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TOWARDS THE FLORA OF MALAYSIA<br />
On the average, the Tree Flora of Sabah and Sarawak contained about 44.5% more species<br />
than the Tree Flora of Malaya. If this proportion is maintained for the rest of the tree flora,<br />
then with the Tree Flora of Malaya having 2,830 species (Ng et al. 1990), it is estimated that<br />
the Tree Flora of Sabah and Sarawak will contain just over 4,000 species. Based upon this<br />
estimation also, with about 8,300 species of vascular plants in Peninsular Malaysia, it is<br />
estimated that the Flora of Sabah and Sarawak will contain about 12,000 species. In the table<br />
above, we have also included in the count, 645 species in the revisions that are common to<br />
both Sabah and Sarawak, and Peninsular Malaysia, i.e., 59.4% overlap. Based upon this overlap<br />
and using the estimated ratios we have worked out earlier, the total tree flora of Malaysia<br />
should be just over 5,200 species and estimated total flora of vascular plants of Malaysia will<br />
be just over 15,300 species.<br />
HERBARIA, COLLECTIONS AND SPECIMENS<br />
Specimens are essential in the documentation of the flora of Malaysia. Today, the collection at<br />
the herbarium of Forest Research Institute Malaysia (KEP) stands about 300,000 specimens.<br />
The other large herbarium holdings include the Forest Research Centre at Sandakan (SAN)<br />
with 253,725 specimens and the Forest Research Centre at Kuching (SAR) with about 250,000<br />
specimens (Table 5). Other important Malaysian collections are found at the herbaria at<br />
Universiti Malaya (KLU) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKMB). The herbarium at<br />
the Singapore Botanic Gardens (SING) is particularly very important for the Peninsular<br />
Malaysian flora. Many type specimens for plants described from Peninsular Malaysia are<br />
found there. It has about 650,000 specimens. Other important collections for the Malaysian<br />
flora include The Forest Herbarium (BKF), Bangkok, Thailand, National Herbarium of<br />
Netherlands, Leiden (L), Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K), Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh<br />
(E), UK, Arnold Arboretum (A), Harvard University, USA, and Central National Herbarium<br />
(CAL), Calcutta, India. For Sabah and Sarawak, the Herbarium Beccarianum (FI-B), Florence,<br />
Italy is particularly important for Beccari’s collection and the herbarium of Brunei Forest<br />
Department (BRUN).<br />
Table 5. Important herbarium holdings for Malaysia and Singapore<br />
Country Institutions Specimens<br />
Malaysia Forest Research Institute Malaysia 300,000<br />
Forest Research Centre, Sandakan, Sabah 253,725<br />
Forest Research Centre, Kuching, Sarawak 250,000<br />
Universiti Malaya 65,000<br />
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 72,000<br />
Singapore Singapore Botanic Gardens 650,000<br />
STATE OF KNOWLEDGE FOR A FLORA OF MALAYSIA<br />
Among the key resources to speeding up the documentation of a flora of Malaysia is the<br />
availability of recent revisions that may set the foundation for the flora writing. The vascular<br />
flora of Malaysia will include 250 families in Peninsular Malaysia and 253 families in Sabah<br />
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