Welcome to Plant People. This virtual exhibition tells the story of botany in Sarawak, and how scientific study has changed our relationship with the amazing plant life that surrounds us.
Scroll down or use the shortcuts on the top right of the screen to explore.
Estimated reading time: 15 minutes
Botany is the scientific study of plants, which are central to human life all over the world. In Sarawak, local people have always named, used and understood the plant life around them.
Sarawak’s communities possess a wealth of knowledge about the plants of the state’s lowlands, mountains and coasts. Trees and other plants also play key roles in local belief systems. In the mural below, the Lepo’ Tau Kenyah used the image of a tree to show the strength and spread of their people across Central Borneo.
Kenyah mural painted inside the Sarawak Museum in 1960.
Photo: Jee Foong
From the 1500s, scholars in Europe developed new ways of understanding and describing the natural world through close examination and classification. Botany, or the scientific study of plants, emerged from these European trends and spread around the globe.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
European scientists believed their method of study was more accurate than the approaches that had come before them. As they took power over enormous areas of the globe during the colonial era, European natural science became the world standard.
Photo: Andries Beeckman, The Castle of Batavia, c. 1661, oil on canvas. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
Nonetheless, European scientists relied on information from local communities to find and understand plants and animals. Although Europeans rarely acknowledged it in past centuries, indigenous peoples always contributed to the scientific research projects organised by the European empires.
This photograph was taken on a scientific expedition up the Limbang River in 1915. The men standing at the back are the Sarawakian employees of the Sarawak Museum, whose job was to collect plant and animal specimens for the Museum’s collections.
Photo: Gift of Harrison W. Smith, 1942. Courtesy of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, 42-41-70/10852.1.401
This exhibition has been created to commemorate Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari’s Centenary. It therefore focuses on the story of European botany in Sarawak. Sarawak botany as we know it today, however, could not exist without the knowledge and experience of generations of Sarawakians. Even though botanical science has historically overshadowed local knowledge, the two have always been closely intertwined.
Botanical science is a vast field covering many different branches of study. Some botanists today study how plants interact with their environment. Others examine plant DNA, or experiment with growing conditions.
Botanists in the past collected specimens of as many plant species as they could, to compare, classify and study them in detail. Seed collections also allowed them to try growing plants in different climates and soils.
Sarawak botanists collecting plants in Bario, November 1974.
Photo: Paul Chai
As Europeans colonised lands around the world, they also collected plants from those places, aiming to find natural products they could trade for profit. Botanical research for this purpose is known as ‘economic botany’.
The Palm House at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London, England. Ever since the 1700s, Kew has been a global centre for plant science.
Photo: David Iliff. License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Plant specimen collections grew quickly as Europeans travelled the globe. These collections were housed in botanic gardens, museums and universities, where scientists studied them and conducted experiments.
Botanical collections are still being studied and added to by botanists today. Although scientists’ goals have changed since the 1500s, the collections represent a priceless record of the world’s plant life over the past five centuries. They can now help us understand the effects of climate change and conserve plant species growing in threatened habitats.
There are several methods botanists have used throughout the centuries to collect and preserve plants for study.
Specimens collected by famous British botanist Joseph Banks during his travels in the late 1700s, now looked after by the Natural History Museum, London.
Photo: © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London. Licensed under the Open Government Licence.
A flowering plant’s shoots, leaves and flowers can be pressed flat and dried, then fixed to sheets of paper for storage.
A pressed specimen of kerdam, collected by Beccari in Sarawak in 1865. The species was given the scientific name Ilex beccariana after Beccari himself.
Flowers, fruits and seeds that are too large or delicate to press are stored in alcohol. This preserves their shape, but the alcohol removes their natural colours.
Durian seeds collected by Beccari in Sarawak and preserved in alcohol.
Photo: © Natural History Museum, University of Florence
Live plants are collected from the natural environment and replanted in botanic gardens. This requires great care and controlled conditions to make sure plants survive.
The Wardian Case, developed by Dr Nathaniel Ward in the mid 1800s, allowed live plants to be transported safely around the world.
Photo: © Smithsonian Gardens, Historical Artifacts Collection, SG-1978.006
Neither pressed specimens nor wet specimens can accurately preserve a plant’s natural shapes and colours. Botanists therefore also create images of the living plant to study alongside their specimens.
Watercolour painting of orchid found in Matang by British botanical artist Christopher Blake, in the Sarawak Museum’s collection.
Photo: © Christopher Blake, 1954, watercolour. Sarawak Museum Department.
Botanical drawing requires great skill. It is both a science and an art form. During the colonial era, it also allowed people who were otherwise excluded from the European scientific community, including women and non-European artists, to become involved with botanical research.
An illustration of a belian tree from the Farquhar collection.
Photo: © Collection of the National Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board
This painting from the Farquhar collection is titled ‘Red plantain or red banana’.
