Malaya for we have Watson’s book of Malayan Plant Names, Burkl.ll 1 s Dictionary 
of the Economic Products of the Malay Peninsula, and several other smaller 
works <*f great value. But these works are pioneers to be enlarged and amended 
as knowledge increases, indeed to be maintained and built upon, and as yet, 
they touch only the fringe of Tamil and Chinese vocabularies. Morever, it is 
known^and it is inevitable/that through mistakes in the collecting, and 
labelling,and identification of specimjtns,many recorded names have been 
assigned to the wrong plants. I am sure that anyone who has studied the subject 
will agree that at least seventy per cent^of the recorded names must be carefully 
^ ome mistakes we can rectify at tne Botanical Gardens because 
tii^fLabelled specim|Tns, dating from IByO omwards, are preserved in the herbarium, 
but by no means all. These specimens are the true founuation of any index 
of vernacular names, because they are always at hand for reference,and therefore, 
we are trying to enlarge our collection of plant specious with authentic 
vernacular names.There iimot be several listeners tonight who can help in this 
1 know there are many popular names of plohts used among the various 
communities in Malaya of which we have no record and which we would like*to 
render current as common knowledge, for many will fill troublesome gapsnn our 
nomenclature. A few years ago, when I was taking classes in Nature Study for 
teachers in Singapore, I learned too how important it was to have English 
names for use in the English schools. That,l/was told , was,of course. Old 
Ladies Nightcaps;and I, poor academician,knew/as AngeloniaT Then we foun< 
Good Girls and Naughty Boys and I dared not say it was really Asystasia 
it 
_i n its two varieties. I have always remembered Evoe T s quip in 
Punch, when he was relating of a round of golf with a botanist. "And that, 
said the bot^hist, is R^n unculjjfs ficaria, the Lesser Celandine." "HaJ said 
^voe, Eicus a fig. 1 Do men gather figs of the lesser Celandine?" On another 
occasion, when staying at Cluny Estate near Slim River in Perak, we came upon 
a oeauoiful yellow-trumpeted forest herb in great profusion and we christened 
it the Cowslip of Cluny, for though it is a specimen o/UDidymocarpus , goodness 
knows what its full botanical name should be. I cannot but believe that there 
are many of yoi^/ho have unscientifichames for the plants which you particularly 
-ancy or cultivate, and I would ask'that you should send labelled speciniahs 
.or record to the Director of Gardens, Singapore. The specimens can be rolled 
up in a newspaperand, if possible, should have flowers and fruits as well as 
i av e s . i 
During our scientific moments, nowadays, at the Botanical Gardens we 
partlcu ^ ar ly local varieties of Keladi, Bayam, and Throng or 
Brinjal. These a^ e plants of villages and agricultural land for whicti^names 
are constantly needed, but for which we have no adequate^nomenclature. We 
rely tn refore mainly oiythe vernacular names. We are growing as many varieties 
as possible so that we can have a full knowledge of the plants and can compare 
ohem as .hey grow. In this matter we have recieved great help from Agricultural 
officers , especially m Perak and Kedah, who have sent material, and we will 
welcome reliable information ^rom any source. I may say that I am looking for 
. n 1 tI ge T fr + lted t3 ?°F ny Brinjal: it seams that these thorny varieties are grown 
m temperate countries but apart from the small fruited thorny Throng P^rat 
none has yet been collected in Malaya. Needless to say we have already made 
tropical ^?^ overies because very little of such detailed work has been done in 
F^fH- 
