storms whipped through the Tuamotus during this time — in 

 1 822 and 1 825 (Sachet, 1 983 ). At least one of these could have 

 affected Caroline. 



2. The 1878 cyclone. The first unambiguous record of 

 major devastation at Caroline comes from the letter of a certain 

 J. M. Salmon, dated 1883 and reproduced in Holden (1884). 

 Speaking of the time when Messrs. Brown and Brothers took 

 possession of Caroline (somewhere between 1865 and 1872). 

 he stated that "it seemed as if there had been a storm or 

 hurricane at some short period previous, which had desolated 

 the place." Arundel ( 1 890) attributed this to a tidal wave that 

 swept across the Pacific from South America to New Zealand 

 and Australia in 1868 (Arundel, 1890). but atolls do not 

 generally suffer greatly from tsunamis because they lack 

 focusing relief. Hydrographer of the Navy (1931. Vol. Ill, 

 p. 154), however, referring to Caroline, clearly states that in 

 " 1 878 a cyclone passed over the islands, destroying most of the 

 coconut trees." 



The Great Britain Naval Intelligence Division (N.I.D.. 

 1 943. p. 490). in reference to Caroline, also states that "in 1 878 

 a hurricane wrought g-eat destruction." This was possibly the 

 storm of 6-7 February 1878. an extremely violent one which 

 killed I 17 persons on Kaukura Atoll. 750 km southeast of 

 Caroline in the Tuamotus (Sachet. 1983). 



3. The 1990 storms. We know from Arundel's chart 

 ( Fig. 4) that no major islet-altering storm has hit Caroline Atoll 

 since 1883. However. oursecondvisittoCarolinewas2 weeks 

 after cyclone "Peni," centered near Vostok (February 1990). 

 affected the atoll. Violent winds, torrential rain, and high seas 

 had uprooted vegetation in some windward areas and greatly 

 altered Caroline's shorelines, interislet channels, tidal fans. 

 and incipient islets from our 1988 visit. Sand and rubble had 

 been rearranged on both windward and leeward islets, Motu 

 Atibu virtually disappeared, and the main interislet channel 

 that divides Long Island had lost its herb mats and many 

 Tournefortia shrubs, becoming smothered with fresh sand. 



Because islets on coral atolls rarely exceed 5 m in elevation, 

 the tidal surges associated with Class IV orClass V hurricanes. 

 often exceeding 5 m in depth, can overwhelm them, not only 

 altering or destroying the vegetation, but in extreme cases 

 completely removing them from the coral rim (Frisbie, 1944). 

 It is essential to consider the ephemeral nature of Caroline's 

 islets in the discussions that follow. 



Sea Conditions : Because the most extensive coral rubble 

 deposits occur around northern Nake and southern South 

 Island, and because the Cocos plantation of northwest South 

 was so badly hit by storms last century, the following Tuamotuan 

 generalities (Newell. 1956) probably also apply to Caroline: 

 /. prevailing trade winds from the east give heavy seas on 

 the northeast or windward side; 



2. southern ocean swells generated in the sub-Antarctic 

 break heavily on the south or seaward side; and 



3. occasional hurricanes or tropical storms strike in the 

 northwest or stormward quarter. 



Vegetation: Vascular Plants and Floristics 



Botanical History 



All early visitors to Caroline described a well wooded atoll 

 with numerous islets whose vegetation extended to the shoreline. 

 It has changed little in the 384 years since its Western discovery. 

 The first botanical collection and notes were those of Bennett 

 in 1835 (Bennett. 1840), who recorded 10 flowering plants and 

 a fern and planted Tahitian chestnut, sweet potato, and 

 Polynesian arrowroot. The location of his plant collection, if 

 it still exists, is unknown (Clapp & Sibley. 1971a). Evidently 

 only a single nonnative species (Cocos), surviving as two small 

 groves, persisted until the late 19th century. Beginning in 

 1885. coconuts were planted extensively on South Island and 

 south Nake. but the copra industry failed twice, and from 1929 

 to 1987 the atoll was essentially uninhabited. 



Dixon made the first true botanical collection in 1883 

 during the Solar Eclipse Expedition (in Trelease, 1884). All 

 specimens were from South Island except Laponea ruderalis. 

 His collection included several ornamentals and vegetables 

 that have not been reported since, an important point as these 

 temporary introductions have since been cited in the literature 

 as part of Caroline's 35 plant species. Many were not found by 

 the POBSP party, yet because no scientific investigations had 

 been conducted for 80 years, they were counted as part of the 

 atoll flora (Clapp & Sibley. 1971a). Three more visits to 

 Caroline, plus periodic searching by the Falconers, have also 

 failed to uncover most of these ornamentals. Since Caroline's 

 occasional occupants tended gardens (Lucett, 1851), it is 

 evident that many introduced plants have died out, lacking 

 constant care. 



Vascular Plants of Caroline Atoll 



Plant Collections : To avoid duplicating Long's plant 

 collection (Clapp & Sibley. 1971a). we collected only 

 5 specimens in 1988 and 33 in 1990. Dr. D. Herbst assisted 

 with identification, prepared and deposited the specimens with 

 Long's in the Bernice P. Bishop Museum. Honolulu. Hawaii, 

 with duplicates in the U.S. National Museum. Washington. 

 D.C. Collection numbers preceded by 'K' were collected by 

 A. Kay Kepler; those preceded by 'L' are those of the late 

 C. R. Long. Earlier collections of Bennett in 1835 (Bennett. 

 1 840) and Dixon in 1 883 ( in Trelease. 1 884) are noted by date 

 only. 



Working with Long's location records for some species 

 has proven difficult. He was working with an incorrect map 

 (Fig. 7). which showed only 25 islets instead of 39. Much of 

 his work was done at night, which in some places would have 

 made it hard for him to determine his exact location. His 

 references to South, Long, and Nake are undoubtedly correct, 

 and presumably the following: "second islet south of Long" = 

 Crescent; "islet northeast of South Island" = Tridacna: and 

 "fourth islet north of Bird Islet" = Emerald. Long records 

 Pandanus on the "second islet south of Nake Island." which 



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