THE FLORA OF THE PITCAIRN ISLANDS - A REVIEW

The vascular plant nora of the Pitcairn Islands, south-central Pacific Ocean, is described based on extensive new collections made in 1991 a nd previously published records. Two vascular plants occur on Ducie At oll; one (Pemphis acidula) is a new record. Sixty-three native vascula r plants occur on Henderson, of which nine are endemic; Canavalia rose a, 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 i n 1991 despite careful searches. Triumfetta procumbens was new for Oen o. Sixty-six native vascular plants have now been recorded from Pitcai rn Island, there are two endemic ferns and seven endemic angiosperms i n this number. A number of non-native taxa were new to Pitcairn. Some of the previously described taxa could not be found on Pitcairn, proba bly because they are very rare and only a small amount of time was spe nt collecting on Pitcairn, Many of the Pitcairn taxa are threatened by the spread of introduced species, especially Syzygium jambos. (C) 199 5 The Linnean Society of London