Photo: © Collection of the National Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board
The images shown above were painted by Chinese artists in Malacca between 1819 and 1823. They were commissioned by William Farquhar, the first British Resident of Singapore, to make a visual record of Malaya’s plant life.
Photo: Drawings of Begonia serapatensis published in the 2007 scientific paper ‘Begonia (Begoniaceae) from the Limestone Hills in the Kuching Division, Sarawak, Borneo, including nine new species’, Gardens’ Bulletin Singapore, by R. Kiew and J. Sang.
Although botanists can now photograph and video plants, many still prefer to use drawings to illustrate their publications. A drawing captures the plant in isolation from its surroundings, and shows details, angles and cross-sections that photographs cannot.
Scientists in the colonial period were often credited with having ‘discovered’ new plant species. In fact, these plants were usually well known to local people, but colonial botanists wrote the first scientific descriptions of the species, classified them and gave them new scientific names. This process is known as ‘plant taxonomy’.
An illustration of the durian from the Farquhar collection.
Photo: © Collection of the National Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board
These are some local names for durian species found in Sarawak. How many do you recognise?
| Rian burong buah mit (Ib) | Durio acutifolius |
| Rian burong (Ib) | Durio affinis |
| Rian burong paya (Ib) | Durio carinatus |
| Rian burong/rian temberan/rian temaga (Ib), durian hutan (Mal), 粗柄榴莲 | Durio crassipes |
| Rian antu (Ib), durian tahis/durian daun/durian merah (Mal), datu kala (Kel), 焦糖榴莲 | Durio dulcis |
| Rian burong (Ib) | Durio excelsus |
| Rian tergengang (lb), durian monyet/durian hantu (Mal), 大花榴莲 | Durio grandiflorus |
| Rian tutong (Ib), datu daruyan/datu siah (Kel), 红肉榴莲 | Durio graveolens |
| Rian (Ib), liso (Kay) | Durio griffithii |
| Rian isu (Ib), luung kala (Ber), perui ubak (Kay), bela’ (Ken), bua bela (Pen), dien muot (Bid), dien rakot (Bid Padawan), nyalak (Bid Sadong), datu bendela (Kel), 黄金榴莲 | Durio kutejensis |
| Rian mit (Ib) | Durio lanceolatus |
| Rian kura-kura (Ib) | Durio macrophyllus |
| Rian kura-kura emperan (Ib) | Durio malaccensis |
| Rian gerinang/pakan/nyakak/rian nyakak (Ib), nyalak (Bid Sadong) | Durio oblongus |
| Rian beludu (Ib), durian beludu/durian sukang (Mal), 黄油榴莲 | Durio oxleyanus |
| Rian kura-kura (Ib), bekah tud (Bid Padawan), lapu bu/ruas/lapun mas (LB), lalet (Bis), 乌龟榴莲 | Durio testudinarius |
| Rian kampung/rian amat (Ib), datu/datu ubok (Kel), 榴莲 | Durio zibethinus |
Ber = Berawan, Bid = Bidayuh, Ib = Iban, Kay = Kayan, Kel = Kelabit, Ken = Kenyah, LB = Lun Bawang, Mal = Malay, Mel = Melanau, Pen = Penan
Photos: Chien C. Lee
Our knowledge about the plant world is so imperfect that botanists still frequently need to describe new species today. Their descriptions, which include detailed information about the plant’s physical form and habitat, are published in scientific journals, read by specialists all over the world.
A plant’s scientific name is made up of two Latin words: the first tells you the ‘genus’, or wider group in which the plant belongs, and the second is the unique name for the species.
The local names shown here all apply to the genus Shorea. Trees from this genus are also sometimes classified by the colour of their wood and known by their timber trade names: red meranti, yellow meranti and white meranti.
Abang
(Bid)
Berasong
(LB)
Dangar
(Kel)
Engkabang
(Ib)
Kabang
(Bid Bau)
Kelangah
(Kay/Ken)
Langah
(Ber/Pen)
Meranti
(Ib/Mal)
Perawan
(Ib)
Avang apou
(Kay)
Barek
(Ib)
Beliuk
(LB)
Damar hitam
(Mal)
Luit
(Ber)
Luit lelang
(Ken)
Lun
(Ib/Mal)
Majotabu
(Bid Padawan)
Melapi
(Ib)
Giam
(Bid Lundu)
Meranti belang
(Ib/Mal)
Meranti bumbong
(Ib/Mal)
Meranti pa’ang
(Ib/Mal)
Meranti putih
(Ib/Mal)
Meranti sulang-sulang
(Mal)
Raruk
(Ib)
Tenak
(Kay/Ken/Ber/Pen)
Giam
(Bid Lundu)
Meranti belang
(Ib/Mal)
Meranti bumbong
(Ib/Mal)
Meranti pa’ang
(Ib/Mal)
Meranti putih
(Ib/Mal)
Meranti sulang-sulang
(Mal)
Raruk
(Ib)
Tenak
(Kay/Ken/Ber/Pen)
Sarawak has been a source of botanical collections since the early 1800s. The plant specimens collected have found their way to museums and gardens all over the world, where they continue to contribute to scientific research.
