THE MAGAZINE OF THE SingaPORE BOtaniC GARDEns VOLUME 37, JULY 2011 ISSN 0129-1688 Collaborative research on MYANMAR’S ORCHIDS The National Orchid Garden Unveiled by a storm: Bromheadia alticola Golden glories: the genus Merremia and allies in Southeast Asia VOLUME 37, JULY 2011 32 11 REGULar FEatURES 01 Message from the Director 04 Leong Chee Chiew Around the Gardens ArticLES 30 Of art and friendship Mak Sin Chang 2 The lady’s slipper of Gunung Jerai Paul Leong New and Exciting 30 New media room 4 The National Orchid Garden Rahimah Yusof Yam Tim Wing, Simon Tan 31 New in the library shop 8 Gardens’ hybrids of Dendrobium sutiknoi Margaret Tan Yam Tim Wing Ginger and its Allies 11 Collaborative research on 32 Neither bird nor palm Myanmar’s orchids Jana Leong-Škornicková Hubert Kurzweil, Saw Lwin 22 From Education Outreach 14 Unveiled by a storm: Bromheadia alticola 34 Environmental education Yam Tim Wing, Paul Leong, Derek Liew, 2011 initiatives Chew Ping Ting, Sunia Teo, William Ng Janice Yau, Winnie Wong 17 Applying forensic science to botany Research Fellows Gillian Khew 36 Botanical research fellows in the Gardens: 2010–2011 Cover 18 Hoya: the beauty of the rain forest in Serena Lee Cymbidium eburneum our gardens from Myanmar. What’s Blooming Photo by Saw Lwin. Michele Rodda 29 38 Where butter grows on trees 22 By the flowing waters: Rheophytes, the Nura Abdul Karim Editors fascinating plant life adapted to the Leong Chee Chiew flood zones of swift-flowing streams 40 Golden cascades of an old beauty Mark Hughes Khoon Meng Wong Nura Abdul Karim Khoon Meng Wong 26 Re-discovery of a rare green gem: Inner Key Visitors to the Gardens Production Managers January– June 2011 Christina Soh Planchonia grandis cover Mak Sin Chang Nura Abdul Karim, Md. Fadli Bin Baharudin From the Archives Low Yee Wen Back 28 Golden glories: the genus Merremia and cover A revised flora of Malaya: Design allies in Southeast Asia Volume 1, Orchids Splash Productions Pte Ltd George Staples Margaret Tan Singapore Botanic Gardens, 1 Cluny Road, Singapore 259569 NatiONAL PaRKS BOARD [email protected] www.sbg.org.sg www.nparks.gov.sg MEssagE FROM THE DIRECTOR Forests contain some of our earth’s We will build on them as we develop most vibrant ecosystems and are the the Learning Forest, the extension to basis for products that range from the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden, the medicine and food to fuel, furniture and Ethno-botanical Garden and more. clothing. To celebrate and highlight the We will strengthen our engagement importance of forest biodiversity with the community and create greater to mankind, the United Nations has opportunities for education and outreach. designated 2011 as the International Year In the coming few months we will launch of Forests. the Healing Garden. Public access will be improved with the opening of the MRT Singapore is home to many different Station in Bukit Timah core. Work will be types of forests. Although we are a small carried out on the Climber collection, island state, we have lowland dipterocarp Fragrant Garden and Foliage Garden. rain forests, freshwater swamp forests, mangrove forests, and coastal forests All the Gardens’ educational tours will be that we are proud to consider as natural on offer when we participate in NParks’ heritage. With nature reserves, other first Parks Festival in September. Our staff natural areas, parks, tree-lined roads, park members are actively involved in the run connectors and waterways, and increasing up to the World Orchid Conference in green cover, the whole of Singapore is November. We will be helping to set up an urban forest. This urban forest has a various displays and to organise various direct impact on our well-being, helping aspects of the Conference. After the to regulate our climate, clean our air by World Orchid Conference, the Gardens absorbing carbon dioxide and dust, lower will round up the year with the Trees of ambient temperatures by shading, and the World light-up. There is much to look reduce soil erosion. forward to and I thank our dedicated staff members for their wonderful efforts. Appropriately, the Gardens has held the “Forests, People, Environment” exhibition on 2 - 24 July to celebrate the International Year of Forests, highlighting the importance of forests, the significance of Singapore’s urban forest and how everyone can play a part to conserve it so that we can all enjoy a higher quality of life. In the early years of Singapore’s greening, the Gardens provided the expertise and planting material. Today the work done by our researchers helps to enrich the urban areas with orchids, gingers, and other types of plants. Our educational programmes connect plants and people so as to cultivate an Leong Chee Chiew appreciation for plants, nature and the environment. These are key roles for a botanic garden and they are part of the Singapore Botanic Gardens’ heritage. 