Selbyana 26(1,2): 240-245. 2005.

PERLIS LIMESTONE ORCHIDS: DIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION

RUSEA GO* AND WENDY YONG Biology Department, Faculty of Science and Environmental Studies, Universiti Putra , Selangor, Malaysia. Email: [email protected]

KASSIM OSMAN PerIis Forest Department, Kangar, , Malaysia

ABSTRACT. Pedis, the smallest and northernmost state in , has 15% of the total land area but only 0.2% of the forested land. Perlis State Park, a protected biodiversity conservation area established in 1996, consists of Forest Reserve and Wang Mu Forest Reserve, which cover more than 5000 ha (13.6% of the total land area in Perlis). Most of Pedis consists of limestone hills that harbor many endemic and rare species of flora. Since 1999, two botanical expeditions and many collection trips have been made to explore and document the flora, especially , on these hills. As a result, 102 species of orchids have been recorded. On Bukit Pelarit, a mere 432-m-tall limestone hill, 41 species were recorded, a clear indication of high species diversity. From these expeditions, four new species have been recorded for Malaysia and 41 as new records for PerIis.

Key words: Perlis, Malaysia, Orchidaceae, diversity, conservation

INTRODUCTION , where it is known as Tung Song For­ mation (Jasin & Harun 2002). Perlis is the northernmost state in Peninsular Pedis is the only state in Peninsular Malaysia Malaysia, bordered by Thailand in the north and that experiences a seasonal monsoon climate. Its in the south. It is ca. 80,302 ha in size semi-deciduous forests, known as white meranti­ with 12,048 ha of total forested land (TABLE 1). gerutu seasonal forests, serve as an indicator of Seven permanent forest reserves, totally ca. monsoon climate and are not found in other 10,232 ha, make up 90.5% of the total forested states. Influenced by northern and dry monsoon area in PerIis as shown in TABLE 2 (Rahimatsah elements, the of Periis, especially orchids, et al. 2002). Wang Mu Forest Reserve, Bukit are unlike those in the other states of Peninsular Bintang Forest Reserve, Mata Ayer Forest Re­ Malaysia. The flora has a high number of en­ serve, and Kurong Batang Forest Reserve are in demic and rare species, including Eria ornata the Nakawan Range, which is part of the Setul (Bl.) Lind!., Paphiopedilum niveum (Reichb.f.) Formation. Nakawan Range, the oldest and lon­ Stein., and Habenaria carnea N.E. Br. (Wong gest continuous limestone range in Peninsular 2002). Malaysia, dates from the Ordovician-Devonian Periis State Park, established in 1996, consists periods (450-350 million years ago). The Setul of three forest reserves (TABLE 2) that comprise Limestone formation in Periis, located where ca. 15% of the total forest reserves in the state PerIis borders on Thailand, extends to the east­ (FIGURE 1). They are managed to conserve and ern part of the Islands and north into protect biodiversity in a way that assures the

TABLE 1. A comparison of forested area in Peninsular Malaysia and PerIis (ha) as of 1999 (Rahitmatsah et a1. 2002).

Peninsular Malaysia Perlis Land category (ha) (ha) Total land area 13,153,308 80,302 Type of forest Permanent forest estate (PFEs) 4,853,646 10,902 National park, wildlife, and bird sanctuaries 645,217 68 State land forest 387,090 1078 Other forested areas 52,115 Total forested area 5,938,068 12,048

240 SECOND IOCC PROCEEDINGS 241

-.~~_..,., ....•. '~~ .~_PiIifC *~ • ~Gfr.l1.,.

FIGURE 1. Map of Pedis, Malaysia, showing the area gazetted for Perlis State Park (Rahimatshah et aI. 2002). 242 SELBYANA Volume 26(i,2) 2005

