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Vegetation 
Brooks (l860:6) first recorded vegetation at Pearl and Hermes Reef 
in 1859; he found the largest islands covered with coarse grass and trees. 
Bitter (1900:7) identified two species-- Eragrostis hawaiiensis [= variabilis ], 
and Solanum laysanense [= nelsoni ]--from photographs taken by Walker in 
* 
1899- 
The vegetation of Pearl and Hermes was first detailed in a report by 
Christophersen and Caum (1931:15-16* 20-4l), who discussed the eleven spe¬ 
cies of vascular plants found growing on the islands by the Tanager Expedi¬ 
tion in April 1923, the two species represented by seeds found in beach 
litter. More specimens were collected by Galtsoff in 1930. 
Photographs by Frear, Wetmore, and Galtsoff 
make it possible to reconstruct the vegetative history of the atoll in the 
present century. 
POBSP personnel have collected vascular plant specimens, and taken 
notes and photographs,, on most visits to the atoll. The islands and 
their major associations were mapped in March 1965. Specimens 
have been collected by Charles H. Lamoureux and C. Robert Long of the 
o ' 
University of Hawaii, POBSP cooperators in botany, who prepared the annotated 
list of species presented in Appendix 
Plant specimens from Pearl 
.»*>» *) )*«■»• I -; 
and Hermes collected by the POBSP and its cooperators may be found in the 
herbarium of the United States National Museum (USNM), the Bishop Museum 
(BISK), and the University of Hawaii (UH). 
