Article

Grasses

From Munshipedia, the MBRAS digital historical encyclopedia

Grasses

Scope and Historical Definition

The grasses and sedges of the Malay Peninsula and Borneo constitute a diverse and economically significant component of the region’s flora, encompassing the families Poaceae (Gramineae) and Cyperaceae. The earliest comprehensive floristic treatment of these groups in the region was published by H. N. Ridley in 1891, working from collections gathered across Singapore, Malacca, Penang, Selangor, Perak, Sungei Ujong, Pahang, Johor, and Tringganu [1]. Ridley, then Director of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, provided a species-by-species account of habitat, distribution, economic utility, and native Malay names, while advancing biogeographic observations on the origins and dispersal of the region’s glumaceous flora [1]. A decade later, in 1906, Ridley extended this work to Borneo, publishing a preliminary taxonomic checklist drawing on the herbarium collections of Bishop Hose, Miss Hose, Dr. Haviland, and his own field work in Sarawak and Sandakan [2]. That article, explicitly framed as provisional, acknowledged that the greater part of Borneo remained botanically unexplored at the time, with the glumaceous plants of several large collections—including those of Beccari, Creagh, Motley, and Barber—still awaiting full treatment [2].

The common Malay term for grass is rumput, though this word also applies to almost any small plant, as in rumput kra-nas (ape’s rice grass, Vandellia crustacea) [1]. A general name for Cyperus and Scleria species is senderaian [1]. Ridley noted that it is often very difficult to ascertain the reasoning behind a Malay plant name, many of which appear absurd or apparently meaningless [1].

Members & Sub-Topics

Ecological Distribution and Biogeography

Ridley’s 1891 account reveals a clear ecological stratification of the grass and sedge flora across the Peninsula. In low swampy ground and rice-fields, the genera Panicum, Isachne, Leersia, Scirpus, Rhynchospora, Scleria, Heleocharis, and Cyperus are richly represented [1]. Along streams and rivers, conspicuous species include Scleria oryzoides, Scirpus grossus, Sc. mucronatus, Lepironia, many Cyperus species, the common reed Phragmites Roxburghii, and the wild sugar-canes Saccharum arundinaceum and S. Ridleyi, the last three forming huge thickets in many places [1]. The Sclerias—particularly Scl. malaccensis and Scl. oryzoides—often cover large tracts of wet open land, forming jungles about six feet high that are very laborious to traverse [1]. In the dense forests, glumaceous plants almost disappear, yet several interesting genera persist, notably the large group of Hypolytreæ represented by many species of Mapania and Pandanophyllum, the latter so closely resembling smaller screw-pines that they may be mistaken for them unless the inflorescence is examined [1]. Grasses are almost unrepresented in the deep jungle, with the exception of Centotheca lappacea and Lophatherum, which find their way far in by means of their very adherent spikelets attaching to wild beasts [1].

On sandy districts by the sea and along river banks, a large number of species occur, including the Porcupine grass (Spinifex), Thouarea, a curious creeping grass, Schænus calostachyus, two species of Eriachne, Gahnia, Lepturus, and Tricostularia [1]. Ridley identified a distinct Australian facies among sea-shore plants, citing Schænus calostachyus, Fimbristylis sericea, Spinifex squarrosus, and Lepturus repens, and interpreted their presence as evidence of a wave of Australian immigrants moving westwards, at least some of which were brought by sea-currents along the island shores [1]. Two grasses of confirmed American origin were recorded: Chloris barbata, probably introduced from the West Indies, and Paspalum conjugatum, the latter very common in cultivated districts but disappearing in the interior [1]. In Penang, two Indian grasses not found in the south of the Peninsula were noted: Thysanolaena acarifera, typically Burmese, and Eragrostis Wightiana, a rare grass known only from the mouth of the Hooghly and one locality in Ceylon [1].

In Borneo, Ridley’s 1906 checklist enumerated approximately 120 species across the two families, with localities spanning Sarawak, Sandakan, Labuan, Brunei, and Kinabalu [2]. The Kinabalu highland flora was represented by a small but distinctive assemblage collected by Haviland at 13,000 feet altitude, including Agrostis canina var. Borneensis, Deycuxia epileuca, and Deschampsia flexuosa var. ligulata [2]. A biogeographically notable record was Mapania zeylanica, which Clarke identified as otherwise confined to Ceylon yet collected at Matang and Banjermassin in Borneo [2].

Economic and Cultural Uses

The grasses and sedges of the region serve a wide range of economic and cultural functions. Among cultivated species, rice (Oryza sativa), sugar-cane (Saccharum officinarum), millet (Sorghum vulgare and S. saccharatum), and numerous bamboo species are of primary importance [1]. Sugar-cane is cultivated chiefly in Province Wellesley and Perak [1]. Maize (Zea mays) is cultivated to a small extent and chiefly used as a vegetable, being more extensively grown in Kelantan [1]. In Borneo, Ridley explicitly identified Oryza sativa, Zea mays, Pennisetum italicum (pearl millet), Coix Lachryma Jobi (job’s tears), Andropogon squarrosus, and A. schoenanthus as cultivated species [2].

