Plants of Mount Kinabalu: Ferns; The

The present account comprises part of a botanical inventory or enumeration of the entire flora of vascular plants of Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in Borneo. This separate treatment of the pteridophytes was envisaged initially becouse we wanted to dedicate the work to Professor Holttum and also because it represents a logical subdivision of the large number of species comprising the total flora. The overall plan of the project was described by Beaman and Regalado (1989), and is followed here with minor modifications. These are discussed in the section on computer methods. Selection of the pteridophytes as the initial subject also has had the advantage of enabling us to follow a somewhat natural sequence for families, beginning with the fern allies and ferns, then the orchids also as a separate treatment, and finally the gymnosperms and remaining angiosperms. “The Ferns of Mount Kinabalu” by Christensen and Holttum (1934) represents the first publication, other than the early studies of Stapf (1894) and (1914), to attempt a comprehensive treatment of a major segment of the Kinabalu flora. The work of Christensen and Holttum sets a solid foundation for understanding of the fern flora and, even nearly 60 years later, illustrates a high standard of excellence in floristic work for a region still not well known. The following enumeration lists 609 species of pteridophytes for Mount kinabalu. These belong to 28 families and 145 genera, including almost all the principal genera of the Old World. An additional 12 infraspecific taxa bring the total number of pteridophyte taxa now known to 621. No new species are described in this account, but 10 new combinations for species and four for varieties are published here by Parris. The enumeration includes 30 taxa without published names, of which 29 will be described later by Parris and one to be described later by Chambers. Thirteen taxa are included for which there appear to auhentic records but for which we have seen no specimens. We have attempted to cite type specimens only for taxa described from Mount Kinabalu. Likewise, the synonymy includes only names, and their types, that have been described from Mount Kinabalu. In addition to true synonyms, we also have noted synonymy sensu Christensen and Holttum. Likewise, names they recognized in the same sense as in this work are referenced in the text. Names of authors of taxa are abbreviated in accordance with the new list of author abbreviations being developed at Kew (Powell & Brummit (eds.) in prep.).