Vatica najibiana Ummul-Nazrah (Dipterocarpaceae), from the Relai Forest Reserve, Gua Musang, Kelantan and Gua Tanggang, Merapoh, Pahang, is described and illustrated. This species is Endangered and known from small populations restricted to two isolated karst limestone hills. The type locality, Relai Forest Reserve limestone, is currently under threat from encroaching oil palm plantations and ongoing logging, which, if it continues, will threaten the Kelantan population with extinction. The morphology of V. najibiana and the similar V. odorata subsp. odorata and V. harmandiana is compared.
A new genus from Borneo, Borneocola Y.Y.Sam, is described here. The genus currently contains eight species previously classified as members of the Scaphochlamys Baker. The finding is based on the results of the morphological and molecular studies of Scaphochlamys throughout its geographical range and its closely allied sister groups, Distichochlamys M.F.Newman and Myxochlamys A.Takano & Nagam. Borneocola is nested within the tribe Zingibereae and its monophyly is strongly supported by both ITS and matK sequence data. The genus is characterised by several thin, translucent and marcescent floral bracts, absence of coloured streaks on the labellum and capitate stigma with two dorsal knobs. The genus is distributed in northwest Borneo and all species are very rare and highly endemic.
Begoniayenyeniae is a new species of horticultural value known only from the Endau Rompin National Park, Peninsular Malaysia. It is similar to Begoniarajah with which it had previously been confused in the number of tepals and leaf characters. The new species is compared with three similar species, B.foxworthyi, B.rajah and B.reginula and photographs of all four species and descriptions of B.yenyeniae and B.rajah are provided. Molecular analysis using the ndhF-rpl132 chloroplast marker confirms the four species as distinct. Amongst native species, the three variegated species, B.yenyeniae, B.rajah and B.reginula, are some of the most popular Malaysian begonias in cultivation. Based on its restricted distribution, Begoniayenyeniae, under the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria, is assessed as Critically Endangered.
Two new species of the mycoheterotrophic genus Thismia Griff. (Thismiaceae), Thismiadomei Siti-Munirah and T.terengganuensis Siti-Munirah from Peninsular Malaysia, are described and illustrated. Thismiadomei, characterized by its perianth lobes that are upright and curve inward, but are imperfectly connate, falls within sectionOdoardoa. Thismiaterengganuensis is characterized by its mitre with three appendages on its apex, so falls within sectionGeomitra. Both new species are unique and totally different from other described species, T.domei by the trichomes on its outer perianth tube surface and T.terengganuensis by its mitre with slender appendages. Thismiajavanica J.J.Sm, also from Terengganu, is a new record for Peninsular Malaysia.
Ardisia argentiana and A. nagaensis from subgenus Tetrardisia are herein described and illustrated as new species. They are endemic to Borneo and the Indonesian province of Central Kalimantan and to the Malaysian state of Sarawak, respectively. Ardisia argentiana is unique in its linear-oblong leaves, with a long, acuminate-caudate apex, and finely serrulate margins, while A. nagaensis can be easily recognized by its elliptic-lanceolate leaves.
As part of the Flora of Peninsular Malaysia Project, a species checklist of the genus Capparis in Peninsular Malaysia is presented here with a total of 11 species, two subspecies and four varieties. A new species and two varieties, endemic to Peninsular Malaysia, are described and illustrated: Cappariskenaboiensis, C.scortechiniivar.ruthiae and C.trinerviavar.chungiana. Cappariskenaboiensis is known from a single site in Negeri Sembilan and is assessed as Vulnerable (VU); C.scortechiniivar.ruthiae from Pahang is Vulnerable (VU); and Capparistrinerviavar.chungiana is known from Negeri Sembilan, Pahang and Selangor and its conservation status is assessed as Near Threatened (NT). A checklist and updated key to the genus in Peninsular Malaysia are provided.
In Peninsular Malaysia, Coleus is represented by five species. Two, C.hairulii Kiew and C.rafidahiae Kiew, are new species. Both are narrowly endemic and restricted to limestone hills as is C.kunstleri (Prain) A.J.Paton. All three are Critically Endangered. Coleusscutellarioides (L.) Benth., although widespread, is probably not indigenous. It is also a common ornamental, while C.monostachyus (P.Beauv.) A.J.Paton is a recent introduction that has spread rapidly and threatens to become a troublesome weed.
Thismialatiffiana Siti-Munirah & Dome, a new species from Terengganu, Peninsular Malaysia, is described and illustrated. The new species differs from all other species of Thismia, described so far, in having golden trichomes that are present on the outer surface of its floral tube and mitre, as well as pyramidal protuberances on the inner surface of the floral tube. Additionally, it is remarkable in its supraconnective apically bearing two long trichomes. Thismialatiffiana is assigned a preliminary conservation status as Critically Endangered (CR) according to IUCN Criteria.
A new species of Asplenium is described from two collections made on limestone hills in Peninsular Malaysia. Conspicuous by its extremely narrow pinnae, it is probably allied to A. salignum but differs in sufficient characters (scale size, size and shape of lamina, venation and sorus length, position and orientation) to be a species in its own right.
This paper reports the mosses from Crocker Range Park (CRP) in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. In total, 293 species, three subspecies and eight varieties belonging to 118 genera and 36 families are reported. This represents about 40% and 47% of the species and infra-specific taxa reported from Borneo and Sabah, respectively. Out of these, six species are new records for Borneo, namely Barbella horridula, Chaetomitrium lancifolium, Distichophyllum leiopogon, Rhaphidostichum luzonense, Rosulabryum capillare and Taxiphyllum taxirameum and 12 species and one variety are new to Sabah. With these additions, the current number of mosses in Sabah and Borneo are 651 and 766, respectively. The largest family of mosses is Calymperaceae with 35 species and one subspecies, followed by Sematophyllaceae with 32 species and two varieties and Pylaisiadelphaceae with 21 species and one variety. In conclusion, CRP has a very high species richness of mosses which is the second highest in Borneo, after Mount Kinabalu.
