Wet Tropics: SE Asia
Background
RBG Kew has long-term collaborations with most botanical institutes and many universities within the region. Collaboration usually takes the form of training, repatriation of data from herbarium specimens, naming of material, provision of historic literature, specialist taxonomic accounts and assistance in sourcing and securing external funding for collaborative projects. RBG Kew is perceived as being a major player in the provision of baseline taxonomic and conservation data.
Systematic research has focused in the past mainly on several dicotyledon groups (e.g. Elaeocarpaceae, Menispermaceae, Nepenthes, Loranthaceae, Aquifoliaceae, Antidesma, Austrobuxus), on most of the major groups of monocotyledons (aroids, bamboos, orchids, palms, sedges, yams, see Grasses of Thailand and Palms of New Guinea projects) as well as the ferns. Currently new research is being developed in the Myrsinaceae, Labiatae (including Verbenaceae) and Urticaceae (see Taxonomic research of ecologically important plant families in South East Asia and Systematics of Lamiaceae subfamily Viticoideae (Lamiaceae\Viticoideae)).
Other research focuses on the provision of user-friendly identification guides either in electronic or book form, and training courses both in the region and at RBG Kew. An Interactive Key to the Malesian Seed Plants was recently published on the web and in CD-ROM format, and will be enlarged to include Thailand and Indo-China. Field guides to be published as books will include Southern Thailand, East Sabah, and Palms of New Guinea.