STAFF 
There was a serious shortage of senior staff for the greater part of the year. 
Mr. J. Sinclair, Curator of the Herbarium, was on leave in the United Kingdom 
from May to November, Dr. C. X. Furtado, Assistant Botanist, went on 
leave in July prior to retirement, and Mr. J. W. Ewart, Curator, Gardens, 
was so fully occupied with the duties of Agricultural Officer and Food Pro¬ 
duction Officer that he had little time for horticultural duties in the Gardens. 
Mr. G. Alphonso, Horticultural Assistant, was absent for several months on 
sick leave. The post of Assistant Director has not yet been filled, in spite 
of efforts both locally and overseas to find suitable candidates. Mr. M. R. 
Henderson, Director, and Mr. G. H. Addison, Curator, Parks, were on duty 
throughout the year. 
The average number of daily paid labourers employed at the Gardens 
was 79 and at Government House Domain 57. 
BOTANICAL WORK AND THE HERBARIUM 
No field work was possible during the year, mainly because of the lack 
of senior staff and also because of the continued uncertainty of conditions in 
the Federation. Mr. M. R. Henderson, while on a short vacation at Fraser 
Hill, made a collection of mosses and liverworts which have been sent for 
naming to a Dutch specialist in these groups. Mr. Henderson also continued, 
when time permitted, the study of Calophyllum, a genus of forest trees of 
the Mangosteen Family, which are of some importance as timber trees. This 
study is being undertaken in collaboration with Mr. J. Wyatt-Smith, Forest 
Botanist, Federation of Malaya. Mr. Wyatt-Smith was on leave during the 
year and took the opportunity to visit the Herbaria at Kew and Leiden to 
examine type material not available in Singapore. As a result it has been 
found that at least two of the common species have for many years been 
going under wrong names and that many others have been badly confused. 
Unfortunately this means that familiar specific names must be dropped 
and unfamiliar ones used instead. Calophyllum is a peculiarly difficult group 
to study, for the leaves and flowers of all species are much alike. Comparison 
of bark characters has been found of value and much material has been 
specially collected by Forest Officers, and copious field notes made, to enable 
such comparisons to be made. 
During his leave Mr. Sinclair spent some time working in the Herbaria 
at Kew and Edinburgh in order to complete his account of the family Annona- 
cete and to make a preliminary survey of the Nutmeg Family (Myristicaceae) 
with a view to beginning a revision of the numerous Malayan species of this 
family. 
Mr. Henderson completed the preparation and illustration of a popular 
account of the local Monocotyledons (which include the orchids, gingers, 
sedges and grasses) as a sequel to his Malayan Wild Flowers (Dicotyledons). 
It is hoped that the Malayan Nature Society will undertake to publish this 
in 1953. 
Two small but interesting collections made in Malaya by persons not 
attached to the Gardens staff have been donated. One was from the little 
known Gunong Padang and Gunong Sembilu in Trengganu, made by Mr. 
J. A. Hislop, and the other was a collection of ferns from various localities, 
made by Mrs. G. B. Molesworth-Allen. A number of interesting plants have 
• 
43 
