Flora of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, Perdido Key, Florida

Abstract

LooNEY, P. B., D. J. GIBSON (Institute of Coastal and Estuarine Research, University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL 32514), A. BLYTH (1900 Blyth Road, Navarre, FL 32566) AND M. I. COUSENS (Science Education Center, Weber State College, Ogden, UT 84408-2509). Flora of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, Perdido Key, Florida. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 120: 327341. 1993.-An annotated flora of Perdido Key in Escambia County, Florida is presented. The flora results from collections during the period from 1979 to 1991. There are 323 taxa of vascular plants and two non-vascular taxa. The flora included 83 families and 185 genera. Nine new records for Escambia County, Florida, were collected and seven species were found only in the island seedbank. The families containing the largest number of taxa were Gramineae (61), Cyperaceae (34), Compositae (29), and Leguminosae (18). The largest numbers of taxa per genus were found in Panicum (18), Cyperus (10), and Polygala (7). The fewest species (15) occurred in the strand habitats while the greatest number of species (98) occurred in the swales. A monocot/dicot ratio of 0.71 appears to be similar to nine other Gulf of Mexico barrier islands. A gradient of disturbance based on this ratio is hypothesized. There may also be an historical component to this ratio, but more intense study is required for a complete understanding of the floral relationships between barrier islands.