On the Annonaceae of Taman Negara, Peninsular Malaysia*

Annonaceae is one of the most common and importantfamilies in the wet tropical rain forests in Southeast Asia. Many of thespecies are endemics. Members of Asiatic Annonaceae have also beenknown to be utilised locally as medicinal plants and other ethnobotanicaluses, especially in in a post partum medicine. Taxonomic analysis ofmembers of Annonaceae in Taman Negara, Peninsular Malaysia wascarried out based on specimens lodged at the Herbaria of UniversitiKebangsaan Malaysia (UKMB), Singapore Botanic Gardens (SING),Forest Research Institute Malaysia (KEP), Universiti Malaya (KLU) andUniversiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). Additional materials were obtainedduring recent expeditions especially the PERHILITAN-UKM 1997Merapoh Expedition and subsequent follow-ups trips where fieldobservations and new collections had discovered several more species,some of them are rare, endemics or otherwise very interesting recentcollections such as Pseuduvaria nervosa, Pseuduvaria galeata, Sageraealanceolata and Trivalvaria pumila. These are extremely rare endemics,with few collections from the surrounding areas near Taman Negara by theearly collectors. These findings are very significant to support the total andobsolute protection of this national reserve since most of the otherlocalities outside the Park are no longer viable ecosystems. A total of 80species in 32 genera of Annonaceae (out of 201 Peninsular Malaysianspecies) were recorded from Taman Negara at present enumerated in this account.