Flora of Eniwetok Atoll 1 
Harold St. John 2 
Eniwetok Atoll is near the north end of the 
Marshall Islands which form the northeastern 
part of Micronesia, in the tropical, central Paci- 
fic Ocean. The Marshall Islands were discovered 
in 1817 on the "Rurik” voyage under Captain 
Otto von Kotzebue. A member of the scientific 
staff of this voyage was the German botanist, 
Adelbert von Chamisso. He made extensive 
plant collections in the Marshalls and included 
them in his publications on the voyage. Though 
this voyage of discovery included landings on 
several of the atolls, Eniwetok itself was not 
visited. 
There are no accounts of the flora of Eniwe- 
tok during the successive occupations of Micro- 
nesia by the Spanish, or by the Germans. Next 
in the succession of rulers were the Japanese. 
Their scientists made wide explorations of 
Micronesia, and particularly through the work 
of R. Kanehira and T. Hosokawa added much 
to the knowledge of the Micronesian flora. In 
August, 1934, O'hba made collections of several 
species of Pandanus, these being apparently the 
first botanical collections from Eniwetok Atoll. 
They were studied, and published upon, by 
Kanehira, and are preserved in the herbarium 
at Fukuoka, Japan. 
In World War II, during the American con- 
quest, in February, 1944, there was heavy bom- 
bardment and fighting on Eniwetok. This caused 
general devastation on the largest islet, Eniwe- 
tok Islet, and on several others. It probably 
exterminated some of the rarer plant species. 
During the occupation of Eniwetok by the 
American military forces, Major Edwin H. 
Bryan, Jr., visited the atoll in August, 1944. He 
collected plant specimens and made additional 
notes on the flora. These gave the first general 
1 This report has been submitted to and cleared for 
publication by the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission. 
2 Visiting Professor of Botany, Chatham College, 
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Manuscript received June 
20, 1959. 
summary of the flora of Eniwetok. They are now 
in the Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu. 
In mid-May, 1946, the ship of the Economic 
Survey of Micronesia, U. S. Commercial Corpo- 
ration, tarried in the Eniwetok lagoon. Large 
botanical collections were made for it by F. 
Raymond Fosberg and a small collection by 
Edward Y. Hosaka. These collections are pre- 
served in the U. S. National Herbarium, Wash- 
ington, D.C., and in the Bishop Museum. 
Broad scientific studies began in the area in 
connection with the American atomic bomb 
testing program. The first test shot was at 
Bikini Atoll in 1946. Connected with this were 
the investigations accomplished by the Cross- 
roads Expedition. On its staff was William Ran- 
dolph Taylor. In late May, 1946, he made collec- 
tions on several of the islets of Eniwetok. They 
are preserved in the U. S. National Herbarium, 
the University of Michigan Museum, and the 
Bishop Museum. The plants of Eniwetok were 
included in Taylor’s book, Plants of Bikini , and 
Other Northern Marshall Islands, 1950. 
During August, 1949, the ship of the L. R. 
Donaldson Expedition, U. S. Atomic Energy 
Commission, was the base for investigations of 
the lagoon and the islets. The writer, H. St. 
John, was the botanist and ecologist for the 
terrestrial flora. His numerous collections are in 
the Bishop Museum, the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion, Washington, D.C., the University of Wash- 
ington, Seattle, and elsewhere. 
On August 1, 1956, S. C Rainey collected on 
Rigili. His specimens were identified by F. R. 
Fosberg in Washington, D C. 
In August and September, 1957, Irwin E. 
Lane collected on several of the islets. His speci- 
mens are in the Bishop Museum. 
In early August, 1958, St. John collected on 
several of the southern islets of the atoll. His 
collections are in the Bishop Museum, and the 
Marine Biological Laboratory, Eniwetok. 
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