I  noticed in Aroideana #19 something that  sparked my interest. It reads:

Amorphophallus angulatus Distribution-----Malaysia, Sarawak, 1^st Division.

I wanted to know what 1^st Division meant; I asked Pete Boyce. His answer follows.

First division explained: Amorphophallus Blume ex Decaisne

Until the late 1980s Sarawak was divided into nine administrative units called Divisions with the divisions called (not altogether imaginatively!) First Division, Second Division, etc. In 1987 the Divisions were each renamed after their principle town, with First Division becoming Bahagian Kuching (Bahagian is Malay for Division). Still more recently (last year, in fact) the original nine Bahagians were further subdivided such that there are now 11. These are, running West to East: Kuching (equivalent to old First Division) Samarahan (equivalent to old Ninth Division) Betong Sri Aman (together equivalent to old Second Division) Sarikei Mukah Sibu (together equivalent to old Eighth & Sixth Divisions) Kapit (equivalent to old Third Division) Bintulu (equivalent to old Seventh Division) Miri (equivalent to old Fourth Division) Limbang (equivalent to old Fifth Division) Bintulu (equivalent to old Seventh Division) Amorphophallus hildebrandtii : well for a long time any species of Amorph. found in Magagascar was called A. heldebrandtii (which until 1999 was the only published name for any indigenous Madagascan species.) In particular, the species now called A. ankarana was widely cultivated under the name A. hildebrandtii. In the Hetterscheid et allii article in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 121: 1-17 (1999) it was shown that hildebrandtii was known for certain from only the original Type specimen collected in 1881 As is so often the case, about two years after the Bot. Jahrb. paper being published hildebrandii was refound in the wild. Bornean species by Pete Boyce.

There are currently 16 recognized indiginous species of Amorphophallus recorded from Borneo (Bogner 1989; Hetterscheid 1994, 2001). Including the recently described A. julaihii Ipor, Tawan & P.C.Boyce (Ipor, Tawan & P.C.Boyce 2004) there are eight species in Sarawak, viz: A. angulatus Hett. & A.Vogel, A. brachyphyllus Hett., A. eburneus Bogner, A. hewittii Alderw., A. hottae Bogner & Hett., A. infundibuliformis Hett., A Dearden & A. Vogel, A. pendulus Bogner & Mayo. Five species have been recorded from Sabah: A. hottae, A. lambii Mayo & Widjaja, A. rugosus Hett. & A.L. Lamb., A. tinekeae Hett. & A. Vogel and A. venustus Hett., A. Hay & J. Mood. There are so far eight species recorded from Kalimantan: A. borneensis (Engl.) Engl. & Gehrm., A. costatus Hett., A. hewittii, A. infundibuliformis, A. lambii, A. linguiformis Hett., A. pendulus and A. prainii Hook.f. (the last perhaps based on a mis-labelled specimen; A. prainii is otherwise known only from West Malaysia and Sumatera). With the exception of A. prainii all Bornean Amorphophallus are endemic to Borneo. The most remarkable aspect of these data is that thirteen of these fifteen species have been described within the past 25 years. This extraordinary increase in recognized species is being repeated throughout the range of the genus such that Amorphophallus now numbers over 200 species, of which in excess of one third are novel taxa described since 1980. Recent and on-going fieldwork indicates that there are still yet further novel Bornean Amorphophallus awaiting description.

Five of the eight Sarawak Amorphophallus species occur in limestone forest with three, A. brachyphyllus, A. eburneus and A. julaihii, seemingly restricted to this habitat. Amorphophallus brachyphyllus and A. eburneus occur sporadically and allopatrically on both the Bau and Padawan limestones. There are also records of A. brachyphyllus from the Mulu and Niah limestones, although these records have yet to be verified and it is quite possible that the Mulu and Niah plants represent one or more additional undescribed vicariant taxa in the species-rich Manta Group (Hetterscheid, in prep.). A single record from Mulu for the otherwise Sabahan A. hottae also requires verification not least because in Sabah A. hottae is never associated with limestone.

Amorphophallus hewittii as currently circumscribed is frequently found in association with limestone, occurring commonly on both the Bau and Padawan limestones where the flowering of large specimens occasionally receives coverage in the local press. However, A. hewittii is not restricted to calcareous rocks, and is also found on the hard sandstones of the Penrissen Range and occurs in several widely scattered, mostly sandstone, locations throughout Sarawak. It should be noted that this apparent ecological diversity may be an artefact of imperfect taxonomy. The large size of this plant, both florally and vegetatively, makes it an unpopular subject for herbarium collection and our knowledge of its morphology is based on a decidedly meagre collection of mediocre specimens.

All other Sarawak species appear to be sandstone and shale associated. Amorphophallus pendulus, described from Gunung Matang (Bogner et al. 1985), is widespread and frequently locally common on moist sandstones at least as far east as Kapit (Belaga) (Boyce, pers. obs.). Amorphophallus infundibuliformis is widespread but scattered and seldom locally abundant in Bahagian Kuching & Sri Aman, with collections known from wet but well-drained sandstone sites between 60 – 870 m asl in Lundu, Padawan, Bau & Ulu Batang Ai. Amorphophallus angulatus was described from the sandstones of Gunung Selantik (Sri Aman), is also recorded from Gunung Ampungan (Samarahan) and has recently been discovered at Nanga Gaat (Kapit) where it occurs on hard shales exposed by stream action (Boyce, pers. obs.)

Sixteen Amorphophallus species in Borneo:

A. angulatus, Hett. & A.Vogel
A. borneensis (Engl.) Engl. & Gehrm
A. brachyphyllus Hett.
A. costatus Hett.
A. eburneus Bogner
A. hewittii Alderw
A. hottae Bogner & Hett.
A. infundibuliformis Hett.
A Dearden & A. Vogel
A. julaihii Ipor, Tawan & P.C.Boyce
A. lambii Mayo & Widjaja
A. linguiformis Hett.
A. pendulus Bogner & Mayo
A. prainii Hook.f.
A. rugosus Hett. & A.L. Lamb.
A. tinekeae Hett. & A. Vogel
A. venustus Hett., A. Hay & J. Mood.

Submitted by my friend Peter Boyce, 04-01-05