The flora of the Pitcairn Islands: a review

Abstract

Abstract The vascular plant flora of the Pitcairn Islands, south-central Pacific Ocean, is described based on extensive new collections made in 1991 and previously published records. Two vascular plants occur on Ducie Atoll; one ( Pemphis acidula ) is a new record. Sixty-three native vascular plants occur on Henderson, of which nine are endemic; Canavalia rosea , Operculina turpethum , Psilotum nudum and Solanum americanum are new records for the island. Oeno Atoll has 16 native vascular plants; the single endemic ( Bidens hendersonensis var. oenoensis ) was not found in 1991 despite careful searches. Triumfetta procumbens was new for Oeno. Sixty-six native vascular plants have now been recorded from Pitcairn Island, there are two endemic ferns and seven endemic angiosperms in this number. A number of non-native taxa were new to Pitcairn. Some of the previously described taxa could not be found on Pitcairn, probably because they are very rare and only a small amount of time was spent collecting on Pitcairn. Many of the Pitcairn taxa are threatened by the spread of introduced species, especially Syzygium jambos