The grasses and sedges of the Malay Peninsula
H.N. Ridley published this floristic treatment of the Poaceae and Cyperaceae of the Malay Peninsula in 1891 in the Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (Vol. 23, pp. 1–33). Working from collections gathered across Singapore, Malacca, Penang, Selangor, Perak, Sungei Ujong, Pahang, Johor, and Tringganu, Ridley provides a species-by-species account of habitat, distribution, economic utility, and native Malay names, while also advancing biogeographic observations on the origins and dispersal of the region’s glumaceous flora.
Summary
Ridley opens with a general ecological sketch of the grass and sedge flora, distinguishing the dominant genera in low swampy ground and rice-fields (Panicum, Isachne, Leersia, Scirpus, Rhynchospora, Scleria, Heleocharis, Cyperus) from those of stream banks (Scleria oryzoides, Scirpus grossus, Phragmites Roxburghii, Saccharum arundinaceum and S. Ridleyi) and the dense forest interior, where glumaceous plants largely disappear except for the Hypolytreæ group (Mapania, Pandanophyllum) and a few wind- or animal-dispersed species such as Centotheca lappacea and Lophatherum (p. 2). He notes that Scleria malaccensis and S. oryzoides form dense six-foot jungles over large tracts of wet open land, while the wild sugar-canes produce huge thickets along rivers (p. 2).
The bulk of the paper is a systematic checklist arranged by genus, with locality records for each species. Ridley records several taxa of particular taxonomic interest: Saccharum Ridleyi Hackel, a new species from the Pekan river bank allied to the section Miscanthus; Rottboellia geminata Hackel, described as new from open country near Pekan and the Rumpin River; and Scirpodendron costatum Kurz from North Selitar and Changi, which Ridley identifies as a connecting link between Ceylon and Java (pp. 16, 26, 28). He also notes a curious wild form of Oryza sativa at Ayer Etam in Pekan, with broad leaves and thin flower spikes, possibly a distinct species or a gone-wild cultivar (p. 25).
Beyond the checklist, Ridley devotes attention to economic botany and ethnobotany. He documents the cultivation of Andropogon citratus (lemon grass oil) and A. nardus (citronella), the use of Imperata cylindrica (lalang) plumed seeds for pillow stuffing, mats made from Scirpus grossus and Lepironia mucronata, walking canes from Thysanolaena acarifera in Sungei Ujong, and a now-abandoned beer brewed from lalang rhizomes (pp. 3–4). He also evaluates native turf grasses, identifying Ischæmum muticum as the best native fodder grass and cautioning against overfeeding horses on the introduced Panicum jumentorum (Guinea grass) (p. 4).
Key Findings
- Saccharum Ridleyi Hackel is described as a new species from the Pekan river bank, belonging to the section Miscanthus, of which only one other species (S. fuscum) was previously known (p. 26).
- Rottboellia geminata Hackel is recorded as a new and curious species found only in open country near Pekan and the Rumpin River, not yet known from elsewhere (p. 28).
- Scirpodendron costatum Kurz, collected from North Selitar and Changi, is identified as a connecting link between Ceylon and Java, a plant Ridley believes is not at all uncommon but easily overlooked due to its resemblance to young Pandanus (p. 16).
- Two grasses of confirmed American origin are recorded: Chloris barbata (probably introduced from the West Indies) and Paspalum conjugatum, the latter common in cultivated districts but disappearing in the interior (p. 4).
- A wave of Australian-origin species is identified among sea-shore plants (Schænus calostachyus, Fimbristylis sericea, Spinifex squarrosus, Lepturus repens), which Ridley interprets as evidence of westward dispersal by sea-currents along island shores (p. 4).
- Imperata cylindrica (lalang) is described as covering large tracts of cultivated country, propagating rapidly after forest burning by both feathery seeds and rhizome, and forming snow-like white coverings when in fruit; it is of little fodder value due to its hardness, though pigs favour the young shoots (p. 25).
Conclusion
Ridley’s definitive historical takeaway is that the glumaceous flora of the Malay Peninsula is a mosaic of widespread Indo-Malayan elements, cosmopolitan weeds, Australian-derived sea-shore species, and a small number of introduced American and Indian taxa, with the Australian component suggesting a westward dispersal wave carried by sea-currents. The paper also establishes a baseline for the economic and ethnobotanical uses of native grasses and sedges at a moment when colonial agriculture was expanding, and it flags the urgent need to collect flowering bamboos, which remain largely unidentified in the wild.
Context
- Ridley was Director of the Singapore Botanic Gardens at the time of publication, and the locality records draw heavily on collections from the Gardens and on specimens gathered by Griffith, Wallich, Kelsall, Wray, and others across the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States.
- The paper appears in the Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, the principal scholarly outlet for natural history in the region during the late colonial period, and represents one of the earliest comprehensive floristic treatments of the Peninsula’s grasses and sedges.