A Chronology of Middle Missouri Plains Village Sites

number 98 • vii
Table 2. Ten Most Diverse Families of Seed Plants Native to the West Indies.
(Numbers indicate taxa (species plus infra species) or genera.)
Number Number Number Number
of native of endemic of native of endemic
Family taxa taxa Family genera genera
Rubiaceae 856 730 Asteraceae 145 41
Asteraceae 660 489 Orchidaceae 111 12
Orchidaceae 644 437 Poaceae 96 8
Leguminosae 587 319 Rubiaceae 89 27
Myrtaceae 530 301 Fabaceae 89 10
Euphorbiaceae 398 314 Euphorbiaceae 56 11
Melastomataceae 429 373 Scrophulariaceae 31 4
Poaceae 435 130 Malvaceae 31 2
Cyperaceae 329 91 Melastomataceae 28 3
Urticaceae 256 235 Apocynaceae 23 2
tributing only 9% of the total native seed plant diversity
in the region. The most diverse genera in the West Indies
are those with wide distributions, ranging throughout the
Neotropics. A list of the ten most species-rich indigenous
genera is provided in Table 3. Most of the taxa in these
genera are endemic and correspond to the most diverse
families in the West Indies.
The current estimate for total number of seed plant
taxa (species and infra species level) in the West Indies is
12,280, a number that includes exotics and commonly
cultivated plants. The total number of indigenous taxa
however, is approximately 10,470 of which 7,446 are
endemic to the archipelago or part of it, contributing to
71% endemism for the West Indies.
Table 3. Ten Most Species-Rich Genera in the West Indies.
Native Endemic Percent
Genus taxa taxa endemism
Eugenia 228 207 91%
Pilea 212 202 95%
Psychotria 127 103 80%
Rondeletia 145 145 100%
Calyptranthes 126 122 97%
Miconia 125 95 76%
Lepanthes 121 119 98%
Peperomia 104 69 67%
Varronia 66 59 89%
Rhynchospora 105 38 36%
Symbols and Abbreviations Used
in the Catalogue
* = Endemic genus
** = Nearly endemic
CeNBIO = Centro Nacional de Biodiversidad de Cuba.
IUCN = International Union for Conservation of Nature
Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez and Mark T. Strong, Department of Botany,
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, MRC 166,
P.O. Box 37012, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012, USA.
Correspondence: P. Acevedo, acevedop@si.edu.
Manuscript received 7 February 2011; accepted 12 July 2011.