A Passion for Plants - An interview with Peter C. Boyce

Being able to identify plants or living creatures that we collect for our aquariums is one of the many fun and important parts of our hobby.

The science of classifying organisms, or taxonomy, can be done by just about anyone.  Knowing what to look for is important, there are many books and online material that can assist you to do this.

B. Motleyana Schott specimen - Peter Boyce

But when there is a plant, for example, that has not yet been described or identified officially, it is left up to highly qualified and educated people to do so. The Bucephalandra is one of these plants.  First documented into the records by Schott in 1858, Bucephalandra Motleyana Schott can no longer be found in the wild. However, there are still many more species that have yet to be identified, described, and classified.

Two men are currently doing just that.  Dr Wong Sin Yeng and Peter C. Boyce have been working together on a series of papers about the genus Bucephalandra, and its many species.  Recently released in June of 2014, Wong & Boyce published their findings in a paper titled “Studies on Schismatoglottideae (Arceae) of Borneo XXX – New Species and combinations for Bucephalandra”.  Mentioned in the paper, the authors have been collecting specimens for the past 5 years and have 160 species totaling 500 collectively, roughly 3 plants per species on average.  Awesome. This paper is a testament to the hard work and effort they put into their passion of plants.

This paper is an excellent source of information.  The total number of identified bucepahalandra is now 27, among these newly identified is the well known Skeleton King/Achilles, now officially called Bucephalandra Kishi.  Named after an aquatic plant collector. This paper has all the tools one could need to possibly identify their Buce plants if it is in the list.  Many of the color photographs are taken by Peter Boyce and can also assist you in identifying your plant. He has a Flickr account you can see HERE that has many more amazing photos.

I was able to reach Peter Boyce and he kindly accepted to do an interview with me about his work, experience, and accomplishments.  It was an honor to speak with him and I am very happy to share this interview with you today.   And thank you for reading!

Interview

JM - Mr Peter Boyce, thank you for taking the time to talk with me.  Your time is greatly appreciated and we hope to learn a great m deal from you and your work.  Please tell us a little bit about how you got into what you do, and when did you decide to make this a career? And can you please tell us a little bit about yourself?

PB - I have long been interested in plants and gardening – as were my parents. From a young age I had a ‘patch’ in the garden where I grew annuals and biennials, and when I reached my teens I began to take over more and more parts of the garden planting herbaceous perennials, and trees, and shrubs. At about this time I was also into tropical orchids and had a succession of greenhouses dedicated to these. My interest in aroids I suppose started in the mid-70s when I bought a few tubers of ‘Voodoo Lily” as it was then marketed - Sauromatum venosum – from a local hardware store. They dutifully flowered on the windowsill and were rightly banished from the house by my parents. Finding that they didn’t do well in pots I tried planting them in the garden and to my delight they flourished, eventually forming a large clump of a few dozen tubers and annually producing upwards of 20 stinking inflorescences. Thinking back, this may have also been the point when I began to question some of the then accepted orthodoxies as to the best way to grow particular species. This experimental streak in my character persists to this day and perhaps explains many of the successes that we have with plants that others consider “difficult” to grow. 

Academically I was rather idle at high school and strongly disinclined to continue to university. I had for several years been working weekends and school holidays at a local nursery which supplied a large garden centre, and after my A-levels I decided to work at the nursery full time – something I did for a bit more than three years. It was an invaluable experience providing training in many aspects of practical and theoretical horticulture of a wide range of woody, herbaceous hardy, and semi-hardy plants. As time progressed I was encouraged to be involved with production planning, and aspects of staff management – in all providing a robust practical background that has been enormously useful ever since. The owner of the company was very insistent that young staff should gain formal qualifications and he pressured me to attend agricultural college. At the time, in retrospect somewhat arrogantly, that my years with the nursery had already furnished me with enough demonstrable horticultural knowledge without the need to spend a further three years in a College gaining a certificate to this effect and that the three years would be better spent at a university. And this is what I duly did, taking a broad-based biological sciences degree with large chunks of ecology and geology and smaller nods to genetics and organic chemistry. 

