Abstract:
A total of 230 taxa of diatoms belonging to 58 genera were recorded from 12 locations in Peninsular Malaysia and 14 locations in Singapore. The most common genera are Navicula and Nitzschia.

Abstract:
From field and hebarium studies, two new fern and 23 angiosperm taxa were found to have been previously overlooked or newly discovered in Singapore. Brief notes on their description, distribution and collecting localities are made for each.

Abstract:
Karyomorphology of five species in three genera of Myrtaceae, namely Callistemon, Melaleuca, and Syzygium, is investigated. All five species examined have similar chromosome features at mitotic interphase, prophase, and metaphase. Mitotic metaphase of their somatic cells consistently show 2n = 22, of which 18 chromosomes have centromeres at median position and four at subterminal or terminal position. Syzygium aromaticum has a secondary constriction in the longest pair of chromosomes as in several other related and unrelated species of the family, a fact suggesting that the presence of the secondary constriction may be of some taxonomic use.

Abstract:
Hymenandra A.DC, with eight species, is revised. Four new species are proposed and one species originally placed in Ardisia is transferred.  The genus is subdivided into two subgenera, Hymenandra and Lacrimopila subg. nov. (the first with 6, the second with 2 species). A key to the species, new descriptions, illustrations, and a list of exsiccatae examined are included.

Abstract:
The following marine algae are newly recorded for Singapore mangroves: Bostrychia pinnata Tanaka et Chihara, Bostrychia simpliciuscula Harvey ex J. Agardh (Rhodophyta, Ceramiales, Rhodomelaceae), Caloglossa angustalata nom. prov. (Rhodophyta, Ceramiales, Delesseriaceae) and Boodleopsis carolinensis Trono (Chlorophyta, Caulerpales).

Abstract:
Two new species, Cinnamomum pubescens and Endiandra scrobiculata, and two new varieties, Actinodaphne sesquipedalis var. glabra and Lindera concinna var. reticulata are described.

Abstract:
This paper reports the findings of an experiment on embryo culture of Howea belmoreana and Howea forsteriana.  It was demonstrasted that growth regulators significantly affect the development of embryo  culture. The medium containing 1 mgl-1 of 2,4-D and 0.5 mgl -1 of 2iP was found to give the best results for both of the Howea palms. Conventional germination of Howea palm seeds generally takes a year or more (Reynolds 1982).  In our experiments, the embryo culture required only 12 -  20 weeks to develop fully rooted plantlets. This saving in time could be significant for commercial production.

Abstract:
The bamboo Schizostachyum terminale Holtt., first recorded and for more than 30 years known only from Peninsular Malaysia, has been documented for north Borneo.  It has a clambering, thicket-forming growth habit and an unusual preference for seasonally inundated swampy riverbanks and alluvial flats.

Abstract:
No Abstract
 

Abstract:
Kwan Koriba (1887-1957), a noted Japanese botanist, educator and academic administrator was given the rank of Brigadier General and appointed Director ot the Singapore Botanic Gardens from December 1942 to August 1945 during the World Was II occupation. As Director he performed his duties exceptionally well, carried out first rate scientific research and treated his British colleagues with compassion and understanding. After the war Prof. Koriba was appointed to be the president of Hirosaki National University.

Abstract:
Deficiency symptoms of essential nutrient elements were induced in Hibiscus rosa-sinensis in a nutrient omission trial in acid-washed sand. An atlas of deficiency symptoms was presented with description on individual deficiency symptons. Dry matter of above- and below-ground parts from control and deficient plants as well as their foliar elemental contents were determined and compared.

Abstract:
One new species of Nepenthes, N. borneensis, from Gunong Besar in Kalimantan Selatan Borneo is described.

Abstract:
One hectare of forest in Pantai Aceh F.R. was enumerated for stems > 10 cm d.b.h., and to a 1 cm d.b.h. lower limit in a 0.05 ha subplot. The large plot was found to contain 3'74 stems belonging to 70 or so species. The Dipterocarpacea was the most abundant family (34% of stems >10 cm d.h.h. Shorea curtisii dominated the largest size class (>30cm d.b.h.) with 48 out of 81 stems. The most numerous species in the sub-canopy were: Shorea maxwelliana, Porterandia anisophylla and Pternandra coerulescens. The floristic composition indicates that Pantai Aceh is a coastal hill dipterocarp forest of the Shorea curtisii-Eugeissona tristis segregate.  Analysis of sand tables, together with the known history of logging on the site, lead to the conclusion that the composition of the forest is changing. More shade-tolerant dipterocarp species such as Shorea maxwelliana are taking over the upper canopy as Shorea curtisii fails to regenerate.