Singapore Botanic Gardens
A botanical garden maintains and researches living plant collections. These gardens are usually open to the public. A collection of preserved plant specimens is known as a herbarium (plural ‘herbaria’). Botanical gardens today often include greenhouses, a herbarium, a library and research laboratories. Herbaria can also be found in museums, universities and other research institutions.
Photo: Paul Chai; Forest Department, Sarawak
Sarawak has had its own herbarium since the 1890s. From the 1950s onwards, this expanded to become Borneo’s botanical research powerhouse. Botanists from all over the world rely on the Sarawak Herbarium as their main source of knowledge about the state’s plant life.
Explore the map to discover some of the many other institutions worldwide that house botanical collections from Sarawak.
Sarawak’s abundant plant life has fascinated botanists for centuries. In this timeline, you will meet some of the key players in the history of Sarawak botany.
English adventurer Sir James Brooke became Rajah of Sarawak in 1841. During his rule, he encouraged scientists from Europe to visit the state and study its natural environment. His nephew, Charles, continued this policy when he took over as the second Rajah in 1868.
Background image: View of Kuching
James Brooke
Photo: © National Portrait Gallery, London
Young Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari met James Brooke at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London. The Rajah urged him to visit Sarawak, and Beccari accepted the invitation in 1865.
During his visit, Beccari became the first European to study and describe multiple local plant species, including palms, durians and trees from the Dipterocarp family. The specimens he collected are now kept by several institutions worldwide, including the University of Florence, Italy; and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, London.
Photo:
1. Nelle Foreste Di Borneo photograph: Michele Rodda
2. Thismia neptunis illustration: Smithsonian Libraries and Biodiversity Heritage Library
3. Thismia neptunis photograph: Chien C. Lee
Background image: Map showing Beccari’s travel in Sarawak from Nelle Foreste di Borneo
Odoardo Beccari
Photo: University of Florence
English travelling artist Marianne North stayed at the Astana during her visit to Sarawak. She studied plants in Kuching and Matang.
Despite North’s passion for plants, women were rarely recognised as scientists at that time. Instead, North became famous for her talents as a botanical artist. The paintings she created in Sarawak, including this one, are now displayed in the North Gallery at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in London.
Photo and video: © Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Marianne North spent the 1870s and 1880s travelling the world. This photograph was taken in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka.
Photo: Julia Margaret Cameron
Marianne North
The Sarawak Museum was founded by Rajah Charles Brooke in 1886. Its collections spanned ethnography and natural history, including botany.
The Plant House was constructed beside the Museum in 1894-5. For many years, visitors could view local plants – particularly orchids – growing inside a beautiful iron structure. The Plant House was later turned into an Aquarium.
Move the slider from left to right over the photos below to see how the Museum and Plant House have changed since the 1890s!
Photo: Sarawak Museum; Dona Drury Wee
The Sarawak Museum’s first professional curator, Dr George Darby Haviland, was a keen botanist. This specimen, collected by Haviland in the 1890s, was one of the first additions to the Museum’s botanical collection – the first such collection made in a Sarawak institution.
Photo: Sarawak Forestry Department
Many Europeans working under the Brooke Government also studied natural history in their spare time. George Hose, the Anglican Bishop of Labuan and Sarawak, was a particularly enthusiastic botanist. Bishop Hose and his daughter, Gertrude, were fascinated by ferns and donated many specimens to the Sarawak Museum collection.
Background image: Photo by Jeremy Zero on Unsplash
Portrait of Bishop Hose
Photo: © National Portrait Gallery, London
In 1891, a young Iban man named Garai was hired by the Sarawak Museum as a trainee botanist. The specimens Garai collected were sent to the Sarawak Museum; the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew, London; the Singapore Botanic Garden and the Calcutta Botanic Garden in India. The specimen pictured here survives in the herbarium at Kew, and is labelled with Garai’s name in the bottom right-hand corner.
Pressed specimen of Flacourtia rukam, a wild fruit tree. It is labelled ‘type specimen’, meaning this is the specimen from which the species was first scientifically described.
Many other local men followed in Garai’s footsteps and built careers in scientific collecting at the Museum, and later at the Forest Department (founded in 1919). They all made huge contributions to botanical and zoological collections in Sarawak and beyond.
Background image: Sarawak Museum after its extension in 1911.
Photos:
1. Gift of Harrison W. Smith, 1942. Courtesy of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, 42-41-70/10852.1.425
2-4. Paul Chai
Sarawak was a popular destination for international scientists throughout the 1900s. In the 1910s-1930s, American botanist Mary Strong Clemens travelled all over Asia collecting plants, with her husband acting as her assistant. They visited Sarawak for six months in 1929.