Early in 1987 I joined the staff of the The Herbarium of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew where I remained until early 2002. This period of 15 years provided an unsurpassed environment in which to gain ability in taxonomy and nomenclature, provided exposure to a world-class library and the advice and the networking and later companionship of then leading figures in tropical botany. Shortly after I began at Kew I became involved with teaching two well-regarded international courses that Kew ran and this provided the opportunity to practice my teaching. It was also through Kew that I was formally introduced to tropical Asia and with a series of field trips to Brunei, East and West Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Lao, and Cambodia began to get a reasonable understanding of the flora and ecology of these remarkable places. During this time teaching took me twice to Brazil, and once each to Lao West Malaysia. Other trips were a consultative assignment with Crown Agents to Zambia, a Kew Expedition to South Korea, and a series of study visits to important botanical collections in Europe, Asia, and North America. In so many ways the 1990s were formative years for me. 

By the early part of 2000 I was growing increasingly unhappy at the direction I perceived that Kew, and in particular Kew’s science, was taking. Following on from some confrontations with my managers concerning my attitude I quit and after a few unhappy weeks at a “garden centre” that was a far cry from the one I had been involved with in the 70s and 80s I decided to try my hand at consultancies for wildlife organizations, this decision coinciding (not altogether unplanned) with a move to live in SW France. Things went well until the changing face of world politics resulted in a drying up of funds to enable wildlife consultancies on things other than megafauna or politically desirable organisms and it became necessary to find a reliable source of employment. This led me to Sarawak in 2002, initially as a botanist employed by Malesiana Tropicals and later, via periods spent in BRT Thailand for the remainder.

JM - Your first paper was in 1987 and was published in Aroideana.  Since then you have contributed in writing well over a hundred papers.  How much has changed in the classification/identification of plants?

PB - Since 1987 the advent of ‘molecular’ techniques have made significant changes in the way that plants are classified at higher levels (i.e., genera and above), but at the base line – naming individuals to the level of species much is still dependent of individual abilities and in particular intuition. This may not sound very testable as a scientific procedure but it has time and time gain proven reliable.

JM - The paper naming the skeleton king you worked on, was with a Mr Wong Yeng, can you tell us when you first started working together, and you have many papers with him.  And will he continue to work with you on your "buce series" of papers?

PB - The first author of the most recent Bucephalandra paper is Wong Sin Yeng – Dr Wong. We have been working together since 2005 with our first joint paper was in 2006. Currently Dr Wong has two PhD students working on the biology and phylogeny of various genera of aroids, a third PhD student undertaking similar work on Scaphochlamys a genus of forest gingers, and is about enrol a MSc student to work on the phylogeny and origins of Bornean Amorphophallus

JM - One could say with over 30 years in the field, that you love plants, what is/are your favorite one/ones? Do you have a greenhouse where you collect ones you like?

PB - There really far too many to list intelligently!
We have 800m2 of mist house in which we grown 5000 plants, amounting to perhaps 500 species.

JM - How many new species of plants have you helped to identify/describe?

PB - Not exactly sure, but certainly more than 200 new species.

Peter Boyce

Peter Boyce

JM - I imagine many readers picture you treading through dense tropical forests, scaling cliffs to discover the natural habitats of plants, and to find new ones, please tell us an experience or adventure you've had in the field.

PB - Curiously I’ve not had many ‘adventures’. However, one springs to mind in SW Cambodia. The guide assigned to us was supposedly well-conversed with the areas that had not yet been cleared of mines and other unexploded ordnance, and also claimed to know the forest trails well. Anyhow, we moved deeper and deeper into the forest and as we did I became aware that the trail was not easy to spot – which suggested that the area was not regularly frequented. Eventually the trail petered altogether on the crest of a forested ridge. We stopped and looked enquiring at our guide who promptly plunged off into the woods and thrashed about for a while before emerging and then setting off in another direction. On his second re-emergence we managed to persuade him to take us back the way we had come, which with reluctance he did. After about an hour it once again seemed clear that we had wandered off the track. This was repeated another two times, on this occasion made all the more worrying in that we twice passed a highly distinctive tree, from different directions. By then the day was getting on and the forest getting somewhat gloomy. We has water and some snack food and decided that it would be better to sit tight and wait for the dawn rather than risk ourselves further by wandering around in the half dark. We settled down for uncomfortable night, although at least dry since it was the dry season. Very early the next morning we were awoken by voices and then strong flashlights – a party of forest rangers had left before dawn and found us – ironically not more than 2 km from the point we’d parked the vehicles, but two valleys further over. The crucial thing was, the first of these valleys had not yet been cleared of mines!

