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New Species of Resak Named Vatica yeechongii L.G. sawThe State of Selangor in Peninsular Malaysia has three main forest districts - Pantai Kelang, Ulu Selangor and Selangor Tengah (Central Selangor). Mohd. Murad is the District Forest Officer (DFO) for Central Selangor - its range office situated in bustling and sprawling Cheras, on the Kajang highway. A turning to the left of this highway towards the Semenyih Dam takes one to Ulu Langat, a haven for those who love waterfalls. Ulu Langat is a popular place for battle-weary Kuala Lumpur (KL) urbanities - the drive there takes one through quiet and peaceful countryside scenery. Makeshift stalls by the roadside provide offerings of fresh seasonal fruits like durians, rambutans, langsat and mangosteens, alongside lemang, a local glutinous rice dish baked in bamboo casing, eaten with either chicken or beef. Within the Central Selangor forest range is the Sungai Tekala Recreational Forest, which is about 50-km from KL. Because of its relative proximity to KL, this 242 ha Lowland Dipterocarp Forest is often used as a forest management demonstration area, with several plots designated for observation of various stages of forest regeneration after harvesting. According to Azid Adam, Murad's assistant, Tekala counts amongst the notaries who have visited it, the heads of forestry of various Commonwealth countries and scientists from the world over. Foresters Jantan, Borhan and Kassim are well-versed with Sungai Tekala, especially the areas which have been minimally developed to accommodate visitors. Near the entrance to the Sg. Tekala Recreational Forest, close to the camping site is the office. Sg. Tekala, as the area is called, in short, is a highly popular picnic site, especially during the weekends and public holidays. It is just one out of a total of more than 100 such recreational forest parks developed and managed by the Forestry Department throughout Peninsular Malaysia for local ecotourism. The foresters have often noticed a Resak (Vatica spp.) growing in association with the Gapis (Saraca) on a gentle slope near to the riverbank, especially during mast flowering and fruiting seasons. In fact, during one of the trips of MTC staff to this recreational forest to look for interesting specimens of fruits from commercial trees to be photographed, he was able to "harvest" a leafy shoot, replete with fruit bracts of this Resak.
Uneducated guesses were made that it was either the Resak Daun Panjang (the Long-Leafed Resak), based on the unusually long leaves (about 20-30 mm long) or Resak Gajah (Elephantine Resak). Little did we know that it was a yet unnamed species.
Then along came Chan Yee Chong, FRIM Research Assistant working for Dr. L.G. Saw, FRIM's taxonomist. Possessed of a keen eye, a good memory and an inquisitive mind, Chan noted that this Resak is an unnamed Vatica during his visits to Sg. Tekala. To satisfy his curiosity, he collected fruiting material during mast flowering in July 2002. In August of the same year, he also chanced upon the same species in the Setul Forest Reserve in the state of Negri Sembilan and also collected specimens. What ensued is the painstaking and investigative part of one aspect of the science of identification of tree taxa. It also provides a glimpse into the institutional support required for this kind of work. Earlier on in March 2001, the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Primary Industries for financial support to set up a Flora Malaysiana (Plant Diversity) Centre at FRIM, initially planned under the Eighth Malaysia Plan. The additional funds for the creation of this Centre is to come from the Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) Fund administered by a National Committee on SFM established in 1994 under the Ministry of Primary Industries, Malaysia. The National Committee decides on the distribution of funds to the Peninsular Malaysia Forestry Department HQ, the State Forestry Departments and FRIM to carry out sustainable forestry development activities. The Flora Malaysiana Centre aims, amongst others, to promote the protection, conservation and sustainable utilisation of indigenous flora and their habitats in Malaysia. There are a total of fourteen (14), major projects and activities proposed under the Flora Malaysiana initiative. Amongst the objectives of Project 6: Conservation Monitoring System for Threatened Plants was to develop a protocol for conservation monitoring of Dipterocarpaceae as a model for the conservation monitoring of other tree groups considered to be threatened under the 1994 IUCN Red list criteria and published in The World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) publication, The World Threatened List of Tree Species. Both Dr. L.G. Saw and Chan Yee Chong are team members of Project 6. Activities scheduled to be carried out within the period of the Eighth Plan include around surveys to be undertaken to re-assess reports on the conservation status of species, to ascertain if the conservation score given to a species is reflective of its current stocking. It was during one of these ground surveys that the unnamed Resak was discovered. Dr. L.G. Saw acknowledges assistance from other scientists like Professor Dr. Peter S. Ashton of Harvard University for advice on the affinity of this new species, Dr. J. F. Veldkamp, a permanent scientific staff from the National Herbarium Nederland (Universiteit Leiden branch) for the Latin diagnoses, other scientists (R.C.K. Chung and E. Soepadmo) and many others for help in the field and to Tetriana Ahmed Fauzi for the line drawing. For his role in pointing out the unnamed Resak and for enabling the description of this new species, the epithet honours Chan Yee Chong. |
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A
lay person would describe the dark green leaves as leathery (to scientists,
"coriaceous"). They are thick and strong, and slightly hairy. The
shape of the leaves is described as "bullate", gently increasing
uniformly in width on both sides from the central stem and after that tapering
to what is called an acuminate tip at the apex. On the tree, the leaves spread
horizontally. Look closely and along the branches of leafy shoots you will find
tiny fruits 2-3 mm long protected inside calyx lobes, somewhat like
gooseberries. The attractive greenish to reddish lobes enclose an ovoid nut.
MTC’s
