Cyrtandra rotumaensis (Gesneriaceae) of Rotoma Island. Pacific Plant Studies 20

Abstract

The genus Cyrtandra extends from Malaya to eastern Polynesia, and includes some 600 species. The writer in 1938 made collections of the flora of Rotuma Island, an isolated, low, volcanic island that is situated about 300 miles north of the Fiji Archipelago. Only one species of Cyrtandra was discovered there, but it was notable in being a halophyte and in being poisonous. The nearest high land is in Fiji, so it is not surprising that the closest relative of the Rotuman species is one found in Fiji.