Zingiberaceae and Marantaceae

A study of two herbaceous plant families, the Zingiberaceae and Marantaceae,was conducted at 20 hills at the Bau Limestone Area. A total of 26 and three species were found respectively in the two families. The most frequent species was Zingiber acuminatum var. borneense which was documented from nine hills. Most specieswere not confined to limestone habitats but one species of Scaphochlamys (Zingiberaceae), found at six hills, appears to be a limestone specialist and is so far only known from the Bau area. An unidentified species of Stachyphrynium (Marantaceae) seems to be almost exclusively found at limestone habitats in Bau and at other sites in Sarawak.