New or noteworthy Bornean plants
Elmer D. Merrill, Director of the Bureau of Science in Manila, published this second installment of his account of Bornean plants in 1922 (JMBRAS No. 86), describing thirty new species and recording numerous range extensions based on specimens collected primarily in British North Borneo and Sarawak between 1914 and 1920. The paper extends the floristic knowledge of Borneo by documenting species previously known only from the Philippines, Java, or the Malay Peninsula, and by establishing several genera as new to the island.
Summary
This taxonomic paper continues Merrill’s systematic treatment of Bornean flora begun in the preceding issue of the Journal. The specimens examined derive overwhelmingly from the Sandakan district of British North Borneo—particularly the Batu Lima and Sibuga localities—supplemented by material from Kudat, Rosop, and the Baram Valley in Sarawak. The collecting parties include Ramos, Wood, Agama, Moulton, Clemens, Yates, Villamil, Foxworthy, and others, with collection dates spanning 1914 to 1920. The paper is organized by family and covers approximately twenty-five families, from Fabaceae through Alangiaceae.
The core contribution is the description of thirty new species, each accompanied by a Latin diagnosis and an extended English description of vegetative and reproductive characters. Several of these are notable for their distinctive morphology: Semecarpus oblanceolata with its enormous 75 cm oblanceolate leaves; Eugenia woodii with leaves reaching 60 cm and 40–50 lateral nerves; Saurauia amplifolia with cauliflorous fascicles bearing up to 100 pedicels; and Dalenia pubescens, whose staminal characters differ so markedly from the type species of the genus that Merrill suggests it might warrant generic separation. Beyond new species, the paper records numerous first collections for Borneo, including Evodia bintoco (previously confined to the Philippines), Santiria samarensis, Actephila dispersa (genus new to Borneo), Actinidia latifolia (genus new to Borneo), and Linostoma pauciflorum (genus new to Borneo). Merrill also resolves several synonymy questions, notably combining Laplacea amboinensis into Gordonia in agreement with Burkill, and reducing Actinidia championi and A. miquelii to the older name Heptaca latifolia.
The paper also documents the naturalization of Clidemia hirta, an American melastome, in the Sandakan area, paralleling its established presence in Singapore and Java—a notable early observation of biological invasion in a tropical setting.
Key Findings
- Thirty new species are described, including Canavalia bracteolata, Chisochiton kinabaluense (from Mount Kinabalu at ~1,400 m), Eugenia woodii (leaves 40–60 cm long, 40–50 lateral nerves), Semecarpus oblanceolata (leaves ~75 cm long, 13 cm wide), and Saurauia amplifolia (leaves 45–55 cm long, cauliflorous fascicles with up to 100+ pedicels) (pp. 313–342).
- At least seven genera are recorded as new to Borneo: Actephila, Actinidia, Linostoma, Santiria, Dicapetalum, Cleistanthus, and Omphalea (the last three previously known only from the Philippines) (pp. 318–322, 326, 335).
- Evodia bintoco Blanco is recorded for the first time outside the Philippines, from Kudat, British North Borneo (Agama 1077, November 1920) (p. 315).
- Clidemia hirta (Linn.) D. Don, an American species, is documented as thoroughly naturalized near Sandakan, with collections from 1915 to 1920 across multiple habitats including seashore slopes, sandstone cliff bases, and ridges (p. 341).
- Neesia synandra Mast. is collected in fruit at Batu Lima; the fruits measure 30 cm long and 18 cm in diameter when fresh, and Merrill notes the specimen may represent a distinct species pending further comparison (p. 328).
- Myrtus moultonii is described from Gunong Temabok, Upper Baram, at approximately 2,100 m altitude, representing the third species of the genus in Borneo (p. 337).
Conclusion
Merrill’s paper substantially advances the floristic inventory of Borneo by adding thirty new species and multiple first records, while simultaneously demonstrating the close biogeographic ties between Bornean and Philippine floras. The concentration of new taxa from the Sandakan district underscores the region’s exceptional botanical diversity and the value of sustained, targeted collecting in lowland dipterocarp forests.
Context
- Merrill held the position of Director of the Bureau of Science, Manila, a colonial scientific institution under the American administration of the Philippines; the specimens examined were housed in the Bureau of Science herbarium, and the collectors operated in British territories (British North Borneo and Sarawak), reflecting the trans-imperial networks of early twentieth-century botanical exploration.
- The paper draws on field collections from 1914–1920 by multiple collectors working under colonial administrative auspices, and its taxonomic framework follows the prevailing German-influenced system of the period (Engler and Prantl’s Naturliche Pflanzenfamilien is cited for generic placements).