Syzygium ingens is endemic to the subtropical rainforests of eastern Australia (NSW and QLD). It produces an enormous amount of red berries, which serve as an essential food source for fruit-eating birds, flying foxes, and possums. It is also a larval host plant for native butterflies like the Bronze Flat (Netrocoryne repanda). I couldn't help but imagine that cassowaries also fed on these fruits on the forest floor thousands of years ago, when they still roamed the lowland rainforests of SE QLD and NE NSW.

[wenbochenphoto]

Visiting an indigenous village in the Amazon.

[wenbochenphoto]

Heliamphora glabra on the summit of Mount Roraima, Venezuela.

[wenbochenphoto]

Vellosiella spathacea, a rare, climbing hemiparasitic subshrub belonging to the family Orobanchaceae, native to the Guyana Shield. It primarily thrives in montane forests, cloud forests, and tepui scrub environments at elevations between 1,500 and 2,200 meters.

[wenbochenphoto]

Afternoon lights in the Gondwana Rainforest (Tallebudgera valley, SE Queensland Australia).

[wenbochenphoto]

Drosera roraimae and crystal together mean perfection!

[wenbochenphoto]

Quartz crystals are so abundant on the summit of Mt. Roraima that, in fact, there is a place called Crystal Valley, where you literally walk on the minerals to cross the valley. You are not allowed to take them away, though; the rangers will check your bag before you leave.

[wenbochenphoto]

Good morning Gondwana Tea Mountain! (Tallebudgera Valley, SE Queensland Australia)

[wenbochenphoto]

Rondonanthus roraimae, a tiny, cute perennial at the summit of Mt. Roraima, belongs to the Eriocaulaceae family.

[wenbochenphoto]

The confluence of the Amazon and the Rio Negro is phenomenal. They don't immediately mix when meeting at Manaus; they flow side by side for 6 kilometres, and the full mixing takes another 60 kilometres to complete. This is due to the differences in temperature and sediments.

[wenbochenphoto]

Brocchinia tatei, native to Venezuela and Guyana, has a unique symbiosis relationship with microbes. It's not carnivorous but hosts nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria in its 'water tanks' that convert atmospheric nitrogen into bioavailable nutrients the plant can absorb, fascinating!

[wenbochenphoto]

Epidendrum montigenum on Mt. Roraima. This is a rare high-altitude orchid native to the Guiana Shield, which grows as a terrestrial or lithophyte on the tepuis at an elevation of 2,250 to 3,000m.