Flora of the Seychelles : A Field Guide to Selected Plants

Flora of the Seychelles focuses on the higher, flowering plants (omitting grasses, sedges, seagrasses, ferns, mosses and clubmosses), and gives amongst others updated information about the flowering season, the preferred habitat, the local distribution, the estimated population size, the frequency of occurrence (very common, less common, common, not common, rare, very rare etc.), the status (endemic, indigenous or introduced, and if indigenous, then native to which other country(ies), and if introduced then the presumed origin of the plant), the status on the IUCN list of threatened plants (and if displayed here, to which degree they are threatened). To that is added ethnobotanical or ethnographic botanical information, e.g. the use of the plant (locally and/or internationally) including possible medicinal use, whether the plant is toxic to some degree, and the presumed origin or meaning behind the scientific, the common English and the local Creole names. Regarding the local Creole names, Flora of the Seychelles presents names that have been accepted and reviewed by the Creole Institute for all of the presented plants, including 40 which previously had no local names. Most striking might however be the many high quality photos taken on location accompanying the descriptions.

Flora of the Seychelles is divided into colour sections to allow quick and reliable identification of the different plants – especially when being used as a field guide. To this end, the book has been printed using a special print-polish which to some extent rejects drizzling rain. Finally, the book includes an extended glossary and extended indexes for the English, Creole and scientific plant names.