Flora of Singapore. Volume 7: Poales. 2019. illus. 525 p. Hardcover.

Volume 7 of the Flora of Singapore includes only one order of plants - the Poales. The order has 16 families of which only five are native in Singapore and two are naturalised. Of the five native families, Poaceae and Cyperaceae are large and found throughout the world in a wide range of habitats, Eriocaulaceae is primarily tropical but with some species in temperate regions, Xyridaceae is also chiefly tropical but extends into the temperate southern hemisphere and Flagellariaceae is a tropical and subtropical Old World family. The two introduced and naturalised families are Mayacaceae, which is native to tropical and subtropical America and Angola, and Typhaceae, which is a largely temperate family. Chong et al. (Checkl. Vasc. Pl. Fl. Singapore (2009) 13, 117, 262) suggested that Ananas comosus (L.) Merr. in the Bromeliaceae was casual in Singapore but we have not found evidence that it is and hence the species and family are omitted from this volume. Almost all species of Poales in Singapore are herbaceous, with just a few species of bamboo attaining any great size, while Flagellariaceae are lianas capable of smothering other vegetation.Globally, the Poales has about 1073 genera and about 23,500 species (Stevens (2001 onwards), Angiosperm Phylogeny Website, accessed 23 July 2019, with amendments based on the Flora of Singapore accounts). In Singapore there are 84 genera, of which 16 are known only from introduced species, and 238 species, of which 46 are casual or naturalised introduced species. At 19% of the total, this is a particularly high percentage of introduced species compared to many other orders and is primarily due to very large numbers of introduced grass species.