PREFACE 



pelago. As botanical explorations of Borneo become intensive 

 and little known areas are searched, it is reasonable to assume 

 that endemic species will be found to be exceptionally numerous, 

 especially in the mountains above an altitude of two thousand 

 five hmidred feet. 



When we reahze that Borneo is one of the largest islands in 

 the world, its area being five times the area of England and 

 Wales ; when we bear in mind that botanical exploration has not 

 yet been undertaken systematically and that a single collector 

 who specialized in a single family discovered in less than six 

 weeks on one mountain one hundred species heretofore unde- 

 scribed, we must prepare for extraordinary changes in any gen- 

 eralizations as to the extent and nature of the Bornean flora 

 based on our present very incomplete knowledge. 



The Orchidaceae, with eighty-seven genera and over eight 

 hundred species, surpass numerically all other famihes of sper- 

 matophytes native to Borneo. Next to the Orchidaceae come the 

 Rubiaceae, with sixty-four genera and approximately three hun- 

 dred and thirty species. Then, among the more important fami- 

 hes, come the Euphorbiaceae, Araceae, Palmae, Leguminosae 

 and Melastomaceae in the order named. 



The high degree of endemism characteristic of the Bornean 

 flora in general prevails among the orchids of Mount Kinabalu. 

 About sixty per cent of the species gathered by Chaplain Clemens 

 proved to be undescribed. Of the material that represents old 

 species very few specimens were noted that are characterized by 

 an extra-limital distribution. 



Conclusions as to the relationship between the orchids of 

 Borneo and the orchids of neighboring islands must be, for the 

 present at least, lightly entertained. We may conclude quite 

 rightly, however, that the orchid flora of Borneo is of the same 



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