Open Access

Werner Greuter

• Introductory chapters on the geography, vegetation and history of botanical ex loration are followed by a catalogue of 331 species of wild vascular plants, 90% of which represent first records for the island. Synonymy, references, localities and ecological data are given for each species in a condensed form. The taxonomy, nomenclature and distribution of some taxa are discussed; in one case (Silene cythnia) a drawing and a distribution map are supplied. Nomenclatural novelties are validated in the genera Centaurea, Matricana, Melica (by W. Hempel) and Trifolium. A phytogeographical and ecological analysis of the flora demonstrates its striking banality and the unexpectedly high proportion of anthropophytes. No pliytogeographical link with tlie other E. Aegean Isiands and Anatolia exists, but there are some affinities with the Cyclades. The observations are consistent with the hypotliesis of a long insular isolation leading to a strong depletion or even destruction of the original flora, which has been replaced by long-distance dispersed and anthropophytic elements.