The Faculty of Biology, Gadjah Mada University (UGM), has a long-standing partnership with Leiden University, including a joint research program. Dany Lesmana Hakim, a doctoral student in Biology at UGM, had the opportunity to undertake this program at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center and Hortus botanicus Leiden, Netherlands, from October 7th – 19th, 2025. During his visit to Leiden, Dany conducted research related to his dissertation.
During his visit to the Naturalis Biodiversity Center Leiden, Dany observed all herbarium specimens of Myristica fragrans Houtt. originating from Asia including: Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. The herbarium specimens of Nutmeg are located in the 4th floor Collection Lab or known as CoLa4. On the first day, the Collection manager of Botanie (Susana Arias Guerrero) provided an introduction to the storage location of the plant herbarium specimens and also safety instructions in the laboratory. Several parts of the nutmeg plant were observed including: leaves, fruit, and seeds and a comparison of the unique morphology of nutmeg plants from various regions of origin of the collection was carried out. This source of information obtained will later be used as supporting data in the dissertation research.
In addition to visiting the Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Dany visited the Hortus botanicus Leiden which is the oldest botanical garden in the Netherlands and Western Europe built in 1590. This botanical garden has an area of up to 4 hectares. This first visit, Dany met with Prof. Dr. rer.nat. Paul Kessler as his dissertation Co-supervisor lecturer at the Hortus Grand Café located inside the Hortus botanicus Leiden. In addition to discussing his dissertation research, Dany and Prof. Dr. rer.nat. Paul Kessler also toured the Hortus botanicus. Prof. Dr. rer.nat. Paul Kessler explained the history and also the plant collections in the Hortus botanicus Leiden. The initiation of the establishment of the Hortus botanicus Leiden after the establishment of Leiden Universiteit by building a herbal garden for teaching media for medical students located behind the academic building of the Rapenburg campus.
The collection of plants in the Hortus is very complete originating from all over the world including Indonesia which are grown both in the greenhouse and outside the greenhouse. The plants in the greenhouse generally contain tropical plants that cannot survive in the Dutch environment. Examples of these plants include: Jade flower (Strongylodon macrobotrys), tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera), giant water lily (Victoria amazonica), lotus flower (Nelumbo nucifera ‘Pekinensis Rubra’), Japanese terbas tree (Zelkova serrata), pitcher plant (Nepenthes sp.), giant corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum), various orchids (over 4000 species, one of which is Grammatophyllum speciosum), Fagus sylvatica tree, Wollemi pine (Wollemia nobilis), Thunbergia mysorensis, Ginkgo biloba, banana cultivar ‘Siam Ruby’, Myristica fragrans Houtt. from Indonesia, Aristolochia arborea, sweet starfruit (Averrhoa carambola) which originates from Java to Maluku, Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides), Monstera sp., Hibiscus sp., pineapple (Ananas comosus (L.) Merr. ‘Victoria’), Acalypha hispida, Citrus sp., Pseudocydonia sinensis, Aster tataricus, Helonias thibetica, Clerodendrum bungei Steud., Rostrinucula dependens, Gaultheria borneensis, and Gaultheria procumbens.
This joint research program supports the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): zero hunger (SDG 2), quality education (SDG 4), life on land (SDG 15), and partnerships for the goals (SDG 17). The joint research program is funded by the UGM Directorate of Global Cooperation 2025 and the INUCoST 2025 research fund.
