Bunga Simpur is the national flower of Brunei Darussalam for more than 10 years. The flowers are conspicuous with large yellow coloured petals. There are several varieties that can be found throughout Brunei Darussalam. These flowers can be found almost entirely everywhere, but for some, might not even noticed them until they are asked to make research on these flowers. They grow wildly and do not need much of attention (like watering, fertilizing or trimming) unlike other flowers. Some people pronounced it as “Simpor” or “Simpoh”. It is a bit difficult to find information on Simpur flower unless one knows which species we are looking at. For the purpose of my ICT Coursework, together with my fellow course mates, we are asked to find these several varieties of Simpur. My close friends and I went for a ‘Simpur Hunting Trip’ on Friday, 28th October 2011.
Focusing in Brunei Darussalam only, there are two genera and approximately 9 species can be found, but in total all over the tropics, there are 10 genera and about 200 species altogether.
Among the 9 species mentioned above, Dillenia indica is not commonly found in Brunei Darussalam.
v Dillenia beccariana
v Dillenia borneesis
v Dillenia excelsa
v Dillenia indica
v Dillenia grandifolia
v Dillenia pulchella
v Dillenia reticulata
v DIllenia suffruticosa
v Dillenia sumantrana
Among the 9 species mentioned above, Dillenia indica is not commonly found in Brunei Darussalam.
Facts
The Simpur flower comes from the genus Dillenia which is named after a German botanist, Dillenius.
Description
v Range
Dillenia as it is known by botanists, but Bruneians called them Simpur can have a size from medium to large-sized main canopy trees with narrow/flying structures with stilt roots. The colour of their barks can either be rusty brown or greyish. Mostly. the leaf blade is large, often toothed at the edge of the leaves or narrow with no tooth margin. The veins are ladder-like with net-like minor veins in between. Flowers are in clusters or secluded with numerous stamen and 4-20 carpels connected at its base. The fruits split open to a star-like shape exposing the seeds.
v Habitat
Lowland forests which include mixed peat swamps and secondary forests, along the rivers and white sands.
v Uses
There are few Dillenia species which are valuable. These species are used in timber and source of tannin. Dillenia Indica is a native tree in the Southeast Asia and Western Malaysia. Well known for their scented flower and lemon-flavoured fruits which are normally used in cooking such as making curry.
Larger species of Dillenia can be used as interior structural and for the purpose of decoration.
Dillenia beccariana
This species is also known as the River Simpur. Its picture is used on the front side of the Brunei one dollar note. In nature, the plants can be found in the lower Temburong, Ulu Tutong and at Tasik Merimbun. We left Brunei-Muara District around 6 am for our ‘Simpur Hunting Trip’. During our trip, we stopped at one of our friend’s house, Hjh Eza binti Hj Julah in Kiudang, Tutong. We managed to take pictures of the flowers, the buds, the fruit as well as parts of the leaves. We spotted Dillenia beccariana behind and in the compound of our friend’s house.
The flower of Dillenia beccariana is brightly coloured with yellow petals. It has numerous white stamens in the middle of the flower. The fruit split opened when ripe which allowed the seeds to be dispersed by animals. The leaves of Dillenia beccariana is oblong and have teeth along its margin.
 |
| Flower of Dillenia beccariana seen somewhere outside the compound of Hjh Eza's house |
 |
| Fruit of Dillenia beccariana outside the compound of Hjh Eza's house |
 |
| Flower of Dillenia beccariana in front of Hjh Eza's house |
 |
| Fruit of Dillenia beccariana in front of Eza's house |
Dillenia excelsa
This species is known as Simpur Laki. There are two types of this species; excelsa and tormentella. During our hunting trip, my course mates and I managed to get a closer look on Dillenia excelsa excelsa at Andulau, Kuala Belait. Unfortunately, during that time, the plant did not bear flowers. We were able to identify because of the label (provided by the Forestry Department) and by looking at the leaves of the plant. The leaves are narrower compare to Simpur Bini (Dillenia suffruticosa).
Another type is Dillenia excelsa tormentella which was found by my course mates on a separate ‘Simpur Hunting Trip’ in Rimba, Brunei-Muara a few days back. The flower is yellow in colour but not as brightly coloured as Dillenia beccariana. The petals are more rounded that that of Dillenia beccariana. The numerous stamens are purplish in colour. The fruit split opened taking the shape of a star exposing the seeds. The leaf has teeth at its margin.
 |
| Flower of Dillenia excelsa excelsa in Kg. Rimba |
 |
| Fruit of Dillenia excelsa excelsa in Kg. Rimba |
Dillenia reticulata
After a long hunt for the different species of Simpur, we went to Kg. Labi to pay a visit to another one of my friend’s house, Jasmine Lee. I didn’t tag along with them on another ‘Hunting Trip’ as I was tired and hungry. My friends managed to collect another 2 species which we suspected to be Dillenia reticulata and Dillenia sumatrana. The flower of Dillenia reticulata is similar to most of the Dillenia that has been discussed except that the petals are more spaced out from one another. This species is also known as Simpur Gajah. Our suspicion of this species is based on our observation of the leaves. We looked at the number of veins parallel and in betweens as well as the texture of the leaves.
 |
| Flower of Dillenia reticulata collected in Kg. Labi |
 |
| Leaf for Dillenia reticulata |
Dillenia suffruticosa
In Brunei Darussalam, this species is also known as Simpur Bini. This is the most common species can be found almost everywhere you go, at the side of the roads along the highways, around the swamps, in the forests and on sandy lands. The pictures were also taken from Eza’s place in Kg. Kiudang, Tutong. The flower is brightly coloured; yellow. Numerous white stamens can be seen in the middle of the flower with carpel in the middle of it. The leaves are large with tooth margin and the stalks are hairy.
 |
| Flower of Dillenia suffruticosa |
 |
| Fruit of Dillenia suffruticosa |
Compare to Dillenia excelsa, Dillenia suffruticosa has a pink or slightly purplish fruit. The fruit split opened exposing the seeds inside for dispersal.
Dillenia sumatrana
This is the last species that we can find among all species. We found DIllenia sumatrana in Kg. Labi as well. Unfortunately, we were a bit unlucky as we did not manage to get a picture of the flower. We suspected that the species that we found is Dillenia sumatrana based on the features observed on the leaves collected. We made some cross references with our notes too.
 |
| Leaf of Dillenia sumatrana |
At the end of our ‘Simpur Hunting Trip’, we treat ourselves to amazing and indulging chocolates which we purchased on our way to WyWy Restaurant, Seria for our late lunch. Before heading back to Brunei-Muara, we went for archery to release the stress of hunting Simpur and crossing three districts in one go...
 |
| Photo courtesy of Jasmine Lee |