Abstract:
A checklist for the 20 Didymocarpus species on Gunung Tahan is given  Three new species, D. codonion, D.  polyanthoides and D. yongii are descibed. The species Ridley called D. kompsoboea is renamed D. lithophilus. D. filicifolius is reduced to synonomy with D. salicinus and reasons for not recognising var. montanus of D. flavobrunneus are given.

Abstract:
This is a taxonomic treatment of Camellia lanceolata (Bl.) Seem., the only Camellia species found in the Malesian region.

Abstract:
A new species of understorey palm, Licuala thoana L.G. Saw & J. Dransf. is described from Johor, Peninsular Malaysia.

Book Review

Abstract:
Six new species of Bulbophyllum sect. Monilibulbus (Orchidaceae) from Borneo are described: B. kestron, B. leproglossum, B. nubinatum, H pelicanopsis. R. scabrum and H. thymophorum. Full descriptions and detailed line drawings are presented of each species. Possible relationships of sect. Monolibulbus within the genus Bulbophyllum are pointed out.

Abstract:
Upon completion of a revision of the Elaeocarpaceae for the Tree Flora of Malaya Vol 4, which will be published in early 1989, two new species and a new variety were uncovered. These are Elaeocarpus sallehiana, E. symingtonii and E. nitidus var. velutinus, described below.

Abstract:
Adiantum lamrianum Aziz Bidin and Razali Jaman is described as a new species. It is found in undisturbed forest of Trus Madi Range, Sabah.

Abstract:
Calamus aidae E. Fern., C. balerensis E. Fern., C. ornatus Blume var. pulverulentus E. Fern, and Daemonorops polita E. Fern, are described as new taxa of rattans from the Philippines.

Abstract:
All living stems > = 2 cm dbh were marked, identified and mapped at a scale of 1 cm to 1 m in two 0.24-ha plots in the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Republic of Singapore. The Fern Valley plot was V-shaped in cross-section and contained a small area of exposed bedrock and several boulders along an ephemeral stream channel; the Jungle Fall Valley plot had no stream channel and neither exposed bedrock nor boulders. In both plots combined (0.48 ha), there were over 290 species representing 53 families. The two plots shared 95 species, while 76 were unique to the Fern Valley plot and 119 to the Jungle Fall Valley plot. Fern Valley had 20% fewer species, 44% fewer stems, 23% less total basal area and 40% fewer woody climbers > = 1.4 m tall than Jungle Fall Valley. Shallower depth to granitic bedrock in Fern Valley is hypothesized to be a contributing factor for this difference. In both plots, the Dipterocarpaceae had the greatest basal area and the Euphorbiaceae the greatest density and number of species. The distributions of Shorea curtisii and Pimelodendron griffithianum along slopes in these small plots conformed to their observed ecological preferences on a larger scale in the Malay Peninsula. The presence of a few old trees of pioneer species with little regeneration indicated an on-going process of recovery from disturbance during and prior to World War II.

Abstract:
The earliest scientific expeditions to the Endau area of Peninsular Malaysia were those by J.R. Logan (1847), N.N. Miklucho-Maclay (1874, 1875), D.F.A. Hervey (1879) and H.W. Lake (1891), although the first documented botanical collections from the area were made in 1892 by H.J. Kelsall during his visit vith Lake. Kelsall's collecting localities included Gunung Janing and the Semberong River. Subsequent botanical visits to the area were made by personnel of the Forest Department of the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States during the 1920s and 1930s and later by botanists and staff based at the Forest Research Institute at Kepong, the Singapore Botanic Gardens and the University of Malaya. A list is given of these collectors and those during expeditions organised to the Endau-Rompin area by the Malayan Nature Society in 1985-86, their collecting localities and periods. Mention is also made of the herbaria where these collections are curated. This information is presented as a background to future attempts at compiling resource inventories for the Endau-Rompin area, a significant portion of which is being proposed for conservation.

Abstract:
No abstract

Book Review