Clemens was a pioneer, as it was still rare for women to become scientists at this time. Her passion for plants was so strong that she refused to stop collecting in Southeast Asia until forced to evacuate when war broke out in 1941.
Mary Strong Clemens and her husband Joseph in the 1920s (near the time they travelled around Sarawak).
Photo: © Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 90-105, Science Service Records, Image No. SIA2008-0146
Botanists in the 2020s continue to describe new plant species and experiment with growing plants and developing new crops. In addition, botany today seeks to protect our abundant plant life from the increasing man-made threats to natural habitats.
This section introduces some of the institutions and individuals who are championing botany in present day Sarawak.
Sarawak’s Forest Department was originally created in 1919 to manage forest resources. Timber and other forest products were – and still are – central to the Sarawak economy. Much botanical research during the Brooke and Colonial periods therefore had an economic focus.
Photo:
1 & 2. Forest Department, Sarawak
3 & 4. Paul Chai
Tree climber Tinjan anak Kuda collecting seeds for the tree planting programme by Forest Department Sarawak.
Video: Datu Hamden bin Hj Mohammad, Director of Forests, Sarawak.
Sarawak’s first national park, Bako, was created in 1957. Today the Sarawak Forestry Corporation oversees 46 national parks, 15 nature reserves and five wildlife sanctuaries. These aim to conserve Sarawak’s diverse plant and animal life.
Sea stack at the Bako National Park.
Photo: Outbox Five Seven
The Sarawak Biodiversity Centre has been working to collect and preserve traditional local knowledge about the natural environment since 1997.
The Centre also works with local communities to use this knowledge for bioprospecting. Bioprospecting is the search for new ways to use plant and animal products. It is often used to identify new medicines.
A dry plant specimen from the Sarawak Biodiversity Centre’s collections. This is a specimen of Tristaniopsis beccarii – one of multiple species named after Odoardo Beccari.
Photo: Sarawak Biodiversity Centre
Plant collecting and species description remain the foundation of botany today. Yet botany’s applications have expanded beyond taxonomy and economic botany to multiple specialised subjects.
These all contribute to vital forest conservation and reforestation work, the importance of which is only increasing in the face of climate change.
Sarawak’s botanical community continues to strive to help us all understand and appreciate Borneo’s astonishing plant life. On this page, we acknowledge and thank all those who contribute to our knowledge of Sarawak’s botany today. If our ‘wall of fame’ has missed someone who deserves to be included, or if you have memories of the people mentioned here that you would like to share, please let us know here.
We also acknowledge the numerous Sarawakians who made huge contributions to botanical collections during the Brooke and Colonial periods, but whose names were never recorded. This herbarium label is one of many recording the work of an unnamed ‘native collector’.
A. Clive Jermy
A. Touw
Abang Abdul Hamid Karim
Abang Mohd Mohtar bin Abang Pawozan
Abdul Jalil bin Kamisron
Admon Bernier
Aida Shafreena binti Ahmad Puad
Ainul Asyira Saidin
Alexander K. Sayok
Alfred Hart Everett
Alfred Russel Wallace
Andries Kanis
Andy Samuel
Angelia Muri
Ann Anni Basik
Anne Johnson
Annya anak Ambrose
Anthony Lamb
Ardzi Arshid
Army anak Kapi
Asah anak Unyong
Au Yong Nang Yip
Aurelia Dulce Chung
Awang Enjah bin Kepli
Awang Ismail bin Awang Haron
Awang Morshidi
Axel Dalbarg Poulsen
Azahari
B. Coppins
B.C. Stone
B.A. Fasihuddin
Baher @ Biha bin Razali
Balu Perumal
Banyeng anak Ludong
Barbara S. Parris
Bardy Ribot
Benang anak Bubong
Benedikt Kuhnhäuser
Benito-Ching Tan
Benjamin Clemens Stone
Berhaman bin Ahmad
Bernard Lee M.K.
