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

The houseyard gardens of I-Kiribati, Tuvaluan, Chinese and Filipino contract
workers, and in the European and Indian expatriate communities of Nauru, are very
different. Each reflect distinctive preferences in food and ornamental plants, and are
commonly dominated by food plants. I-Kiribati and Tuvaluan gardens at Location, where
there is very little space for planting, usually consist of a single banana, coconut, papaya
or breadfruit tree, or a few cassava, sweet potato, taro, tannia (Xanthosoma sagit-
tifolium), pineapple, sugarcane, hibiscus spinach (Hibiscus manihot), or chilli (Capsicum
frutescens) plants. All are often grown in boxed or fenced areas filled with imported soil
or mulch. Chinese gardens at Location focus more on short-term vegetable plants, such
as Chinese cabbages (Brassica spp.), onions and garlic (Allium spp.), amaranth spinach
(Amaranthus spp.), coriander (Coriandrum sativum), long beans (Vigna sesquipedalis)
and a range of cucurbits. Filipino workers plant sweet potato, hyacinth bean (Dolichos
lablab) and horseradish or drumstick tree (Moringa oleifera). European expatriates plant
tomatoes, lettuce and parsley, whereas the expanding Indian expatriate community has
planted eggplant (Solanum melongena), okra (Hibiscus esculentus), horseradish tree
(Moringa oleifera) and bilimbi (Averrhoa belimbi). A similar range of food species are
cultivated behind the workshops on Topside, although the areas under crops are greater,
with some gardeners growing taro, tannia and giant swamp taro, employing the tradi-
tional intensive mulching systems of Kiribati and Tuvalu (Thaman 1987a, 1988b).
The balance of the "urban vegetation" is composed of many the same species
which are occasionally planted as roadside trees or around government and Nauru
Phosphate Corporation buildings and parking lots. The remaining area of extensive urban
vegetation is the golf course in Aiwo District which is lined with trees, including
Hibiscus tiliaceus, Thespesia populnea, but dominated by banyan trees (Ficus spp.).
Ruderal Vegetation
Extensive areas of highly disturbed ruderal vegetation in settlements, waste places,
along roadsides and airstrips, and in areas associated with pre-mining vegetation
clearance are found in Nauru. The dominant species in most areas are pioneering grasses,
annuals and shrubby weedy species.
Common species include; 1) the grasses, Cenchrus echinatus, Chloris inflata,
Cynodon dactylon, Dactyloctenium aegyptium, Digitaria spp., Eleusine indica, Eragrostis
amabilis, Lepturus repens and Tricholaena rosea; 2) the sedges, Cyperus javanicus, C.
rotundus and Fimbristylis cymosa (which, along with Digitaria setigera and Lepturus
repens, are probably indigenous); and, 3) the herbaceous species, Ageratum conyzoides,
Alysicarpus vaginalis, Amaranthus dubius, A. viridis, Bidens pilosa, Cassia occidentalis,
Cleome
- rutidosperma,
- C. viscosa,
--- Crotalaria goreensis, C. spectabilis, Desmodium
tortuosum, Euphorbia spp., Hedyotis-cotjiibosa, Indig$cra- hifiuta, Malvastrum
coromandelianum, Passijlora foetida, Phyllanthus amarus, Physalis spp., Portulaca
oleracea, Sida rhombifolia, Spermacoce assurgens, Stachytarpheta urticifolia, Synedrella