FIGURE 2. Selected endemic species and new records* for PerJis and Malaysia. Photos by author. I. Haben­ aria carnea. U. Paphiopedilum niveum. III. Nephelaphyflum pulchrum. IV. Kingidium deliocosum. V. Gastro­ chilus obliquus." VI. A1alaxis acuminata." sustainable use of the biological resources (La­ of Orchidaceae on the limestone hills of Perlis. tiff et al. 2001). The park is distinct in that more Seven major limestone hills were visited during than 70% of the area is limestone hills that pro­ these trips, which complement the work by sci­ vide various limestone microhabitats for flora entific expeditions to in 1999 and and fauna. Wang Mu in 2000 to document the flora of Pedis State Park. The collections are part of limestone METHODS AND MATERIALS flora diversity and conservation studies. The col­ lecting tlips were carried out during both the dry Since 1999, the authors have conducted bo­ and warm season January-April and the wet tanical expeditions to collect scientific samples season September-December. Herbarium collec­ tions of the orchids and other limestone flora are maintained in the herbarium of the Biology De­ TABLE 2. Forest reserves of Perlis. partment, Faculty of Science and Environmental Studies, at the University Putra Malaysia. All Area Forest reserve (ha) species were identified based on Holttum (1957), Teo (1985), Seidenfaden (1985), Seiden­ Mata Air Forest Reserve 2516 faden and Wood (1992), Chan et al. (1994), Bukit Bintang Forest Reserve 2785 Wood (1997), Beaman et al. (2001), and Comber Bukit Tong-Tong Forest Reserve 48 Rimba Mas-Mas Forest Reserve 52 (2001). Wang Mu Forest Reserve 2859 Kurong Batang Forest Reserve 1816 RESULTS Bukit Papan Forest Reserve 156 Total 10,232 A total of 102 species in 49 genera have been Source: Latiff et al. 2001. recorded since 1999. To date, only 63 species SECOND IOCC PROCEEDINGS 243

TABLE 3. List of orchid species collected since 1999 in Perlis State Park. Asterisk (*) = new record for Pedis; ** = new record for Malaysia.

Genus Species Acampe Acampe rigida (Buch.-Ham. ex Sm.) P.P. Hunt* Aerides Aerides odorata Lour* Aerides sp. Anoetochilus Anoetochilus sp. Appendicula Appendicula lucida RidL Appendicula sp. Ascocentrum Ascocentrum miniatum (LindL) Schltr. Bulbophyllum Bulbophyllum dentiferum RidL" Bulbophyllum taeniophyllum (CS.P. Parish) Hook.f. * Bulbophyllum sp. 1 Bulbophyllum sp. 2 Calanthe Calanthe sp. 1 Calanthe sp. 2 Ceratostylis Ceratostylis sp. Ceratostylis sp. 2 Cleisostoma Cleisostoma discolor LindL * Cleisostoma williamsonii (Reichb.f) Garay Cleisostoma sp. Coelogyne Coelogyne sp. 1 Coelogyne sp. 2 Coelogyne sp. 3 Coelogyne sp. 4 Cymbidium Cymbidium lancifolium Hook. '" Cymbidium sp. 1 Cymbidium sp. 2 Cymbidium sp. 3 Dendrobium Dendrobium acerosum LindL * Dendrobium aloifolium (Blume) Rchb.f. * Dendrobium anosmum LindL * Dendrobium calicopsis RidL* Dendrobium concinnum Miq.* Dendrobium crumenatum Sw." Dendrobium indivisum (BL) Miq.* Dendrobium kentrophyllum Hook.f* Dendrobium leonis (LindL) Reichb.f. Dendrobium linguella Rchb.f. * Dendrobium secundum (BL) LindL Dendrobium setifolium RidL * Dendrobium trinervium Ridl. * Dendrobium sp. 1 Dendrobium sp. 2 Dendrobium sp. 3 Dendrohium sp. 4 Dendrobium sp. 5 Didymoplexietla Didymoplexiella ornata (RidL) Garay" Dienia Dienia ophrydis (Koen.) Ormerod & Seidenf." Eria Eria floribunda LindL" Eria ornata (BL) LindL* Eria sp. 1 Eria sp. 2 Eu{ophia Eulophia andamanensis Rchb.f. Eulophia graminae LindL Flickingeria Flickingeria angustifolia (BL) Hawkes* Flickingeria convexa (BL) Hawkes* Flickingeriafimbriata (Blume) A.D. Hawkes* Flickingeria pallens (RidL) A.D. Hawkes'" Flickingeria sp. 1 Flickingeria sp. 2 Gastrochilus (LindL) Kuntze*'" Gastrochilus sp. Gastrodia Gastrodia javanica (Blume) LindL * 244 SELBYANA Volume 26(1,2) 2005

TABLE 3. Continued.