Bertram Evelyn Smythies
Bibian anak Michael Diway
Bojeng bin Sitam
Brian anak Tada
Brian Laurence Burtt
Carlo K. Hansen
Cecil J. Brooks
Charles Clarke
Charles Curtis
Charles Hose
Cheksum Supiah Tawan
Chew Wee Lek
Chien C. Lee
Chin Fook Hon
Chin See Chung
Christine Padoch
Christopher Blake
Connie Geri
Cornwell anak Gamar
D. Carroll
Dami anak Jude
Dan H. Nicholson
Danis Janga
David Burke
Dayang Awa bin Awang Lekiu
Deblin Lawan
Dellie anak Medie
Diana Lim Siok Ley
Ding Hou
Dino Jengka
Eberhard F. Brunig
Edred John Henry Corner
Eduardo Quisumbing
Edward Bartlett
Eli anak Along
Elmer D. Merrill
Emmanuel Papadopoulos
Endela Tipot
Engkik ‘Bapa’ Soepadmo
Eric G. Mjöberg
Ernest Chai
Ernest Hose
Ernst Cleveland Abbe
Erwin Wright
Faridah Hanum Ibrahim
Fauziah binti Abu Bakar
Flora anak Buang
Francis G. Browne
Frankie Tieh
Franklin Ragai Kundat
Frederick W. Foxworthy
Friedrich R.R. Schlechter
Gabriel T. Noweg
Galau
Garai
George Alphonso
George Argent
George D. Haviland
George Frederick Hose
George Sigar Sultan
George Sim
Gertrude Hose
Gordon Harold Pickles
Gordon Smith
Graham C.G. Argent
H.N. Ridley
Hairul Azman @ Amir Hamzah bin Roslan
Hajah Mohizah binti Haji Mohamad
Hamish Boyd Gilliland
Hanne Christensen
Hans Peter Fuchs
Hans Peter Nooteboom
Harold Emery Moore
Harrison W. Smith
Hasan bin Pukul
Hasbi D.
Hashimah binti Elias
Haslinah bin Suud
Hayata Tagawa
Heather Wood
Hepni Amat
Herbert Kenneth Airy Shaw
Hermann Otto Sleumer
Hiromitsu Samejima
Hsuan Keng
Hugh Low
I.C. Enoch
Iding anak Guang
Ignatz F. Forstermann
Ilias Pa’ie
Ivan C. Nielsen
J.A.R. Kerby
Jaap J. Vermeulen
Jaies Chankul
James A. Robb Anderson
James Brooke
James Dawos Mamit
James K. Jarvie
James Motley
James Sinclair
Jamliah binti Jamel
Januarius Gobilik
Jeffrey J. Wood
Jegong anak Suka
Jemree bin Sebli
Jessica Jeyanthi a/p James Antony
Jilan anak Jangat
Jinaidi Lunsam
Jipos Mitat
Johannes Waterstradt
John Carrick
John Coney Moulton
John Dransfield
John H. Beaman
John Hewitt
John Keen Chubo
John Phillips Mead
John William Purseglove
Johnny Engkabau anak Munggu
Jong Lip Kong
Joseph Clemens
Joseph Pao
Jovita Elderson Ripen
Jugah anak Tagi
Juing Katu
Julaihi Abdullah
Julia anak Sang
Jumiah anak Ludoh
K.M. Kochummen
Kadim bin Tassim
Kandau Jenang
Katharine (Kit) Pearce
Keeren Sundara Rajoo
Khairunnisa binti Othman
Khan Waseem Razzaq
Kunio Iwatsuki
Kwan Yee Min
Ladi anak Bikas
Lai Shak Teck
Laurent Berlese Abbe
Lee B.M.H.
Laily B. Din
Lee Hua Seng
Lily May Perry
Linda anak Liman
Ling Chea Yiing
Linna Chieng Mee Ngiik
Lizmawati binti Othman
Lucy B. Abbe
Lucy Chong
Mahdini Jaini
Maisyarah binti Mus
Malcom Demies
Manggi anak Kapi
Manis L.
Mariam binti Narawi
Marina Ardiyani
Marius Jacobs
Mark James Elgar Coode
Marlini binti Othman
Martin
Mary Knapp Strong
Medie anak Aloh
Meekiong Kalu
Michele Rodda
Michio Tamura
Millicent Abdullah
Minoru Hirano
Mitsuru Hotta
Mogeret binti Sidi
Mohamad Akip
Mohamad Shah
Mohd Akmal bin Mohd Raffi
Mohd Azizi bin Haji Jamil
Mohd Ikmal bin Asmuni
Mohd Zainuddin bin Mohd Kameri
Mohd Zamri bin Bujang
Morris Labo
Mugu anak Sanggap
Mugunthan Perumal
Mujah anak Guang
Muliati Musa
Munting anak Eja
Muta Harah Zakaria @ Ya
N. Sammy
Ng San Hui
No’ Balan
Noorasmah binti Saupi
Noorhana binti Mohd Sapawi
Norasilla binti Mohktar
Norsyarina binti Welman
Norul Izani binti Mohd Allwi
Nur Safinas binti Jelani
Nurul Aisyah Yusli
Nurul Atikah binti Abdullah
Ong Kian Huat
Othman bin Haron
Othman bin Ismawi
P.C. Yii
P.J. Martin
Pamela Hall
Pang Shek Ling
Patrick James Blythe Woods
Patrick M. Synge
Patsipun R.
Paul P.K. Chai
Paul Sawai
Paul W. Richards
Peter C. Boyce
Peter F. Stevens
Peter S. Ashton
Peter Sie P.K.
