Johnston Atoll

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left: ISS007-E-10269 Image courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center. http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov Johnston Atoll This highly eroded atoll consists of four small islets, of which two, called Akau and Hikina, are man-made. The larger of the two natural islands itself was likewise artificially enlarged and is today not much more than an military airport. The original flora contains only the three species mentioned below. Astonishingly fourteen species of seabirds still breed on Johnston Atoll, most on Sand Island in the atoll's centre.

Flora of Johnston (almost complete) (green = pictures) Boerhavia repens, Lepturus repens, Tribulus cistoides

References: - A. Binion Amerson Jr.; Philip C. Shelton: 'The natural history of Johnston Atoll, Central Pacific Ocean' (1976)