Mauritius Plants

Abstract

THE flora of Mauritius is of great interest on account of the geographical position of the Mascarenes, their relation to the great land masses of the Old World and the high endemism of the species. Unfortunately, the remnants of the original vegetation are fast disappearing. It is therefore very necessary to obtain adequate and critical herbarium material upon which must depend the advancement of knowledge of the flora. A complete list of the flowering plants in the herbarium of the Mauritius Institute, compiled by R. E. Vaughan, forms the subject of the first part of a new publication (Mauritius Institute Bulletin) dealing with the taxonomy and ecology of the flora and fauna of the Mascarenes. About eight hundred species are listed, many of which are introduced weeds. Attention is directed to the urgency of acquiring additional material in many of the more interesting genera such as Eugenia, Diospyros (ebony) and Tambourissa, at present inadequately represented in the collection. Further material is also required of the native orchids, of which there were probably more than eighty species in the island, though many have already become extinct owing to the destruction of the large trees on which they were epiphytic.