Philip Lepun
Princilla anak Leong
Quentin Phillipps
R. Hullett
Rainih bin Hassan
Rakesh Onell
Ramil Melai
Rantai anak Jawa
Rashid Taggoi
Reed S. Beaman
Rena George
Richard B. Primack
Richard C.K. Chung
Ridi Munggu
Robert W.C. Shelford
Rohaiza binti Daud
Rohanie binti Bohan
Roland Kueh Jui Heng
Runi anak Sylvester Pungga
Ruth Kiew
S. Esther
Sabrina binti Aslan Joe
Saleh
Samsuri Ahmad
Samuel Melai
Saw Leng Guan
Seca Gandaseca
See Kuan Chin
Sengalang anak Nantah
Serukit Dubod
Shahrul Razid Sarbini
Shalih bin Rebi
Shiamala Devi a/p Ramaiya
Shirina Ai Siang Kong
Shirley anak Chip
Sibat anak Luang
Soejatmi Dransfield
Solomon Sidek
Sonny Tan
Spenser St. John
Stafannie Nilla anak Marshall Rio
Stephen Teo Ping
Suda anak Baking
Suzana Sabran
Suzila Kaja
Sylvester Tan
Sylvester Tong
T.D. Pennington
Teofila E. Beaman
Thomas Lobb
Timothy Charles Whitmore
Tinjan anak Kuda
Trevor G. Walker
Tu Chu Lee
Udau Abeng
Vilma anak Bodos
Walter F.B. Julich
Wan Omarshah bin Wan Putera
Wilhelmina anak Cluny
William Pryer
William W. Smith
Wong Khoon Meng
Wong Sin Yeng
Yahud Haji Wat
Yazid bin Kalbi
Yii Puan Ching
Zinnirah binti Shabdin
A. Clive Jermy
A. Touw
Abang Abdul Hamid Karim
Abang Mohd Mohtar bin Abang Pawozan
Abdul Jalil bin Kamisron
Admon Bernier
Aida Shafreena binti Ahmad Puad
Ainul Asyira Saidin
Alexander K. Sayok
Alfred Hart Everett
Alfred Russel Wallace
Andries Kanis
Andy Samuel
Angelia Muri
Ann Anni Basik
Anne Johnson
Annya anak Ambrose
Anthony Lamb
Ardzi Arshid
Army anak Kapi
Asah anak Unyong
Au Yong Nang Yip
Aurelia Dulce Chung
Awang Enjah bin Kepli
Awang Ismail bin Awang Haron
Awang Morshidi
Axel Dalbarg Poulsen
Azahari
B. Coppins
B.C. Stone
B.A. Fasihuddin
Baher @ Biha bin Razali
Balu Perumal
Banyeng anak Ludong
Barbara S. Parris
Bardy Ribot
Benang anak Bubong
Benedikt Kuhnhäuser
Benito-Ching Tan
Benjamin Clemens Stone
Berhaman bin Ahmad
Bernard Lee M.K.
Bertram Evelyn Smythies
Bibian anak Michael Diway
Bojeng bin Sitam
Brian anak Tada
Brian Laurence Burtt
Carlo K. Hansen
Cecil J. Brooks
Charles Clarke
Charles Curtis
Charles Hose
Cheksum Supiah Tawan
Chew Wee Lek
Chien C. Lee
Chin Fook Hon
Chin See Chung
Christine Padoch
Christopher Blake
Connie Geri
Cornwell anak Gamar
D. Carroll
Dami anak Jude
Dan H. Nicholson
Danis Janga
David Burke
Dayang Awa bin Awang Lekiu
Deblin Lawan
Dellie anak Medie
Diana Lim Siok Ley
Ding Hou
Dino Jengka
Eberhard F. Brunig
Edred John Henry Corner
Eduardo Quisumbing
Edward Bartlett
Eli anak Along
Elmer D. Merrill
Emmanuel Papadopoulos
Endela Tipot
Engkik ‘Bapa’ Soepadmo
Eric G. Mjöberg
Ernest Chai
Ernest Hose
Ernst Cleveland Abbe
Erwin Wright
Faridah Hanum Ibrahim
Fauziah binti Abu Bakar
Flora anak Buang
Francis G. Browne
Frankie Tieh
Franklin Ragai Kundat
Frederick W. Foxworthy
Friedrich R.R. Schlechter
Gabriel T. Noweg
Galau
Garai
George Alphonso
George Argent
George D. Haviland
George Frederick Hose
George Sigar Sultan
George Sim
Gertrude Hose
Gordon Harold Pickles
Gordon Smith
Graham C.G. Argent
H.N. Ridley
Hairul Azman @ Amir Hamzah bin Roslan
Hajah Mohizah binti Haji Mohamad
Hamish Boyd Gilliland
Hanne Christensen
Hans Peter Fuchs
Hans Peter Nooteboom
Harold Emery Moore
Harrison W. Smith
Hasan bin Pukul
Hasbi D.