Genus Species Grosourdya Grosourdya muscosa (Rolfe) Garay* Habenaria Habenaria carnea N.E. Br. Habenaria refiexa Blume* Kingidium Kingidium deliocosum (Rchb.f.) H.R. Sweet" Liparis Liparis sp. 1 Liparis sp. 2 Ludisia Ludisia discolor (Ker GawL)" Luisia Luisia curtisii Seidenf." Malaxis Malaxis acuminata D. Don*" Malaxis sp. Nephelaphyllum Nephelaphyllum pulchrum B 1." Nervilia Nervilia plicata (Andr.) Schitr. Oberonia Oberonia sp. 1 Oberonia sp. 2 Oberonia sp. 3 Paphiopedilum Paphiopedi/um niveum (Reichb.f.) Stein Paphiopedi/um sp. Phalaenopsis cornucervi (Breda) Blume & Rchb.f." Pholidota Pholidota imbricata Hook.* Pholidota sp. 1 Phreatia Phreatia sp. Podochilus Podochilus lucescens Blume Podochilus sp. Polystachya Polystachya concreta (Jacq.) Garay & H.R. Sweet Pomatocaipa Pomatocalpa maculosa (LindL) 1.1. Sm. var. andamanica (Hooief.) Watthana in ed*" Pomatocalpa spicata Breda* Renanthera Renanthera sp. Renantherella Renantherella histrionica (Reichb.f.) RidL Smitinandia Smitinandia micrantha (Lind!.) Holttum Spathoglottis Spathoglottis plicata Blume" Stereosandra Stereosandra javanica Blume Tainia Tainia speciosa Blume Taeniophyllum Taeniophyllum Jiliforme 1.1. Sm* Taeniophyllum sp. Thelasis Thelasis pygmae (Griff.) Blume" Thelasis sp. I Thrixspermum Thrixspermum pensile Schltr. ** Trici1oglottis Trichoglottis bipunctata (CS.P. Parish & Rchb.f.) T. Tang & F. T. Wang* Trichoglottis cirrhifera Teijsm. & Binn. Trichotosia Trichotosia gracilis (Hook.f.) Kraenzl* Trichotosia sp. Tropidia Tropidia cucurligoides Lind!." Vandopsis Vandopsis sp.

