The Angiosperm Flora of Singapore Project

This floristic work involves a documentation of all angiosperms, or flowering plants, native or naturalised, from mainland Singapore and some 60 islets within the territorial waters.

At present, only 4.5% of the original forest cover in Singapore remains. Forest cover in Singapore includes the primary rainforest, secondary rainforest, freshwater swamps and mangrove swamps. As there still exists a pressing economic demand on our limited land area, and when we consider the pace of landscape transformation that Singapore has undergone and is still undergoing, can really appreciate the urgent need to re-assess the local flora. 

Green- Primary rainforest  Black- Mangrove Red - Freshwater swamp forests  Singapore in 1819
Yellow - cultivated and urban areas  Purple - Secondary forest Black - Mangrove  Green - primary rainforest Orange - Freshwater swamp forest Singapore at the present

Inflorescence of Tacca integrifolia, the bat lily

This project was initiated in 1 November 1988 with a grant from the National University of Singapore. People involved are HTW Tan, BC Soong and T. Morgany, plus various undergraduate and postgraduate students from the Department of Biological Sciences, The National University of Singapore. Several foreign specialists in various plant families have also been invited to contribute. This project is done in collaboration with the National Parks Board of Singapore.

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