The Herbarium and Botanic Garden of University of Malaya
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概要
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The Herbarium of the University of Malaya (KLU) is the oldest and largest university herbarium in Malaysia. Although the Botany Department in University of Malaya at Kuala Lumpur was established as a founding department in 1959,it was actually a continuation of its parent department at the university established in Singapore much earlier. Therefore we can proudly lay claim to have had in our institution such illustrious botanists as R. E. Holttum. Although collections have been made for purposes of teaching and research since 1959,it was only in 1969 that a proper herbarium with attendant facilities established. In 1974,a 200-acre botanic garden named Rimba Ilmu (Garden of Knowledge) was officially opened within the campus. This was an abandoned rubber plantation, which had been imperfectly cleared, in which many of the secondary jungle plants had established themselves. The Malaysian Government kindly allocated a US$2 million grant under the 6th Malaysia Plan in 1992 to build a herbarium and greenhouses within the botanic gardens. This new building housing the herbarium, has teaching and research facilities, reference collections and greenhouses to house rare and threatened plants. The total accession of KLU consists of 45,000 angiosperm specimens, 700 gymnosperm specimens, 6000 pteridophytes, 16,000 bryophytes and 3000 algae. Important collections in the angiosperms include Pandanaceae (1300 accessions), Rutaceae, Araliaceae, Bambusoideae, Zingiberaceae, the flora of the Danum Valley (Sabah) and Ulu Kali (Peninsular Malaysia), and the Malayan limestone flora. Current research includes revisions in Rubiaceae (Rothmannia, Porterandia, Ceriscoides), Myrtaceae (Tristaniopsis), Araliaceae (Arthrophyllum), Zingiberaceae and Bambusoideae (Dendrocalamus complex). The bryophytes are mainly from the Sabah, Sarawak and peninsular Malaysia. The seaweed and seagrass herbarium has about 4500 accessions, and includes a good diversity of Malaysian seagrasses and seaweeds, mainly collected by Assoc. Prof. S. M. Phang and Prof. Michio Masuda of Hokkaido University. The seaweeds component includes the Cyanophyta, Chlorophyta, Phaeophyta and Rhodophyta divisions of marine algae. The type specimens number 55 majority being angiosperms. The herbarium also has ecological collections comprising of plant specimens from such areas as limestone, quartzite ridges, mangroves, etc. The Rimba Ilmu Botanic Garden complements the role of the herbarium in being a living collection of the Malaysian plants. Four to five collecting trips are made annually to various parts of the country to gather plants, priority being given to those species which fulfill the general educational and research needs, or augment any one of the garden's "specialty" collections which include medicinal plants (357 species), wild orchids (120 spp.), palms (72 spp.), pandans (29 spp.), citroids (42 spp.), gingers (70 spp.), wild fruit trees (72 spp.) and others (368 spp.). The main functions of the Herbarium and Rimba Ilmu are threefold : conservation, education and public awareness and research. Rimba Ilmu is an important repository for many types of plants, including conservation collections of rare and endangered plants, and special collections of the useful plants (such as citruses and starch palms) and their wild relatives. Outside of the Rimba Ilmu, it may be very difficult to observe so many different species of some groups, and the habitats of some of these plants may have already been altered or damaged. At Rimba Ilmu, the public can learn about the natural heritage of the Malaysian region and its plant structure, growth habits and uses. The Rimba Ilmu is principally used in the teaching of botany and plant conservation at the University, but is now open to visitors for a small entry fee. Rimba Ilmu continues to be an important and convenient research site for many scientific studies, such as phytochemistry, plant growth and structure, and even insect life.
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