The Plant Diversity of Malesia : Proceedings of the Flora Malesiana Symposium Commemorating Professor Dr. C. G. G. J. Van Steenis Leiden, August 1989

Although the only publication with a realistic claim to the title "The plant diver­ sity of Malesia" is Flora Malesiana itself, we have hesitatingly chosen this title for the present proceedings volume. Past, present and future work on the Flora Malesiana project was the subject of a successful symposium held in August 1989. This book contains only a selection of the papers presented at that meet­ ing, yet it covers a much greater diversity of themes than just the inventory of botanical diversity. It even goes beyond the boundaries of the vast Flora Malesi­ ana region in several of its chapters. The role of the founder of the Flora Malesiana Project, Professor C.G.G.J. van Steenis, repeatedly recurs in several chapters; not only as director of and contributor to the project, but also as a pioneer in the fields of Malesian vege­ tation, conservation and biogeography, and as an enlightened systematist whose ideas and practical recommendations for taxonomic delimitation still largely apply. Botanical information made available in regional and local floras is of vital im­ portance for applications such as the exploitation of natural forests on a sus­ tainable yield basis. for establishing gene banks for the benefit of agriculture. forestry and horticulture. and not in the least for nature conservation. Several chapters are devoted to these themes. Floristic studies are also at the basis of the biogeographical essays and vegetation studies included in this book. Front Matter....Pages i-xii Van Steenis remembered....Pages 1-9 The general progress of Flora Malesiana....Pages 11-16 Outstanding problems in Malesian palms....Pages 17-25 Progress in the study of Malesian Bambusoideae....Pages 27-32 New evidence for the reconciliation of floral organisation in Pandanaceae with normal angiosperm patterns....Pages 33-55 Progress in Elaeocarpaceae....Pages 57-61 Correlations in the germination patterns of Santalacean and other mistletoes....Pages 63-72 Tabernaemontana (Apocynaceae): discussion of its delimitation....Pages 73-81 Pollinaria of some tropical Asian Asclepiadaceae....Pages 83-92 Alkaloids and cyanogenic glycosides of Malesian plants as taxonomic markers....Pages 93-104 The systematics of the Polypodiaceae....Pages 105-120 A review of natural vegetation studies in Malesia, with special reference to Indonesia....Pages 121-132 The illusionary concept of the climax....Pages 133-146 Diversity and distribution patterns in the flora of Mount Kinabalu....Pages 147-160 Altitudinal zonation of the rain forests in the Manusela National Park, Seram, Maluku, Indonesia....Pages 161-175 The changing pattern of vertical stratification along an altitudinal gradient of the forests of Mt Pangrango, West Java....Pages 177-191 Search for phytogeographic provinces in Sumatra....Pages 193-211 The secondary forest of Tanah Grogot, East Kalimantan, Indonesia....Pages 213-224 The fern flora of Seram....Pages 225-234 Botanical progress in Papuasia....Pages 235-247 Areas of endemism and composite areas in East Malesia....Pages 249-272 Biogeographical relationships of Australia and Malesia: Loranthaceae as a model....Pages 273-292 Elements of Pacific phytodiversity....Pages 293-304 Van Steenis’ contributions to nature conservation and public education....Pages 305-311 Conservation of plants in Malaysia....Pages 313-322 The impact of development on the fern flora in some areas in Malaysia and efforts toward conservation....Pages 323-328 Conservation of mangrove formations in Java....Pages 329-340 Gene banks and plant taxonomy....Pages 341-349 Malesian origin for a domestic Cocos nucifera....Pages 351-357 On specific and infraspecific delimitation....Pages 359-370 Species and monophyletic taxa as individual substantial systems....Pages 371-378 The unified theory, macroevolution, and historical ecology....Pages 379-386 Nomenclatural stability, taxonomic instinct, and flora writing — a recipe for disaster?....Pages 387-410 Back Matter....Pages 411-420