SINCE the acquisition of Kaiser Wilhelmsland and the neighbouring islands, German explorers and botanists have been busy working out the flora of their new possessions; and now, some seventeen years from the date of annexation, all available information is made accessible in the imposing volume under review. The immediate cause of the issue of this Flora is that the series of extensive collections that have recently come to hand necessitated a considerable volume for their adequate description. This, and the fact that the literature on the flora is much scattered, has prompted the authors to expand their undertaking so as to include the results of earlier explorations. The area dealt with includes, be sides Kaiser Wilhelmsland (German New Guinea), the adjacent Bismarck Archipelago, the more westerly of the Solomon Islands, the Marshall, Caroline and Marianne Islands. In all over 2200 species are enumerated, and of these 400 are described for the first time, or have become known only from the recent collections which have led to the publication of this Flora. The species are distributed as follows:—Algæ, 222; Fungi and Lichens, 226; Bryophytes, 200; Pteridophytes, 155; Gymnosperms, 12; Monocotyledons, 392; Dicotyledons, 1000. The new forms are all fully described, whilst both for these and for all the plants enumerated, admirably full localities are given. Many of the new forms are of considerable interest, and fourteen new genera are created. There is a new species of Cycas occurring in the Bismarck Gebirge up to a height of 3000 ft., in habit resembling an Australian Xanthorrhæa; Guppy's interesting Sararanga (Pandanaceæ) is recorded with an extended distribution; there is a small Palm, Dammera, allied to Licuala; whilst among Dicotyledons, Ficus arbuscula, a fig-tree 3 to 6 feet high, may be mentioned. The new Hibiscus papuanus is spoken of as possessing the most strikingly beautiful flowers in the whole region. The additions to Rubiaceæ are considerable, and include Dolicholobium Gertrudis with curious dimorphic flowers. A second species of Bothryocline (Compositæ) consider ably extends the distribution of a genus previously restricted to Africa. In Psychotria myrmecophila, from the Bismarck Gebirge, we have a new type of ant-plant with curious excavated trifid stipules, which appear to harbour ants in their recesses; its biological relations will require to be worked out on the spot.
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Jan 1, 2002
A J Lindstrom + 1
Open Access