Several grasses are cultivated for their aromatic properties: the larger Andropogons—A. citratus, A. nardus, and A. muricatus—are grown for their sweet scent, the first producing the well-known lemon grass oil and the second citronella [1]. Ornamental value is also noted: the Saccharums and Phragmites form large tufts comparable to Pampas grass, while Pandanophyllum and Mapania species are fine foliage plants suited to pot culture, and Pogonatherum and Fimbristylis monophylla make elegant pot plants for mingling with larger foliage [1].

In practical domestic use, the plumed seeds of Imperata arundinacea (lalang) are employed by the Malays to stuff pillows; mats are made from the stems of Scirpus grossus and Lepironia mucronata; and walking sticks are fashioned from Thysanolaena in Sungei Ujong, where the plant is called buluh tubarau [1]. A kind of beer was at one time made from the rhizomes of lalang, which contain a good deal of sugar, but the manufacture was not remunerative and was soon given up [1]. Attempts to use lalang for paper making were also made without much success [1].

Turf and fodder grasses are of considerable agricultural interest. The greater part of the turf in the region is formed by Andropogon acicularis, Cynodon dactylon, and Ischæmum ciliare, with Fimbristylis monophylla, F. tenera, and F. communis contributing in some places [1]. Ridley observed a lawn almost entirely composed of Zoysia pungens, a soft inland form that makes a very deep soft turf but is unsuitable for tennis lawns except in dry places where it becomes short and compact [1]. For sandy places, Andropogon acicularis and Cynodon dactylon are best, while in better soil the Ischæmums form a superior class of turf [1]. The best native fodder grass is unquestionably Ischæmum muticum, with I. ciliare and I. timorense also very good [1]. Panicum jumentorum, the Guinea grass, has been introduced as a fodder plant but must be used with caution, as horses have been killed by overfeeding with it [1].

Imperata cylindrica (lalang) is described as far too common wherever cultivation has spread, often covering large tracts of country. Its growth after burning of the forests is remarkably rapid, propagating by both feathery seeds and rhizome; a large tract covered with the plant in fruit looks from a distance as if covered with snow [1]. It prefers hot and dry places but dislikes wet or very sandy soil. It is a grass of very little use as fodder, cattle and horses not caring for it on account of its hardness, though pigs are very fond of the young shoots [1].

In Borneo, Dinochloa Tjankorreh is described as “a very elegant climbing bamboo” collected abundantly at the foot of Matang and near Kuching [2].

Taxonomic Contributions and New Species

Ridley’s two major floristic works yielded several new species to science. In the 1891 Peninsula paper, Saccharum Ridleyi Hackel was described from the banks of the river at Pekan, belonging to the section Miscanthus, of which only one other species (S. fuscum, an Indian plant) was previously known [1]. Rottboellia geminata Hackel was recorded as a new and curious species found only in open country near Pekan and the Rumpin River, not yet known from elsewhere [1]. Scirpodendron costatum Kurz, collected from North Selitar and Changi, was identified as a connecting link between Ceylon and Java, a plant Ridley believed was not at all uncommon but easily overlooked due to its resemblance to young Pandanus [1].

The 1906 Borneo checklist formally described four new species, all from Sarawak: Hypolytrum costato-nux Clarke, Thoracostachyum Ridleyi Clarke, Mapania radians Clarke, and M. debilis Clarke, each accompanied by a Latin diagnosis and a brief English description [2].

Research and Documentation

The Society’s literature on grasses and sedges is anchored in the two major floristic treatments by H. N. Ridley, published in the Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1891 and 1906 respectively [1], [2]. The 1891 paper represents one of the earliest comprehensive floristic treatments of the Peninsula’s grasses and sedges, and the locality records draw heavily on collections from the Singapore Botanic Gardens and on specimens gathered by Griffith, Wallich, Kelsall, Wray, and others across the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States [1]. The 1906 Borneo checklist reflects the administrative and scientific infrastructure of the colonial botanical establishment, drawing on the herbarium collections held at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, which served as the central repository for botanical specimens from the region during this period [2].

The progression from the 1891 Peninsula account to the 1906 Borneo checklist illustrates a shift in geographic focus and a growing awareness of the limits of existing knowledge. Ridley’s 1891 work is a mature, detailed treatment with extensive ecological and economic commentary, while the 1906 paper is explicitly provisional, acknowledging that the greater part of Borneo remained botanically unexplored and that several large collections had not yet been fully worked out [2]. The biogeographic questions raised in both papers—the Australian facies of sea-shore plants, the American origin of certain introduced species, the Ceylonese affinity of Mapania zeylanica in Borneo—point to ongoing debates about the dispersal mechanisms and evolutionary history of the region’s glumaceous flora [1], [2].

MBRAS Sources

References

  1. H.N. Ridley (1891). The grasses and sedges of the Malay Peninsula JSBRAS 23: 1–33.
  2. H.N. Ridley (1906). Grasses and sedges of Borneo JSBRAS 46: 215–228. Read on JSTOR