atoll research bulletin no. 392 the flora of - Smithsonian Institution ...

of the indigenous flora. Although greatly outnumbered by exotics, indigenous species still
dominate some of the most disturbed habitats, as well as constituting the most culturally-
utilitarian and ecologically-importan t species.
The flora is in two parts. PART I: INTRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS OF THE
VEGETATION AND FLORA, includes a brief discussion of: 1) previous studies and the
current study; 2) the physical environment, people, development history and contem-
porary economy of Nauru; 3) the nature of the existing flora and vegetation associations
of Nauru; and, 4) an analysis of the ecological and cultural importance of the flora in the
context of modern small-island development.
PART 11: A COMPILATION OF THE VASCULAR FLORA OF NAURU,
consists of a listing of all vascular plants reported to have been present on Nauru, along
with relevant information on each species. Although a number of persons have collected
plants on Nauru over the past century, this constitutes the first extensive flora the of
vascular plants of the island. The plants are listed in alphabetical order by family and
species within families, starting with the ferns and gymnosperms and then angiosperms,
with monocotyledons listed first. Information on each species, variety or subspecies
includes: 1) scientific (Latin) name and synonyms; 2) common (mainly English) name
(s); 3) Nauruan, Kiribati, Tuvaluan, Chinese (Cantonese), Filipino and Solomon Island
names, when available; 4) origin; 5) antiquity status (i.e., whether a species is indigenous
to Nauru, an aboriginal introduction, an early post-European-contact introduction or a
recent post-World War I1 introduction; 6) its status in terms of abundance (i.e., whether
it is abundant, common, rare, extinct, etc); 7) a detailed botanical description; 8) its
habitat or distribution on Nauru; and 9) its cultural or ethnobotanical importance.
PREVIOUS STUDIES
Although collections and observations of the flora have been made on Nauru by
Finch prior to 1900; Burges in 1933; Fosberg in 1980; Scully in 1980; Thaman, Hassall
and Manner in 1980 and 1981; Thaman and Manner in 1987; Swarbrick in 1988; and
Raulerson in the early 1980s, little has been published. The only substantial publications
on Nauru's vegetation include studies by Manner, Thaman and Hassall (1984 and 1985)
on vegetation changes induced by phosphate mining; a list of Nauruan plant names by
Thaman, Manner and Hassall (1985); and the "Vegetation of Nauru and the Gilbert
Islands" by Thaman (1992). Fosberg, Sachet and Oliver's "A geographical checklist of
Micronesian Dicotyledonae" (1979); "Geographical checklist of Micronesian Pteridophyta
and gymnosperms" (1982); and "A geographical checklist of the Micronesian Mono-
cotyledonae" (1987), are also important and list most of the species cited and specimens
examined prior to 1980.