Peter Boyce

JM - You mentioned in your paper and that many of the Buce plants sold commercially are undescribed. Many of which are purchased by aquatic plant hobbyists.  With this in mind, you wrote about the pressing need to locate the original buce described by Schott in 1858.  Is it possible that the generic uh B. Motleyana is in someones collection right now?

PB - It’s a beguiling thought but really very improbable. The Type collection of B. motleyana is from the southern part of Kalimantan (the Indonesian part of Borneo) and it has never been refound there to my knowledge.

JM - What are those little dots called on the leaves? and do they have a purpose?

PB - They are glands or some sort, but we have no idea as to their role and function. Many other aroids in the Schismatoglottideae have similar leaf blade structures, especially on the undersurface.

JM - Do you have a personal favorite buce?

PB - I am very fond of B. sordidula

B. Sordidula (rare submersed in nature) - Peter Boyce

B. Sordidula - Peter Boyce

JM - Do you make all your observations in the field?  or combo of controlled environment in a grow room?

PB - For biological interactions (pollination and fruit dispersal) we only use field observations. For floral scent analyses and images of the inflorescences we prefer to do this in the field, but often this proves impossible. This for floral scent analyses and sequences of pictures showing the movements of the spathe and spadix structures we rely on plants in the nursery but where possible cross-checking with plants in habitat. We don’t have a grow-room as we have no need for this since we’re based in the tropics.

JM - You recently named/added  new species to the list of identified buce.  How did it come about that you named the widely popular and most recognized achilles or skeleton king after Kishi?

PB - We first received plants of B. kishii from Hiroyuki Kishi.

JM - Are there any adverse effects to keeping it submerged?

PB - Yes. Submerged the plants are very prone to bacterial attacks and the almost-certainly fungal ‘melting’ of the leaves that is commonly reported. This should come as no surprise given that B. kishii is not a rheophyte in nature – it grows back from the stream margins and is not subjected to regular inundation as are most other bucephalandras.

Peter Boyce

JM - Is it true they grow faster emerged?

PB - Yes, absolutely. There are no Bucephalandra species that grow submerged in nature.

JM - You have written and helped to write many papers on plants, will you ever put out a book?

PB - Several books published already – The Genus Arum (1993); Genera of Araceae (with Mayo & Bogner) (1997); The Araceae of Peninsular Malaysia (with Mashhor, Sofiman & Baharuddin) (2011);

Peter Boyce

JM - Are the pictures of the bucephalandra taken by you?  (pictures/tables in your papers)

PB - Unless otherwise stated in the captions all the images we publish are mine.

B. Kishii aka Skeleton King / Achilles - Peter Boyce

JM - Are there are other areas of science that can benefit from your research? Or do currently?

PB - Our work is enabling better planning of ecological conservation, and opening a window on the process of tropical forest evolution.

JM - Because of its beauty and amazing colors that it displays underwater, Buce has gained a lot of popularity in the aqua hobby around the world.  Because of this, some people are concerned with it threatening the species, others say it's helping to save them as deforestation is occurring over there.  How much of this is true, and what are your thoughts on this touchy subject?

PB - Both arguments have aspects of validity and falsehood. The biggest threat to many plants retsricted to forest streams is land use changes – and not just from large-scale plantation activities – a farmer clearing a hillside for planting crops can have a major impact on plants further down the river. On the other hand, the sheer scale of commercial collecting, especially the removal of the much-prized ‘clumps’ can have equally bad an impact. From years of observing populations we known that colonies soon recover after disturbance provided that the removal has been controlled. The big problem is a combination of buyers too impatient to wait for their plants to grow (mainly those wanting an ‘instant bioscape’) and collectors not thinking beyond the next dollar in their hand.

