Vascular Plants 
Twenty-five species of vascular plants, representing 17 families, 
have been recorded from-M jsl 5 islands at Pearl and Hermes Reef (Table 
and Appendix ). The following discussion of the flora, by island, is 
based on all previous botanical accounts, as well as the data of the POBSP 
' r 
Wherever plant associations are discussed the species are listed in the 
order of decreasing abundance* 
Southeast Island 
Twenty-two vascular plants are known from Southeast Island (Tab^e 
dominated by ten species, two of which were in¬ 
troduced (Figure ). Eighteen species have been found by the POBSP* 
One of these, an onion ( Allium sp.) growing on the refuse heap, was erad¬ 
icated by the POBSP in March 1963. 
The central portion of the western section has a sparse 
Solanum nelsoni , Coronopus didymus, Boerhavia 
, Tribulus cistoides. 
and Lepidium bidentatum . Several clumps of Eragrostis variabilis grow to 
a height of about three feet near the center of this area. 
The ledge of reef rock extending southeastward from the western sec¬ 
tion has a large patch of Sesuvium portulacastrum in its interior. A 
patch of Sesuvium also grows on the reef rock extension at the southeast¬ 
ern corner of the eastern section. 
The area in and adjacent to the tidal pools in the eastern half of 
the eastern section is dominated by a lush growth of Sesuvium . West of 
these pools is a large area dominated by Coronopus . A large patch of 
Eragrostis and a smaller one of Cynodon dactylon, presumably introduced, 
grow adjacent to each other in the center of the Coronopus area. A few 
plants of Sonchus oleraceus and Solanum nigrum grow among the Cynodon and 
Coronopus * 
