A Guide to Orchids of Myanmar
By Hubert Kurzweil & Saw Lwin – (2014)
196 pages; matt art paper, with 265 colour photographs, 2 tables & 1 map.
Soft Cover: 21.5cm x 15.2cm.
ISBN: 978-983-812-147-7
Natural History Publications (Borneo) Kota Kinabalu
Myanmar, long known as Burma, has a fairly rich orchid flora which is poorly known. It is estimated to have well over 800 species of wild orchid in around 150 genera. However, a long period of political isolation preventing any serious research of Burma’s fauna and flora has recently been relaxed and hopefully that situation will continue to expand in a positive direction. This modest yet very informative guide has been designed as an insight into the diversity of Myanmar orchid flora.
The opening pages deal with an introduction to the orchid family, the climate, vegetation and geography of Myanmar, its orchid flora including endemics and affinity with adjoining areas, the history of orchid study in Myanmar and the ethnobotanical usage of wild orchids by the local people.
Also presented are some rather alarming facts about habitat destruction and deforestation, which also involves organized poaching of wild orchids from the forests and jungles to cater for the local and illegal international trade in wild orchids.
Of the 116 species presented, each includes its botanical name, author and year published accompanied with a fairly detailed description, notes on habitat, ecology and distribution and in some cases other miscellaneous observations. This is further embellished with a least one quality colour photograph some species have two to three photos. The book closes with a preliminary checklist of the Orchidaceae of Myanmar, based only on verified accounts known to the authors at the time of writing. Pointing out its completeness is still sometime away and cannot be completed until a full study can be conducted of the Myanmar orchid flora.
This small volume is a great addition to the literature on South East Asian orchids and for Burma itself and hopefully represents just the beginning to further publications of Myanmar’s orchids and other flora and fauna.
Rod Rice
Principal Reviewer
Nature & Travel Books