could be identified at species level, and the re­ 1993), they are Gastrochilus obliquus (Lindl.) maining specimens could only be identified to Kuntze, Malaxis acuminata, Pomatocalpa ma­ genus because of insufficient materials. Bulcit culosum (Lindl.) 1.1. Sm. var. andamanica Pelarit, a mere 432-m-tall limestone hill, has (Hook.f.) Watthana ined. (S. Watthana pefS. yielded 41 orchid species from 29 genera (Mohd comm.) and Thrixspermum pensile Schltr. Noor 2002). All specimens without flowers are kept under cultivation in a greenhouse in the De­ Significant Discoveries partment of Biology, University Putra Malaysia. A total of 41 taxa, representing 73.2% of the One of the remarkable findings of these stud­ 63 species that have been identified to species, ies is the discovery of the endemic and rare are new records for Perlis (TABLE 3, FIGURE 2). white slipper orchid, Paphiopedilum niveum, Four species are new records for Malaysia. along the trail on the north side of Bulcit Rong­ Thought to be the Thailand Element (Kiew kit, which is a new locality for P. niveum in SECOND IOCC PROCEEDINGS 245 addition to Wang Pisang and Bukit Pelarit in lection of Species. The Sabah Society, Kota Kin­ Perlis State Park (Go et al. 2002). Paphiopedil­ abalu, Malaysia. urn niveurn was firstly discovered in the Lang­ Comber, J.B. 200l. Orchids of Sumatera. Natural His­ kawi Islands, Malaysia, where the orchid's pop­ tory Publications, Borneo, Malaysia. Go, R., W.K. Soh, M. Nazre, and F. Qamamz-Zaman. ulation is decreasing rapidly as the result of 2002. Additional checklist of noteworthy herba­ over-collection by fisherman and destruction of ceous plants of Pedis State Park. Pp. 293-302 in the orchid's natural habitat (Go et al. 2002). I. Faridah-Hanum, K. Osman, AR. Yussof, and Thus the discovery of the P. niveurn population A. Latiff, eds. Biodiversity and Management of on Bukit Rongkit provides a new chance to sus­ Pedis State Park (Physical, Biological and Social tain the existence of this precious species in the Environments of Wang Mu). Forest Department of wild. Pedis, Kangar, Pedis, Malaysia. The endemic species, Habenaria carnea, Holttum, R.E. 1957. A Revised Flora of Malaya: An Illustrated Systematic Account of the Malayan found in Perlis State Park, was previously re­ Flora, Including Commonly Cultivated Plants, corded as restricted to limestone hills in the Vol. I. Orchids of Malaya. Government Printing Langkawi Islands, Perlis, and Peninsular Thai­ Office, Singapore Botanic Gardens, Singapore. land. The H. carnea found in the park appeared Jasin, B. and Z. Hamn. 2002. Geomorphology and ge­ in two forms-some bearing brown leaves and ology of the Setul Formation in Pedis. Pp. 68-82 others bearing green leaves with whitish dots. It in I. Faridah-Hanum, K. Osman, AR. Yussof, and was observed that as plants began to produce A Latiff, eds. Biodiversity and Management of inflorescence, leaf color began to change from Pedis State Park (Physical, Biological and Social Environments of Wang Mu). Forest Department of brown to green. When the is in full bloom, Pedis, Kangar, Pedis, Malaysia. the leaves are entirely green with whitish dots. Kiew, R. 1993. A Floral Survey of Limestone Hills in At first, the young brown-leafed plants were Pedis. WWFM, Kuala Lumpur. thought to be a different species, because H. car­ Latiff, A., K. Osman, I. Faridah-Hanum, and A. Ra­ nea previously was described as having green himatsah. 200l. Pedis State Park at Wang Kelian: leaves with whitish dots (Seidenfaden & Wood an introduction. Pp. 19-27 in I. Faridah-Hanum, 1992). This new information is valuable for fu­ K. Osman, and A. Latiff, eds. Kepelbagaian Biol­ ture identification of sterile materials. ogi dan Pengurusan Taman Negeri Pedis (Persek­ itaran Fizikal dan Biologi Wang Kelian). Forest Department of Pedis, Kangar, Pedis, Malaysia. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Mohd Noor, S. "Kajian Kepelbagaian Flora Orchida­ ceae di Kawasan Batu Kapur, Bukit Pelarit, Wang The authors are grateful for the support and Kelian, Taman Negeri Pedis." Bac. diss., Univer­ collaboration of the staffs of the Perlis Forestry sity Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia, 2002. Rahimatsah, A., K. Osman, and S. Suksuwan. 2002. Department, Malaysia, and the Biology Depart­ The administration and management of Pedis ment, Faculty of Science and Environmental State Park. Pp. 23-43 in I. Faridah-Hanum, K. Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang. The Osman, AR. Yussof, and A Latiff, eds. Biodi­ government of Malaysia, through EA IRPA versity and Management of Pedis State Park RM8 no. 08-02-04-0249-EA001, for which the (Physical, Biological and Social Environments of authors are grateful, supports this study. Thanks Wang Mu). Forest Department of Pedis, Kangar, also go to the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens Pedis, Malaysia. for inviting and partially sponsoring the senior Seidenfaden, G. 1985. Orchid Genera in Thailand 12. Dendrobium Sw. Opera Bot. 83: 73-239. author to present this paper at the Second Inter­ Seidenfaden, G. and J.J. Wood. 1992. The Orchids of national Orchid Conservation Congress, hosted Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, A Revision of by Selby Gardens in Sarasota, Florida, 15-22 R.E. Holttum: Orchids of Malaya. Olsen & Olsen, May 2004. Fredenborg, Denmark. Teo, C.K.H. 1985. Native Orchids of Peninsular Ma­ laysia. Times Books International, Singapore. LITERATURE CITED Wong, S.L. 2002. Plant life. Pp. 45-59 in K. Osman, R. Amat, and S. Suksuwan, eds. Pearl of Pedis: Beaman, T.E., J.J. Wood, R.S. Beaman, and J.H. Bea­ Pedis State Park Guide. Forest Department of Per­ man. 200l. Orchids of Sarawak. Natural History lis, Kangar, Pedis, Malaysia. Publications (Borneo), Malaysia. Wood, J.J. 1997. Orchids of Borneo. Vol. 3: Dendro­ Chan, C.L., A. Lamb, P.S. Shim, and J.J. Wood. 1994. bium, Dendrochilum, and Others. The Sabah So­ Orchids of Borneo. Vol. 1: Introduction and Se- ciety, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.