Kinabalu’s plant life has evolved from an interaction of climate (including past climates) and geology (soils, exposure, geological history): the result is a flora diverse and complex and in many ways unique. Even untrained observers can see many of the mountain’s features as they travel from the Hot Springs to Park Headquarters and to the summit. One of the great values and attractions of the Kinabalu Park is that it protects and preserves the complete spread of plantlife from lowland tropical forest to the limit of plant growth on the summit.

Poring Hot Springs lies within the lowest zone of vegetation, the lowland Dipterocarp forest which is part of the great tropical rain-forest extending from Thailand to New Guinea. It is characterised by huge trees, often supported by buttresses, several layers of foliage beneath the highest canopy, and hanging lianas.

Contrary to popular opinion the forest floor is usually too dark to support much ground cover. About half the trees belong to the Dipterocarp family, which supplies Sabah State’s timber production. Notwithstanding this, diversity is the keynote of the tropical forest and some thousands of species can be found. An unusual component of the flora is the parasitic Rafflesia plants, which produces a fleshy red flower up to 45 cms in diameter. The dipterocarp forest extends up to about 912 metre elevation and comprises about 1/3 of the Park’s area.

Between 912 metres and 1,824 metres elevation is the montane forest, occupying almost half of the Park’s area. Trees are smaller and ground cover is much denser because more light reaches the ground. Increased moisture from low clouds leads to an abundance of epiphytes, such as orchids and mosses grows on the trunks and branches of trees. Species composition is almost wholly different from the lowland forest, oaks, chestnuts, laurels, myrtels, etc are abundant. Many of these are representative of temperature families; the tropical groups are less evident. Park Headquarters is located within this zone.

Most fascinating to visitors is the mossy or cloud forest that extend upwards from 1,824 metres. Here gnarled, often stunted trees are covered Pitcher Plant thickly with mosses, lichen and orchids. Climbing bamboos, thorny rotans and shrubs make venturing off the cut paths almost impossible. The clouds that each day drift close to the ground and the cool temperatures are the primary factors in determining its structure. Rhododendrons with their showy flowers, other Ericaceae and southern hemisphere conifers are typical groups found here. Orchids are common, and Kinabalu has up to 1,500 varieties growing on its slopes. The cloud forest is also the favoured home of Nepenthes – the pitcher plants. These have certain leaves modified into liquid-containing pitcher that trap and digest insects. Three types are common along the Kinabalu Mountain Trail viz. N. Lowii, N. Villosa and N. Tentaculata.

In the summit zone plants survive in crevices or the lee of boulders. At these high altitudes only a limited number of types are adapted to withstand the intense sunlight, heavy rains and harsh winds of the upper mountain. The diversity of the lowlands is missing. Common are the bushy Leptospermum (”sayat-sayat”), with tiny leaves and white flowers; the dwarf Rhododendron ericoides with red, tube-shaped flowers; Schima with large white flowers and leaves often tinged purple; and several conifers. The delicate yellow flower of Low’s buttercup can be seen in moister patches.

Over half of the plant species growing above 912 metres in the Park are endemic, found only on Mt. Kinabalu and nowhere in the world. The closest relatives of many of these plants are found in the high mountains of New Guinea or in Australia – New Zealand. Mt. Kinabalu is in effect a floral island, surrounded and isolated by hot lowland forest that has little in common with the higher zones. How the various groups first reached Kinabalu is still debated by plant geographers, but the importance of the mountain for the study of a “relict flora” and of ancient plant migrations between Australia and Eurasia is undeniable.

For the naturalists, the flora is, of course, a botanical and ecological paradise for observation and study. For the visitor, the enjoyment is no less, for here in this Park, assisted by a park guide book, the amateur can easily enjoy the flora and fauna and experience the thrill of discovery and identification.