Annotated list to the flora of Farasan Archipelago, Southern Red Sea, Saudi Arabia

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 The Herbarium, Department of Botany & Microbiology, King Saud University,P.O Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia

2 Natural Resources and Environment Research Institute, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, P.O. Box 6086, Riyadh 11442, Saudi Arabia

3 Directorate, Ministry of Education, Jizan

Abstract

An annotated list of vascular plants of Farasan group of Islands is presented. Flora of these islands, though not unique
in terms of species diversity or endemism, is important as it represents a transition point between the flora of East
African countries and the Arabian Peninsula. The entire archipelago is an arid region with sparse vegetation. Most of
the species, except mangroves and few other dominant perennials, are occasional annuals and not necessarily present
in all years. A total of 202 species of vascular plants have been reported in this study, of which 155 are dicots and 47
are monocots. No endemic plant is, so far, collected from any part of the archipelago despite the region’s isolated
nature. However, 14 species collected from these islands are not known in any other part of Saudi Arabia. Vernacular
names of popular species and keys for the identification of families, genera and species are also provided.

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