Rafflesia is a genus of parasitic flowering plants in the family Rafflesiaceae. The species have enormous flowers, the buds rising from the ground or directly from the lower stems of their host plants; one species has the largest flowers in the world. The genus contains approximately 28 species, all found in Southeast Asia, mainly in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. For Western Europe, it was first discovered by French surgeon and naturalist Louis Deschamps in Java between 1791 and 1794, but his notes and illustrations, seized by the British in 1803, were not available to western science until 1861. The first British person to see one was Joseph Arnold in 1818, in the Indonesia rainforest in Bengkulu, Sumatra, after a Malay servant working for him discovered a flower and pointed it out to him. It was later named after Stamford Raffles, the leader of the expedition.
The geography of Malaysia includes both the physical and the human geography of Malaysia, a Southeast Asian country made up of two major landmasses separated by water—Peninsular Malaysia to the west and East Malaysia to the east—and numerous smaller islands that surround those landmasses. Peninsular Malaysia is on the southernmost part of the Malay Peninsula, south of Thailand, north of Singapore and east of the Indonesian island of Sumatra; East Malaysia comprises most of the northern part of Borneo island, and shares land borders with Brunei to the north and Indonesian Borneo to the south.
Rafflesia kerrii is a member of the genus Rafflesia. It is found in the rainforest of southern Thailand and peninsular Malaysia, with notable populations in Khao Sok National Park and Khlong Phanom National Park. Local Thai names are บัวผุด, ย่านไก่ต้ม and บัวตูม.
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions, Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Malaysia. Peninsular Malaysia shares a land and maritime border with Thailand and maritime borders with Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia. East Malaysia shares land and maritime borders with Brunei and Indonesia and a maritime border with the Philippines and Vietnam. Kuala Lumpur is the national capital, largest city and the seat of the legislative branch of the federal government. The nearby planned capital of Putrajaya is the administrative capital; which represents the seat of both the executive branch and the judicial branch of the federal government. With a population of over 32 million, Malaysia is the world's 44th-most populous country. The southernmost point of continental Eurasia is in Tanjung Piai. In the tropics, Malaysia is one of 17 megadiverse countries, home to a number of endemic species.
Dipterocarpus kerrii is a species of tree in the family Dipterocarpaceae, native to the Andaman Islands, Sumatra, Borneo, Peninsular Malaysia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Dipterocarpus verrucosus is a species of tree in the family Dipterocarpaceae, endemic to Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia. It is locally common on ridges in mixed dipterocarp forest. The keruing timber is exploited, in particular in Brunei and peninsular Malaysia.
Danum Valley Conservation Area is a 438 square kilometres tract of relatively undisturbed lowland dipterocarp forest in Sabah, Malaysia. It has an extensive diversity of tropical flora and fauna, including such species as the rare Bornean orangutans, gibbons, mousedeer, clouded leopards and over 270 bird species. Activities offered are jungle treks, river swimming, bird watching, night jungle tours and excursions to nearby logging sites and timber mills.
The Borneo peat swamp forests ecoregion, within the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome, are on the island of Borneo, which is divided between Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia.
The flora consists of many unique varieties of tropical plants. Blessed with a tropical climate and roughly 17,000 islands, Indonesia is the nation with the second highest biodiversity in the world. The flora of Indonesia reflects an intermingling of Asian, Australian and unique, Indonesian lineages. This is due to the geography of Indonesia, located between the aforementioned continents. The archipelago consists of a variety of regions, from the tropical rain forests of the northern lowlands and the seasonal forests of the southern lowlands through the hill and mountain vegetation, to subalpine shrub vegetation. With the second longest coastline in the world, Indonesia also has many swamps and other varieties of coastal vegetation. Combined, these all give rise to a huge floral biodiversity. There are about 28,000 species of flowering plants documented in Indonesia, including 2500 orchids, 122 species of bamboo, over 350 species of rattan and 400 species of Dipterocarpus, including ebony, sandalwood and teakwood. Indonesia is also home to some unusual species of carnivorous plants. One exceptional species is known as Rafflesia arnoldi, named after Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles and Dr. Thomas Arnold, who discovered the flower in the depths of Bengkulu, southwest Sumatra. This parasitic plant has the largest flower of any plant, does not produce leaves and grows only on one species of liana on the rainforest floor. Another unusual plant is Amorphophallus titanum from Sumatra. Numerous species of insect trapping pitcher plants can also be found in Borneo, Sumatra, and other islands of the Indonesian archipelago. There are a staggering 6000 traditional medicinal plants used as Jamu.,
The wildlife of Malaysia is diverse, with Malaysia being a megadiverse country. Most of the country is covered in rainforest, which hosts a huge diversity of plant and animal species. There are approximately 361 mammal species, 694 bird species, 250 reptile species, and 150 frog species found in Malaysia. Its large marine territory also holds a great diversity of life, with the country's coastal waters comprising part of the Coral Triangle.
