Dr Ruth Kiew, intrepid botanist who scoured the Malaysian jungle for herbaceous plants

Dr Ruth Kiew, who has died aged 79, was one of the world’s leading experts on begonias and tropical plants, and spent decades in Malaysia documenting new species.

At a time when few researchers were interested in herbaceous plants, Ruth Kiew made the field her own. In her search for botanical samples she traversed jungles, rode rapids and rappelled down cliffs. A trophy-winning competitive swimmer in her youth, she kept up her stamina throughout her career, making at least two expeditions every year. Her work helped to prevent the destruction of endangered species and shed light on the ecology of some of the most remote parts of the world.

Paul Cox, director of the National Tropical Botanical Garden in Hawaii and Florida, called her “the botanical equivalent of Dian Fossey”, in reference to the world expert on mountain gorillas: “[Dr Kiew] is an expeditionary scientist who seeks to protect the biodiversity of the planet and conserve plants for generations to come.” In 2002 she was awarded the David Fairchild Medal for Plant Exploration, the first woman to receive the accolade.

In the course of her career Ruth Kiew described around 150 new species, from the blue-capped thismia (Thismia goodii), found in Borneo, to a perennial herb (Ridleyandra chuana) only found on granite rock in two small mountainous areas of forest in peninsular Malaysia. Of the plants named in her honour, one of the most striking was Hoya ruthiae, whose petite pink flowers grow in starburst clusters. Begonia ruthiae, which has very dark green, puckered leaves and delicate white flowers, was formally identified in 2015.

She was born Ruth Evans in Cambridge on April 14 1946, the daughter of Clifford Evans, a plant ecophysiology lecturer, and the botanist JM Evans (always known as “J”). Her mother had been a student at Cambridge but, in the days when women were unable to graduate with a full degree, she was denied the opportunity for further study. She was therefore determined that her daughters should have the same opportunities as those afforded to men.

Ruth graduated first in psychology, a field she abandoned after deeming it “completely unscientific”, then moved on to a botany degree at Cambridge, achieving her doctorate in tropical plant taxonomy in 1972. Her early academic interests were nurtured by her supervisor, the tropical botanist Professor EJH Corner. A former assistant director at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, he insisted that all his students spend a year in the tropics.

In 1969, therefore, Ruth Evans began her research in Malaysia. She was immediately struck by the flora – “bigger and brighter than anything in Europe” – and by the biodiversity: a single hectare of land could have 100 different tree species on it. While there she met her husband, a Chinese-Malaysian zoologist, and decided to settle in a small town outside Kuala Lumpur. From 1972 to 1997 she was a professor in the department of biology at the Universiti Putra Malaysia, where she lectured in Malay while conducting extensive fieldwork across forests, limestone landscapes and mountainous regions.

Subsequently Ruth Kiew transferred to the Singapore Botanic Gardens. As keeper of the herbarium there from 1997 to 2005, she played a central role in bolstering and modernising the national collection. By 2005 the herbarium had logged more than 6,000 types into the Botanical Research and Herbarium Management System (BRAHMS), an​ online system providing research support to herbaria, botanic gardens, seed banks, botanists, ecologists and others working in the botanical sciences.

Ruth Kiew was the author of more than 150 scientific papers and published several natural history books, including a magisterial 300-page work on the begonias of peninsular Malaysia. She also wrote natural history books for children, observing that “children are still starry-eyed about the natural environment.”

Ruth Kiew’s marriage ended in divorce. She had a son and a daughter.

Dr Ruth Kiew, born April 14 1946, died November 20 2025​

[Source: Daily Telegraph]