The Flora of Romonum Island, Truk Lagoon, Caroline Islands 
Benjamin C Stone 1 
Romonum Island (7° 25' N, 151° 40' W) is 
one of the smaller central islands in Truk, a 
large island complex comprising several peaks 
of volcanic origin within a large atoll-like reef. 
Hence sometimes Truk is called an "almost- 
atoll,” because it is in a transitional stage be- 
tween younger islands, such as Ponape or 
Kusaie, and older atolls, such as those of the 
Marshall Islands group. Romonum itself is rela- 
tively small and low, nearly a mile in length 
and half a mile in width, with a rounded hill 
at the eastern end rising to a height of 167 ft, 
with fairly steep sides on the east and northeast, 
and flat or gently sloping land to the west and 
south. Two extensive swamps occur, one toward 
the western end and another larger one toward 
the eastern end, both on the south side of the 
island. A sandy beach occurs along the south- 
western tip and at several other localities on the 
western and southern coasts, while ramparts of 
black basalt boulders occur at several localities 
around the perimeter, especially on the east end. 
The island is situated slightly northeast about 
4 miles from Tol Island (Truk’s largest and 
highest island), and about 2.9 miles due north 
of Fala-beguets I. (using the name shown on 
the 1944 edition Hydrographic Office map), 
and about 2.4 miles slightly northwest of Udot 
I. Moen Island, location of the U.S. Trust 
Territory Truk District Headquarters, is nearly 
12 miles to the northeast. 
As is true of virtually all of the islands 
within the encircling reef (excluding the coral- 
line reef islets), Romonum is of volcanic origin. 
Except for the well-developed sandy beach, the 
island is composed of black basalt; no high 
raised limestones are found here or anywhere 
in Truk (although a few terraces scarcely a 
meter high do occur). The geological history 
of Truk is complex: the islands are much 
sunken or eroded; there are drowned valleys, 
wave-cut terraces (at about 40 m alt. and again 
1 Department of Botany, University of Malaya, 
Kuala Lumpur. Manuscript received January 3, 1966. 
at 100 m alt.), and other evidences of both 
subsidence and emersion. However, little of 
this is in sight in Romonum. For a fuller geo- 
logical account, publications by Tayama (1940), 
Hess (1946), Bridge (1948), and, for a brief 
description, Gressitt (1954) may be consulted. 
In January 1965, I was enabled to visit both 
Truk and Ponape (as well as Saipan and Rota) 
through the generosity of the Trust Territory 
Government. At that time Prof. Ward Goode- 
nough of the Department of Anthropology, 
University of Pennsylvania, was engaged in a 
lengthy restudy of the people of Romonum 
Island, and he invited me to stay for a time 
there. This invitation led to a sojourn of several 
days, from January 28 to 31. During this time 
a collection of plants was made, and most parts 
of the little island were visited, with the help 
of Oliver Goodenough as guide. Dr. Goode- 
nough has allowed me to make use of his map, 
to which I have added some indications of the 
vegetation (Fig. 1). He has also provided his 
critical ear, a knowledge of Trukese dialects, 
and the orthography for most of the plant 
names given herein. Most names were verified 
by Dr. Goodenough; other names are in the 
form shown in P. J. R. Hill’s mimeographed 
list of Trukese plant names, or are approxi- 
mations in my own spelling. 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
I am grateful to the Department of Agricul- 
ture, Trust Territory Government, Saipan, for 
the opportunity to visit Truk and several other 
islands in December 1964 and January-Febru- 
ary 1965 ; and particularly to Mr. Manuel 
Sproat, Director of Agriculture, for his con- 
tinued encouragement, assistance, and hospi- 
tality. I also must thank several District Agri- 
cultural Officers, both in Truk and Ponape, i 
especially Mr. Leonard Aguigui in Truk, and 
Mr. Ed. Pavao, Mr. J. D. Zaiger, and Mr. 
Kesner Hadley in Ponape, for their help. Peter 
J. R. Hill, Educational Administrator for Truk, 
98 