Dipterocarpus caudatus is a species of plant in the evergreen or semi-evergreen family Dipterocarpaceae. The species name is derived from Latin and refers to the narrow acumen of the leaf apex. It is an emergent tree, up to 50 m tall, in mixed dipterocarp forest on dry ridges. It is found within Sumatra, coastal Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and Borneo. It is a medium hardwood sold under the trade names of Keruing. It was formerly most abundant along the coastal hills on sandy soils, but is endangered due to land conversion. D. caudatus is found in at least one protected area.
Henry George Keith (1899-1982), known as Harry Keith, was a British forester and plant collector. Keith is credited with starting the process of large-scale conservation of the forests of North Borneo. In 1984 a new species of Rafflesia endemic to Sabah, Rafflesia keithii, was named in his honour. Keith was the husband of author Agnes Newton Keith.
The flora of Borneo include 15 species of dicot tree, 37 species of non-tree dicot and 49 species of monocot endemic to the rich forest of Brunei Darussalam. Borneo is also home to the world's largest flower, the "corpse flower", which can reach nearly 3 feet in diameter and up to 15 pounds in weight. Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is divided between three countries: Brunei in the north, the Malaysian constituent states of Sarawak and Sabah, and the 5 Kalimantan provinces of Indonesia.
The environment of Malaysia is the biotas and geologies that constitute the natural environment of Malaysia. Malaysia's ecology is megadiverse, with a biodiverse range of flora and fauna found in various ecoregions throughout the country. Tropical rainforests encompass between 59% to 70% of Malaysia's total land area, of which 11.6% is pristine. Malaysia has the world's fifth largest mangrove area, which totals over a half a million hectares.
Bruneian Malays are a native Malay ethnic group that lives in Brunei, the federal territory of Labuan, the southwestern coast of Sabah and the northern parts of Sarawak. The Bruneian Malays are a subgroup of the larger ethnic Malay population found in the other parts of the Malay World, namely Peninsular Malaysia and the central and southern areas of Sarawak including neighbouring lands such as Singapore, Indonesia and Southern Thailand, having visible differences especially in language and culture, even though they are ethnically related to each other and follow the teachings of Islam. All Bruneian Malays who are born or domiciled in East Malaysia even for generations before or after the independence of the states of Sabah and Sarawak from the British Empire through the formation of Malaysia in 1963 are also considered Malaysian Malays in the national census and were in the same status like the Malaysian Malays domiciled in Peninsular Malaysian states and the central and southern parts of Sarawak. They are also defined as a part of the Bumiputera racial classification together as a subgroup within the Malaysian Malay ethnic population along with the Kadazan-Dusuns, Ibans, Malaccan Portuguese and the Malaysian Siamese.
The Orang Asal are the indigenous people of Malaysia. The term is Malay for "Original People", used to refer to the aboriginals of Sabah, Sarawak, and Peninsular Malaysia. These groups are given the Bumiputera status in Malaysia.
The Flora of Malaysia comprises a vast assemblage of plant species estimated to over 15,500 vascular plants. Malaysia boasts 8,019 species of seed plants: 19 species of Gymnosperms and 8,000 Angiosperms. Globally, Malaysia is ranked 14th in terms of species of vascular plants. The Flora of Malaysia consist of approximately 15,000 species of vascular plant. Peninsular Malaysia has around 8,200 species of vascular plants while places such as Sabah and Sarawak has around 12,000 species. Most Flora can be found in the dense rainforest of Malaysia.
The flora of the Philippines boasts a diverse array of plant species given its location in the great Malaysian flora. The Malaysian Phytogeographic zone is considered to be one of the most important centers for plant diversity because of the multitude and variance of species occupying that zone. The archipelago is isolated by a continental and deep ocean.
Memecylon cantleyi is a shrub or tree species in the Melastomataceae family. The flowers are white and vivid blue. The plant is native to an area from Borneo to Sumatra to Thailand. A name given to the tree in Malaysia, nipis kulit, translates as "calamondin bark".
Memecylon lilacinum is a tree species in the Melastomataceae family. It is usually an understorey species in closed forests. It is native to an area of tropical Asia, from Jawa to Philippines to Vietnam and the Andaman Islands and Myanmar. It is a food plant for the macaque Macaca facsicularis and a bee in the Megachilidae family.