JM - Do you receive any funding? Are there any organizations people can donate to to help preserve and or record these plants?

PB - Funding for our graduate students comes from the Malaysian government. We are very reluctant to accept ‘private’ funding as it so often comes at the price of people demanding plants for their private collections, and this can lead to an impression of a commercial venture. Our research permits strictly forbid any commercial activity based on the plants that we are working on.

*the following are fellow hobbyist contributed questions*

Chris Lewis from SAAPC(San Antonio Aquatic Plant Club) - Since they grow in rivers how important is flow for their growth in the aquarium. If you wanted to make a Buce biotope, what other plants are found in the same area. Also, any suggestion on fish from that area?

PB - I have no idea which fish would do well since we’re not interested in growing plants in aquaria. Concerning water flow, certainly it must play a big factor in the wild when the plants are submersed but the important thing to remember that that unlike Cryptocoryne Bucephalandra are NOT aquatic plants in nature. The periods they spend fully submerged are very short – maybe only a few hours a month.

Peter Boyce

CL- Also, what are your thoughts on tissue culture of plants?  Is this a good way to preserve endangered species?

PB - Tissue culture is an excellent means to make plants commercially available and lessen the impact from wild collection, but it is commonly misunderstood. Introductions of new species in tc is not as straightforward as many think and that as an investment for a commercial lab it is likely not financially sustainable. I am not of course discounting tc just noting that is not a magic bullet.

Adam Munoz from SAAPC(San Antonio Aquatic Plant Club)
Do they grow best on rocks or wood?

PB - Keeping in mind that we are not growing these plants in an aquarium, or experience is that Bucephalandra will grow on any suitable substrate. Most our plants are gown in a mix of red volcanic soils and coarse river sand (1:3) in unfired clay pots. But we frequently find plants have crept over the edges of the pot rooted to exterior of the pot, or indeed are growing vigorously on the wooden slats of the bench. The crucial thing is that plants received enough fertilizer, light, and water.

JM - Of all the plants you have identified, the bucephalandra has grown in popularity in the aquarium hobby. Your recent paper with Mr Wong Yeng describes it as an herb.  This will come as a surprise to a lot of hobbyists who collect buce.  Does this mean there is a potential for new flavors for cooking a high dollar meal, or maybe medicinal properties?  Are there any studies or research being done in these regards that you know of?

PB - We use herb is in the biological sense of a plant without woody parts –not in the layman’s sense of a plant with flavourful or medicinally active parts. By the way, many seemingly improbable plants are herbs in the biological sense – aroids, bananas, orchids.

End of interview

CRS on Buce - David Sun

Beautiful Crystal Red Shrimp with Buce - David Sun

There are still many things to learn about the Bucephalandra and it's numerous species.  Thankfully, many hobbyists are helping to bridge the gap between hobby and science, so we can better understand how to care for these amazing plants.  When your love for something takes a hold of you and time passes with no notice as you gaze upon its beauty, all you feel is a passion growing inside you.

Mr Boyce's passion for plants has taken him around the world, exploring areas most people will never see.  Whether he is treading through thick jungles or turning pages, his contributions to the research of plants is without a doubt an invaluable resource.  Shrimpscape would like to thank Peter C. Boyce for all his hard work, time, and for sharing all this information with us.


Another thank you goes out to everyone who helped to contribute pictures and questions for the interview:

SAAPC Members - Chris Lewis and Adam Munoz (question submission)

USA Freshwater Shrimp and Plants Group - David Sun

Flowering Buce(unidentified) - Adam Munoz

And thank you all for reading, if you made it through the whole write up and want to know more or have your own questions, please comment below.

Stay tuned in the near future as we continue to take a deeper look into Bucephalandra, how to care for it in a submerged and emerged environment, as well as how to identify your own Bucephalandra plants!


Happy Plantin! ;)

JayMarshal