The ferns of the Malay Peninsula
H. N. Ridley, Director of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, published this comprehensive taxonomic treatment of the ferns of the Malay Peninsula in 1926, completing the account of the region’s flora following the earlier publication on flowering plants. The work catalogues approximately 420 species across 86 genera, from the Gleicheniaceae through the Ophioglossaceae, and argues that ferns in the Peninsula are far more widely distributed across the tropics than their flowering-plant counterparts, with only a small number of endemics (p. 1).
Summary
Ridley’s monograph is a species-by-species treatment organised by family and genus, following the nomenclature of Christensen’s Index Filicum and van Alderwereldt van Rosenberg’s Malayan Ferns, though he deliberately retains the genera Nephrodium and Lastrea rather than absorbing them into the “gigantic and over-bulky” Dryopteris (p. 1). Each entry provides a morphological diagnosis, habitat notes, locality records drawn from the herbaria of the Straits Settlements and Penang, and a distribution statement. The work draws on specimens collected by a wide range of botanists including Scortechini, Kunstler, Wallich, Maingay, Griffith, Cuming, and Ridley himself, as well as more recent collectors such as Matthew, Kloss, Holtum, and Wray.
A recurring ecological theme is the relationship between moisture and frond texture. Ridley observes that the thin herbaceous species dominate the damp forests, while in the few dry areas such as Gunong Tahan these are replaced by stiff, coriaceous forms; epiphytic species likewise tend to have stiff coriaceous fronds (p. 1). He notes that the abundance and lightness of spores, dispersed by air currents over immense distances, explains the cosmopolitan distribution of fern species in contrast to the high endemism of flowering plants in the same region (p. 1).
The treatment also records indigenous knowledge, including native names (e.g., Resam for Gleichenia, Paku for numerous tree-fern and terrestrial species, Sakat Batu for Cyclophorus) and practical uses such as the golden hairs of Cibotium employed as a styptic under the name “Penawar Jambi” (p. 11), fronds of Cyathea eaten as a vegetable by the Jakuns and used for poulticing sore legs (p. 5), and the coumarin-scented fronds of Pleopeltis used for scenting cloths (p. 96).
Key Findings
- The Malay Peninsula supports approximately 420 fern species, many of which are very abundant in individuals, with the damp hot forests being particularly suitable for both terrestrial and epiphytic growth (p. 1).
- A considerable number of fern species occur on both sides of the world, and the greater part range from the Mascarene Islands to Polynesia, in sharp contrast to the high proportion of endemic flowering plants in the Peninsula (p. 1).
- The number of endemic fern species is small and “not to be compared with the number of endemic species of flowering plants occurring in the Peninsula” (p. 1).
- In dry highland areas such as Gunong Tahan, thin herbaceous species disappear and are replaced by stiff, coriaceous species, while epiphytic species generally possess stiff coriaceous fronds (p. 1).
- The work documents 86 genera spanning 12 families, from Gleichenia (Gleicheniaceae) through Ophioglossum and Helminthostachys (Ophioglossaceae), with the Lycopodiaceae and Marsiliaceae having been treated separately in 1919 (p. 1).
- Ridley records multiple instances of taxonomic confusion in the literature, including Gleichenia pteridifolia being confused with G. linearis by “all other authors” (p. 4), and Alsophila species being confused with A. glabra by most authors (p. 6).
Conclusion
Ridley’s definitive takeaway is that the fern flora of the Malay Peninsula, while rich in species number and individual abundance, is characterised by wide biogeographic affinities rather than endemism, a pattern he attributes to the extraordinary dispersal capacity of fern spores. The work stands as the authoritative reference for the region’s pteridophyte flora at the time of publication and completes the floristic survey of the Peninsula alongside the flowering-plant volumes.
Context
- This publication was issued by the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society and forms part of the Straits Settlements botanical literature produced under the auspices of the Singapore Botanic Gardens during Ridley’s directorship.
- Ridley acknowledges that the Mosses, Hepatics, Fungi, Lichens, and Algae of the Peninsula had as yet only been partially collected, with a list of Mosses by H. N. Dixon expected in the Straits Settlements Gardens Bulletin IV, Part 1, 1926 (p. 1).