Palmyra

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left: ISS013-E-6538 Image courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center. http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov Palmyra The complete area of this atoll is 11,9 km², of which the about fifty motus together form an land area of around 3,9 km². The climate is quite damp, so the number of plant species is higher than those of the more southerly atolls in the Line Islands.

above: A colony of Sooty Terns (Sterna lunata oahuensis) on one of the islands of the atoll. Photo: JoAnn Schwartz; by courtesy of JoAnn Schwartz http://www.flickr.com/photos/72923065@N00

Flora of Palmyra (almost complete) (green = pictures) Asplenium nidus, Boerhavia tetrandra, Cyperus javanicus, Fimbristylis cymosa, Guettarda speciosa, Heliotropium foertherianum, Ipomoea macrantha, Ipomoea pes-caprae ssp. brasiliensis, Laportea ruderalis, Lepidium bidentatum, Lepturus repens, Microsorum grossum, Nephrolepis hirsutula, Ochrosia oppositifolia, Pandanus tectorius, Pisonia grandis, Psilotum nudum, Pycreus polystachyos, Scaevola taccada, Suriana maritima, Triumfetta procumbens

References: - Lyndon Wester: Checklist of the Vascular Plants of the Northern Line Islands. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. Atoll Res. Bull. 287: 1-38. 1985