Ridleyandra merohmerea, a new species of Gesneriaceae, is described and illustrated. It is endemic in Peninsular Malaysia and known from a few populations along the Tuang River in the lowland dipterocarp forest of the Ulu Galas Forest Reserve in Kelantan, Peninsular Malaysia. Its conservation status is assessed as Critically Endangered.
Ardisiawhitmorei Julius & Utteridge, sp. nov. (Primulaceae-Myrsinoideae), a member of ArdisiasubgenusStylardisia on account of the style protruding from the closed petals prior to anthesis, is herein described and illustrated as a new species. This new species is easily distinguished by the combination of the inflorescences with a slender rachis branched to two orders, the corolla lobes are abaxially glabrous with usually up to only two gland-dots near the apex and the brochidrodromous secondary veins with double loops near the margin.
A new species, Wikstroemiafragrans (Thymelaeaceae, Daphneae), from Danxiashan National Park, Shaoguan, Guangdong of China is described and illustrated. It is similar to the sympatric W.trichotoma, but can be differentiated easily from the latter by its shorter racemose inflorescences, yellowish green calyx tube, and smaller leaves. It also resembles the allopatric W.fargesii, but differs from it by its strigose-pubescent ovary and disk scale that is 2- or 3-dentate apically. Phylogenetic analysis using the nuclear DNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region revealed that W.fragrans falls within the Wikstroemia clade; based on current sampling, W.fragrans is closely-related to W.capitata. It is also the first species of Wikstroemia known to be endemic to the Danxia landform and is classified provisionally as Critically Endangered according to the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria.
An updated checklist of the liverworts and hornworts of Malaysia accepts 773 species and 31 infraspecific taxa of liverworts, in 120 genera and 40 families, and 7 species of hornworts (6 genera, 3 families). The largest family is Lejeuneaceae with 312 species in 30 genera, accounting for 40% of the total number of species. The largest genera are Cololejeunea, Bazzania and Frullania with 90, 61 and 55 species, respectively. The greatest number of species has been recorded from Sabah with 568 species, followed by Pahang and Sarawak with 338 and 265 species, respectively.
Two new species of Boesenbergia, B.sugudensis sp. nov. and B.truncata sp. nov. were discovered in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Boesenbergiasugudensis resembles B.imbakensis in that the leaf sheath of the plant is not thickened and in the anther thecae dehiscing by longitudinal slits, but differs in having a longer petiole and tubular calyx. Boesenbergiatruncata resembles B.orbiculata by the short petiole and a bilobed calyx, but differs by the truncate leaf base, the acute leaf apex, opposite leaves with a narrower lamina parallel to the ground and anther thecae dehiscing by pores. The new species are described and illustrated in detail.
Thismialimkokthayi, a distinct mitriform species of the mycoheterotrophic genus Thismia, is described and illustrated. It was found at a locality in the upland areas of Genting Highlands, Pahang, Malaysia. This new species is morphologically similar to members of Thismiasect.Geomitra, but differs in several characteristics, including the colour of the floral tube, the inner surface of the floral tube with longitudinal ribs and absent transverse bars, a stamen apex with a central lobe (prolongation of the rib) and two lateral lobes (the tips of each are recurved) and a black-purplish stigma. Thismialimkokthayi is provisionally classified as Critically Endangered according to the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria.
A new species from the Fagaceae family, Castanopsiscorallocarpus Tan & Strijk, is described from Royal Belum State Park in Peninsular Malaysia. Here, we provide technical illustrations, colour images and a description of its conservation status and the collecting locality, in addition to a comparative analysis with other species in the region. The solitary nut of C.corallocarpus has a morphologically unique cupule, lined with rows of thick coral-like spines not seen in other Castanopsis species.
A new mycoheterotrophic species, Thismiakenyirensis Siti-Munirah & Dome from Peninsular Malaysia, is described and illustrated. Thismiakenyirensis differs from other previously described species in the following characteristics: the flower tube is completely orange, with alternating darker and paler-coloured longitudinal lines on the outer and inner surfaces, the outer tepals are ovate (petaloid), the inner tepals are narrowly lanceolate, each ending with a long appendage. According to the IUCN Red List categories and criteria, T.kenyirensis is provisionally classified as Least Concern.
Recent fieldwork in Terengganu, Peninsular Malaysia, resulted in the collection of an endemic new species of Ardisia, described here as Ardisiarecurvipetala Julius, Siti-Munirah & Utteridge. The species is a member of subgenus (§) Crispardisia on account of its vascularised glands (bacterial nodules) on the leaf margin and the terminal inflorescence on a specialised lateral branch subtended by a normal leaf (rather than a reduced bract-like leaf). Ardisiarecurvipetala is unique amongst all members of §Crispardisia by having leaf margins with both vascularised glands and pustule-like structures and can be further distinguished from other Peninsular Malaysian members of this subgenus by the lamina raised between the leaf venation giving a somewhat bullate appearance, unbranched inflorescences, brownish-red pedicels and recurved corolla lobes, each with a creamy-white apex and a small pink patch at the base. Ardisiarecurvipetala is known only from a single location in Terengganu and its conservation status is assessed as Data Deficient (DD).