Orchids of Borneo; A Checklist of the

This checklist is part of the Orchids of Borneo project which is a collaborative research project aimed at elucidating the orchid flora of Borneo in a series of volumes, each of which includes accounts and detailed black and white drawings and colour photographs of 100 species. The first of these was published in 1991, the second in 1994 and further volumes will appear at regular intervals. The checklist is intended as the reference point for the series aiming to provide an up-to-date listing of the known taxa and their distribution both within and outside Borneo. It is also intended to provide baseline information useful to orchid conservation in Borneo, citing distributions, habitats where known and endemicity. Several new taxa are described here for the first time.It is almost a century since Henry Ridley produced the first account of the orchids of Borneo in the Journal of the Linnean Society in 1896, and over fifty years since the last account was published by Masamune (1942). Ridley’s treatment included 224 species in 62 genera while the numbers had risen to 1203 taxa (sp., subsp., var.) in 99 genera in Masamune’s account. It was apparent, even to Ridley, that Borneo possesses one of the world’s richest orchid floras in one of the largest remaining areas of tropical rain forest in the Old World. Since Masamune’s account many new species have been recorded from Borneo and the identity of some of the species he listed has been reassessed, reducing some into synonymy. For example, Vermeulen (1991) in his recent account of Bornean bulbophyllums described thirty new species and reduced as many names into synonymy. The current account lists over 1400 species in 149 genera. Undoubtedly, there are more species still awaiting discovery in the remaining extensive forests of Borneo: judging by recent work on genera such as Bulbophyllum, Dendrochilum and Paphiopedilum, the number of orchids native to the island may be 20% higher than given here. Vermeulen’s Bulbophyllum account is the first volume to be published in a series, Orchids of Borneo, that will describe and illustrate all of the native orchids of the island. Therefore, an up-to-date checklist of Bornean orchids is timely. This account is intended to be the basis for the Orchids of Borneo series which was initiated by Anthony Lamb, Chan Chew Lun and Phyau Soon Shim in Sabah and is being undertaken with the collaboration of botanists from the Kew, Leiden and Singapore herbaria. A further imperative for producing this checklist is the rapid deforestation that is currently underway in Borneo. This is not a phenomenon confined to the island but much of Borneo is still unexplored or under-explored biologically and it is certain that plant species are becoming endangered, and even extinct, before they have been described and named. The orchids are the most numerous and widespread family of flowering plants on the island. They also have a complex life-cycle which includes a fungal symbiosis for at least the start of that cycle and a specific pollination relationship to ensure seed production at the other end. When a habitat is disturbed the orchids are often the first plants to suffer and can, therefore, be used as a subtle gauge of the health of the environment. The fate of Borneo’s orchids certainly mirrors that of the rest of its native flora and fauna. A good understanding of their diversity and distribution within Borneo will be useful to planners and biodiversity managers in selecting areas for protection and conservation