2 
desirable to prepare monographs of groups of allied species including some 
which occur outside Malaya. A Flora also should have illustrations, and these 
must be accurately drawn by a trained artist under expert supervision. All 
this work is complex and cannot be hurried; to complete it will take several 
years. 
Durincr the period of Japanese occupation, the Director studied several plant 
families and prepared new descriptions of all species in them. During the 
year 1948 the copying and revision of these manuscripts was completed. The 
families are: ferns, orchids, grasses, sedges (Cyperaceae) and gingers (Zingi- 
beraceae). Every opportunity was taken to check the manuscript by examina¬ 
tion of fresh specimens of plants of these families, and a few additions wei e 
made during 1948. It is hoped to keep these manuscripts up-to-date in this 
way pending the possibility of publication. 
The Director also carried out further studies of bamboos, and made a preli¬ 
minary study of the Randans of Malaya. A short held expedition was made 
in February to TJlu Langat, Ginting Simpah, and the Cameron Highlands road, 
to study bamboos in the foot-hills of the main range, and some useful new 
data obtained. Much more field study of bamboos in the north ol Malaya is 
necessary, as the number of kinds in the north is much greater than in the 
south, and the discrimination of allied species is often difficult. As regards 
Pandans, there are some forty species in Malaya, including several which have 
never been described, and the establishment of characters by which they can 
be distinguished when not flowering or fruiting needs more study. Some of 
them fruit rarely, and the male flowers of some are quite unknown. 
Mr. M. R. Henderson, Assistant Director, was absent on leave from March 
to October, 1948. His work on the genus Eugenia in Malaya was sent to press 
and is to appear in the Gardens’ Bulletin in 1949. Mr. Henderson made 
provisional revisions of the families Dilleniaceae and Magnoliaceae in Malaya, 
but as specialists were also engaged on these families for the larger area covered 
by Flora Malesiana, the manuscripts were sent on to these authors for use in 
connection with their work. 
Mr. Henderson spent a considerable amount of time working on a popular 
book on Malayan Wild Flowers, illustrated with line drawings, which is being 
printed in parts in the Malayan Nature Journal. The work is an attempt to 
describe the commoner small plants of Malaya, for the benefit of the reader who 
is not a botanist and who wishes to know the names and relationships of the 
plants he may see in villages and at hill stations. 
Mr. J. Sinclair, Curator of the herbarium, arrived to assume duty on 1st 
May, 1948. Mr. Sinclair immediately began a revision of the family Annona- 
ceae for the Flora, and at the end of the year had nearly completed this work 
so far as present collections permit. He also carried on the usual routine 
work of the herbarium, identifying specimens from the Conservator of Forests 
in North Borneo, the Department of Agriculture, Kuala Lumpur, the Rubber 
Research Institute of Malaya, and other institutions and persons. Mr. Sinclair 
carried out a considerable amount of field work in Singapore island, collecting 
specimens for exchange purposes and also adding data for our own herbarium. 
Both coloured and hue drawings were prepared by the artist of all Annonaceae 
found in flower and fruit in Singapore during this work. 
Dr. C. X. Furtado, Assistant Botanist, continued his work on Malayan palms, 
and completed an account of the genus Calamus in Malaya (about 75 species). 
These include the great majority of the useful rattan canes of Malaya. Dr. 
Furtado also continued Ms study of the complex problems of botanical nomen¬ 
clature and prepared a further paper on the subject. 
