"New records and rediscoveries of vascular plants in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Singapore"

Abstract

Several new records of plant species previously unknown in Singapore are reported, along with records of species presumed to be nationally extinct which have been rediscovered. These reports are based on specimens collected during our recent surveys of the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and previously unreported older specimens, all deposited in SING. Three species are reported as new records for Singapore: Scindapsus lucens Bogner & P.C.Boyce, Passiflora quadriglandulosa Rodschied and Tectaria nayarii Mazumdar. Scindapsus lucens is likely to be native and previously overlooked, whereas Passiflora quadriglandulosa and Tectaria nayarii are exotic species which have escaped from cultivation and become naturalised. Another 10 species are rediscoveries of taxa previously considered to be nationally extinct:

The plant diversity in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Singapore

“…ex Hassk., Dapania racemosa Korth., Dioscorea kingii R.Knuth, Ficus rosulata C.C.Berg, Lasianthus reticulatus Blume, Ryparosa hullettii King and Senegalia kekapur (I.C.Nielsen) Maslin, Seigler & Ebinger). These have been reported separately (Ho et al, 2018).…”

“…When those lacking vouchers for verification are excluded, along with nomenclatural updates from recent revisions and following APG IV (2016), 959 species in 137 families remain. An additional 124 species in 55 families (including seven new families: Amaranthaceae, Capparaceae, Lentibulariaceae, Linderniaceae, Malpighiaceae, Muntingiaceae and Plantaginaceae) have been reported elsewhere for BTNR (King, 1890;Ridley, 1900;1901;van Steenis, 1977;Ali Ibrahim et al, 1997;Keng et al, 1998;Ng et al, 2014;Niissalo et al, 2014;de Kok, 2015;Leong-Škorničková & Boyce, 2015;Niissalo et al, 2016;Leong et al, 2017;Niissalo et al, 2017;Ho et al, 2018;Khoo et al, 2018;Leong et al, 2018;Lim et al, 2018;Niissalo et al, 2018;Rodda & Lai, 2018;Turner & Kumar, 2018;Ascher et al, 2019), including some published before 2011 that were omitted by Turner & Chua (2011) (see Appendix II). In our study, an additional 167 species and four families (Cardiopteridaceae, Flagellariaceae, Heliconiaceae and Musaceae) that were not previously listed for BTNR have been recorded from at least one of the 52 plots (Appendix III).…”

“…The plant diversity and ecology of the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (BTNR) is arguably better known than any other patch of forest in Singapore (Wong, 1987;Swan, 1988;Corlett, 1990;Corlett, 1995;Tan et al, 1995;Wee, 1995aWee, , 1995bWee & Haji Mohamed, 1995;LaFrankie et al, 1996;Lum et al, 2004;Turner & Chua, 2011;Chua et al, 2013;Ngo et al, 2016), yet still yields species new to science (Leong-Škorničková & Boyce, 2015), new records of species previously unknown in Singapore (Chen et al, 2018;Ho et al, 2018;Khoo et al, 2018;Lim et al, 2018), and rediscoveries of species thought to be extinct in Singapore (Ho et al, 2018). The botanical importance of this forest is also reflected in the type specimens of the 37 taxa and two hybrids that were first described from plants collected on Bukit Timah and because it is the only place in the world where Hanguana triangulata Škorničk.…”

Extinction rate of discovered and undiscovered plants in Singapore

“…2018; Ho et al. 2018; Khoo et al. 2018), and that existing species have been reassessed recently as new species (e.g., Niissalo et al.…”

Synthesis of results from the Comprehensive Biodiversity Survey of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Singapore, with recommendations for management

“…In addition to the main survey results, several recent publications have compiled new plant records for BTNR. They include Artabotrys scortechinii King recorded by Chen et al (2018), new to Singapore; 13 species reported by Ho et al (2018) of which three were new to Singapore; 16 tree species found in surveys of BTNR by Khoo et al (2018), all new to Singapore; and two of the species (Dendrokingstonia nervosa (Hook.f. & Thomson) Rauschert and Phyllanthus reticulatus Poir.)…”