Dr. John Yong's Guides to mangroves, mistletoes and ferns

Dr. John Yong has shared valuable guides to our mangroves, mistletoes and ferns!

Click on image to download full size.

These guides are a wonderful aid for those learning to identify these plants!

His 'blue sheet' guide to mangroves have been greatly appreciated by mangrove lovers for some time.

So it was wonderful to learn that he has also come up with a similar guide for mistletoes!

Mistletoes are often called hemiparasites. While they do 'steal' water and nutrients from a host plant, they have leaves and can also undergo photosynthesis and produce some of their own food. Mistletoes are dispersed by birds, which eat their colourful fruits. Emerging from the other end of the bird, the mistletoe seeds are sticky. So the bird has to rub its backside onto a branch to get rid of the seeds! Whereupon the seed germinates into a new mistletoe.

[Update Oct 2012: Dr Yong has updated the Mistletoes Guide]

AND, Dr John has also provided guides to ferns as well!

Ferns are non-flowering plants. They produce spores instead of flowers, fruits and seeds. Their leaves are called fronds, and come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Ferns may be as tall as trees or tiny and moss-like. Some grow on the ground, while others live in trees as epiphytes.

Dr John Yong Wan Hong has been a great inspiration to a growing number of Singapore mangrove enthusiasts. He is always glad to generously share of his vast knowledge of our mangroves and beyond.
Dr John at Pulau Semakau to help the team preparing the book about Pulau Semakau. Botanists have cool telescoping thingamajigs to effortlessly gather specimens from tall trees!

As a volunteer, Dr. John contributes extensively to scientific work on mangroves globally and in the region, publishing scientific work, providing training to mangrove workers and participating in mangrove conservation projects. In Singapore, he works closely with the National Parks Board and local nature groups.

Besides technical guides, Dr John also contributes to local popular nature publications such as "Private Lives: an exposé of Singapore's mangroves" by the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research and articles to Nature Watch of the Nature Society (Singapore).

Dr. John's daytime job is an Assistant Professor at NIE, NTU teaching biology and environmental sciences to undergraduates and trainee teachers.

More links

• Check out Dr. John's marvellous flickr site with photos of mangroves, mistletoes and more in Singapore and around the world.
• 'Seeding a Dream' about Dr John's word, in Nature Watch, magazine of the Nature Society (Singapore).
• Dr. John also shared how charcoal is made from mangroves.
• More about Singapore mangroves and other plants on the wildsingapore fact sheets.