Hashimah binti Elias
Haslinah bin Suud
Hayata Tagawa
Heather Wood
Hepni Amat
Herbert Kenneth Airy Shaw
Hermann Otto Sleumer
Hiromitsu Samejima
Hsuan Keng
Hugh Low
I.C. Enoch
Iding anak Guang
Ignatz F. Forstermann
Ilias Pa’ie
Ivan C. Nielsen
J.A.R. Kerby
Jaap J. Vermeulen
Jaies Chankul
James A. Robb Anderson
James Brooke
James Dawos Mamit
James K. Jarvie
James Motley
James Sinclair
Jamliah binti Jamel
Januarius Gobilik
Jeffrey J. Wood
Jegong anak Suka
Jemree bin Sebli
Jessica Jeyanthi a/p James Antony
Jilan anak Jangat
Jinaidi Lunsam
Jipos Mitat
Johannes Waterstradt
John Carrick
John Coney Moulton
John Dransfield
John H. Beaman
John Hewitt
John Keen Chubo
John Phillips Mead
John William Purseglove
Johnny Engkabau anak Munggu
Jong Lip Kong
Joseph Clemens
Joseph Pao
Jovita Elderson Ripen
Jugah anak Tagi
Juing Katu
Julaihi Abdullah
Julia anak Sang
Jumiah anak Ludoh
K.M. Kochummen
Kadim bin Tassim
Kandau Jenang
Katharine (Kit) Pearce
Keeren Sundara Rajoo
Khairunnisa binti Othman
Khan Waseem Razzaq
Kunio Iwatsuki
Kwan Yee Min
Ladi anak Bikas
Lai Shak Teck
Laurent Berlese Abbe
Lee B.M.H.
Laily B. Din
Lee Hua Seng
Lily May Perry
Linda anak Liman
Ling Chea Yiing
Linna Chieng Mee Ngiik
Lizmawati binti Othman
Lucy B. Abbe
Lucy Chong
Mahdini Jaini
Maisyarah binti Mus
Malcom Demies
Manggi anak Kapi
Manis L.
Mariam binti Narawi
Marina Ardiyani
Marius Jacobs
Mark James Elgar Coode
Marlini binti Othman
Martin
Mary Knapp Strong
Medie anak Aloh
Meekiong Kalu
Michele Rodda
Michio Tamura
Millicent Abdullah
Minoru Hirano
Mitsuru Hotta
Mogeret binti Sidi
Mohamad Akip
Mohamad Shah
Mohd Akmal bin Mohd Raffi
Mohd Azizi bin Haji Jamil
Mohd Ikmal bin Asmuni
Mohd Zainuddin bin Mohd Kameri
Mohd Zamri bin Bujang
Morris Labo
Mugu anak Sanggap
Mugunthan Perumal
Mujah anak Guang
Muliati Musa
Munting anak Eja
Muta Harah Zakaria @ Ya
N. Sammy
Ng San Hui
No’ Balan
Noorasmah binti Saupi
Noorhana binti Mohd Sapawi
Norasilla binti Mohktar
Norsyarina binti Welman
Norul Izani binti Mohd Allwi
Nur Safinas binti Jelani
Nurul Aisyah Yusli
Nurul Atikah binti Abdullah
Ong Kian Huat
Othman bin Haron
Othman bin Ismawi
P.C. Yii
P.J. Martin
Pamela Hall
Pang Shek Ling
Patrick James Blythe Woods
Patrick M. Synge
Patsipun R.
Paul P.K. Chai
Paul Sawai
Paul W. Richards
Peter C. Boyce
Peter F. Stevens
Peter S. Ashton
Peter Sie P.K.
Philip Lepun
Princilla anak Leong
Quentin Phillipps
Mahdini Jaini
Maisyarah binti Mus
Malcom Demies
Manggi anak Kapi
Manis L.
Mariam binti Narawi
Marina Ardiyani
Marius Jacobs
Mark James Elgar Coode
Marlini binti Othman
Martin
Mary Knapp Strong
Medie anak Aloh
Meekiong Kalu
Michele Rodda
Michio Tamura
Millicent Abdullah
Minoru Hirano
Mitsuru Hotta
Mogeret binti Sidi
Mohamad Akip
Mohamad Shah
Mohd Akmal bin Mohd Raffi
Mohd Azizi bin Haji Jamil
Mohd Ikmal bin Asmuni
Mohd Zainuddin bin Mohd Kameri
Mohd Zamri bin Bujang
Morris Labo
Mugu anak Sanggap
Mugunthan Perumal
Mujah anak Guang
Muliati Musa
Munting anak Eja
Muta Harah Zakaria @ Ya
N. Sammy
Ng San Hui
No’ Balan
Noorasmah binti Saupi
Noorhana binti Mohd Sapawi
Norasilla binti Mohktar
Norsyarina binti Welman
Norul Izani binti Mohd Allwi
Nur Safinas binti Jelani
Nurul Aisyah Yusli
Nurul Atikah binti Abdullah
Ong Kian Huat
Othman bin Haron
Othman bin Ismawi
P.C. Yii
P.J. Martin
Pamela Hall
Pang Shek Ling
Patrick James Blythe Woods
Patrick M. Synge
Patsipun R.
