Endemic Flora of Gunung Mulu National Park

Gunung Mulu National Park contains a large number of plant species. The park has 17 vegetation zones, with 3,500 species of vascular plants, and 1,500 species of flowering plants, 1,700 species of liverworts and mosses, 4,000 of fungi.  There are 109 species in 20 genera of palms, over 1,700 mosses and liverworts, 8,000 species of fungi, and 442 species of spore-producing pteridophytes, 182 species of orchid, 15 species of carnivorous pitcher plants are recorded.

Mulu’s limestone karst and isolated mountain peaks are home to numerous rare and endemic plants and animals. Notable examples of plants include the one-leaf plant Monophyllaea pendula, which can be seen clinging to the rock face at the entrance to Clearwater Cave; Salacca rupicola, an endemic palm that grows on the cliff outside Deer Cave; wild sago palm Eugeissona utilis, occurring on the steep slopes of Gunung Mulu; Areca abdulrahmanii, which grows on the Setap shales; and the pitcher plant, Nepenthes muluensis, which can be seen near the top of Gunung Mulu.  Iguanura melinauensis and Licuala lanata are endemic to the alluvial plain; Calamus neilsonii are endemic to the limestone.  Endemic mosses include Stereodontopsis flagellifera, Coryphopteria andersonii, Hypnodendron beccarii and Hypnodendron vitiense. The very rare bog-moss Sphagnum perichaetiale can be found in rain gullies in the high forest.