Tabuaeran

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left: ISS014-E-5366 Image courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center. http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov Tabuaeran The Tabuaeran atoll, formerly called Fanning Island consists of three larger and several smaller motus, which together form a land area of 33,7 km². The lagoon already shows first signs for a beginning siltation.

above: view over the lagoon from one of the motus Photo: Dr. James P. McVey, NOAA Sea Grant Program National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Department of Commerce http://www.photolib.noaa.gov

Flora of Tabuaeran (almost complete) (green = pictures) Boerhavia tetrandra, Cassytha filiformis, Cordia subcordata, Fimbristylis cymosa, Guettarda speciosa, Heliotropium anomalum var. mediale, Heliotropium foertherianum, Ipomoea macrantha, Ipomoea pes-caprae ssp. brasiliensis, Laportea ruderalis, Lepidium bidentatum, Lepturus repens, Microsorum grossum, Pandanus tectorius, Pisonia grandis, Portulaca lutea, Psilotum nudum, Scaevola taccada, Sesuvium portulacastrum, Sida fallax, 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 - Dieter Mueller-Dombois; Francis Raymond Fosberg: Vegetation of the Tropical Pacific Islands. Springer, 1997