Identification of Seeds and Seedlings of Different Species of Plants Found in Universiti Brunei Darussalam

Abstract

Identification tools for fruits, seeds, or seedlings can greatly aid biodiversity rehabilitation projects. Since morphological and pictorial data are usually lacking, especially in species-rich tropical regions, this study aims to provide such data for Brunei. To accomplish this, fruits and seeds of different plant species were collected from forested areas inside Universiti Brunei Darussalam campus and described and photographed in a standardised way. The same was done for the seedlings that germinated from the collected seeds. A total of 21 species from 15 families were described although two species remained unidentified. Seedling descriptions are only provided for 17 species since not all the seeds were successfully germinated. For the two unknown species, fruit descriptions were not given since the fruits were not known. Furthermore, only the fruits from eight species were described based on direct observations while 11 were based on existing literature due to the unavailability of fruits on site. While the data from this study are useful for the public to identify fruits, seeds and seedlings, more studies are needed to document the many plant species of Brunei Darussalam not yet included in this study.