Paul P.K. Chai
Paul Sawai
Paul W. Richards
Peter C. Boyce
Peter F. Stevens
Peter S. Ashton
Peter Sie P.K.
Philip Lepun
Princilla anak Leong
Quentin Phillipps
R. Hullett
Rainih bin Hassan
Rakesh Onell
Ramil Melai
Rantai anak Jawa
Rashid Taggoi
Reed S. Beaman
Rena George
Richard B. Primack
Richard C.K. Chung
Ridi Munggu
Robert W.C. Shelford
Rohaiza binti Daud
Rohanie binti Bohan
Roland Kueh Jui Heng
Runi anak Sylvester Pungga
Ruth Kiew
S. Esther
Sabrina binti Aslan Joe
Saleh
Samsuri Ahmad
Samuel Melai
Saw Leng Guan
Seca Gandaseca
See Kuan Chin
Sengalang anak Nantah
Serukit Dubod
Shahrul Razid Sarbini
Shalih bin Rebi
Shiamala Devi a/p Ramaiya
Shirina Ai Siang Kong
Shirley anak Chip
Sibat anak Luang
Soejatmi Dransfield
Solomon Sidek
Sonny Tan
Spenser St. John
Stafannie Nilla anak Marshall Rio
Stephen Teo Ping
Suda anak Baking
Suzana Sabran
Suzila Kaja
Sylvester Tan
Sylvester Tong
T.D. Pennington
Teofila E. Beaman
Thomas Lobb
Timothy Charles Whitmore
Tinjan anak Kuda
Trevor G. Walker
Tu Chu Lee
Udau Abeng
Vilma anak Bodos
Walter F.B. Julich
Wan Omarshah bin Wan Putera
Wilhelmina anak Cluny
William Pryer
William W. Smith
Wong Khoon Meng
Wong Sin Yeng
Yahud Haji Wat
Yazid bin Kalbi
Yii Puan Ching
Zinnirah binti Shabdin
When I stand under the Tapang
King of giants in the forests
Of Borneo Tower above canopy
I always feel a surge of energy
No other tree can fit name best
Of “Tree of Life” than my Tapang
Photo: Dr Georges Schneider, Tree of Life, 2013, acrylic on jeans canvas.
We hope you have enjoyed exploring the story of botany in Sarawak and the people who have devoted their lives to understanding and protecting our natural resources.
To learn more about our amazing botanical heritage and Odoardo Beccari, why not plan a trip to the Beccari Rattan Valley Trail at Kubah National Park, or the Beccari Discovery Trail at Matang?
You can also find recordings of the talks in the Beccari Centenary Talks Series on the Friends of Sarawak Museum’s Facebook page.
For more information about the themes featured here, browse the links below.
This exhibition was created by Friends of Sarawak Museum members:
Dr Jennifer R. Morris – Curator and Content Author
Abraham Ngu – Assistant Curator
Aurelia Liu – Exhibition Designer
Louise Macul – Exhibition Project Manager
With help from FoSM Members:
Dr Georges Schneider
Dr Jerry Drawhorn
Dr Katharine Pearce
Dr Valerie Mashman
Photo and video contributors:
Biodiversity Heritage Library
Chien C. Lee
David Iliff
Dona Drury Wee (FoSM)
Forest Department Sarawak
Datu Hamden bin Hj Mohammad (Director of Forests, Sarawak)
Julia Margaret Cameron
Jee Foong
Jeremy Zero
Dr Michele Rodda
National Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board
Natural History Museum, London
Natural History Museum, University of Florence
National Portrait Gallery, London
Outbox Five Seven
Dr Paul Chai
Paul Yong
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Sarawak Biodiversity Centre
Sarawak Museum Department
Smithsonian Libraries, Smithsonian Institute
University of Florence
Wikimedia Commons
Special thanks to:
Aurelia Dulce Chung (Forest Department Sarawak)
Benedikt Kuhnhäuser
Chien C. Lee
Dora Jok & Peter anak Siman (Sarawak Museum Department)
Dr John Dransfield
Jovita Ripen & Tu Chu Lee (Sarawak Biodiversity Centre)
Julia Sang
Dr Michele Rodda
Dr Paul Chai
Dr Chiara Nepi, Renzo Nelli, Dr Lorenzo Cecchi, & Dr Gianni Galeota (University of Florence)
An illustration of the durian from the Farquhar collection.
Photo: © Collection of the National Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board
This exhibition is part of the Beccari Centenary sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Sarawak