1 Paul K. F. Leong F. K. Paul THE Lady’S SLIPPER OF GUNUNG JERAI P. callosum var. warnerianum in its natural habitat. Orchids in the genus Paphiopedilum are also known as lady’s slippers. The lady is To the western plant collectors of the Venus, the goddess of love who is also nineteenth century, these beautiful large- known as Aphrodite in Greek mythology. Her alternative name in Greek is Paphia flowered orchid species were held in great and pedilon in Greek means slipper. Hence the name of this group of orchids with a esteem and represented the epitome of characteristic pouch or slipper-shaped lip is an allusion to her footwear. Species of oriental exoticism. Paphiopedilum are found in Asia, ranging from Nepal, India, southern China and the form of a shield-shape staminode. At a height of 1,217 metres, it is the Myanmar to Indochina, Thailand and down The lip is enlarged to form a pouch second highest mountain in the state of to Peninsular Malaysia, the Philippines, and the petals are usually spreading, Kedah after Gunung Bintang. The author Borneo, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea sometimes twisted and sometimes warty. made a recent trip with colleagues from and the Solomon Islands. To the western Differences in the morphology of the the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia plant collectors of the nineteenth century, dorsal sepal, synsepal, staminode, lip, petal to an elevation of about 800 to 1000 these beautiful large-flowered orchid and ovary are diagnostic characters for metres above sea level where the terrain species were held in great esteem distinguishing species. The ovary is also a is sandstone, in search of a lady’s slipper and represented the epitome of useful taxanomic character to distinguish orchid species, Paphiopedilum callosum var. oriental exoticism. Paphiopedilum (unilocular) from the warnerianum, which occurs there. South American genera Phragmipedium P. callosum var. warnerianum, like most Paphiopedilum belongs to the orchid and Selenipedium (trilocular) of the same Paphiopedilum species, is a terrestrial subfamily Cypripedioideae, whose subfamily. orchid. It has beautiful leaves that are flowers typically consist of a characteristic mottled pale and dark green above large dorsal sepal, united lateral sepals Gunung Jerai, formerly known as Kedah and an inflorescence that bears a long that form a synsepal, a short column Peak, is a curious stand-alone mountain. lasting, single large flower that is about 9 bearing a stalked stigma at the base and Due to its isolation it is a good subject cm across. The dorsal sepal is orbicular two lateral anthers above as well as a for floristic study, and especially for ovate to sub-circular, white with a band prominent modified infertile stamen in understanding geographic speciation. of purple around the mid section, with 2 distinct veins arching from the base Malaysia seems to bridge P. callosum and towards the acute apex. The veins are P. barbatum. Its flower structure is also striped green at the base and deep purple intermediate between the two species. In above. The petals are held at about 45 P. callosum, the dorsal sepal is larger and degrees from the horizontal axis, pale fuller; its petals are more pendent, shaped green in colour fringed with purple at like a more pronounced ‘curvy moustache’, the margins and towards the tip, with described as subsigmoid. In P. barbatum, maroon warts on the upper margin the dorsal sepal is more ovate than round and purple hairs on both the upper and and the petals are held more horizontally. lower margins.The tips of the petals may However, P. barbatum varies in flower be slightly curved upwards like an old colour, the angle of the petals and other fashioned moustache. The lip is maroon- flower structures, hence whilst at the far brown with darker veins and the incurved extremes, both P. barbatum and P. callosum side lobes are greenish-white and warty. are quite distinct; the variety P. callosum var. warnerianum (with its fair share of P. callosum var. warnerianum presents a variations), seems to ameliorate the taxonomic problem. As its name implies, differences. So, there are several questions it is classified as a variety of the species to ponder: - Are P. barbatum Paphiopedilum callosum. This species is and P. callosum variants of the same species closely related to four others: P. barbatum, or distinct in their own right? Should P. lawrenceanum, P. hennisianum and P. P. callosum var. warnerianum be more fowliei. The latter three are confined to appropriately classified as a variety of P. Borneo, the Philippines and Palawan barbatum or even a species in its own respectively, and P. barbatum occurs from right, or remain as a variety of P. callosum? northern Sumatra to Peninsular Malaysia Is there only one species of Paphiopedilum (Johore in the south to as far north as on Gunung Jerai or is P.