Seychelles Flora at a Glance.

The majority of books, pamphlets, papers and project proposals highlight and underscore the fact that Seychelles' flora is unique in the world. It survives as a relic of the ancient flora that existed on the Gondwana super-continent. Millions of years of isolation created ideal conditions for diversification and speciation of the original flora.

 The granitic islands of Seychelles support approximately 200 indigenous flowering plant species. Of these thzere are c. 70 endemic species, and several endemic subspecies and varieties. There is one endemic family of flowering plants, the Medusagynaceae, 6 monospecific endemic palm genera, including the famous Coco de Mer, and 5 other endemic genera, only one of which contains more than one species.

In addition, there are c. 85 ferns and fern relatives in the granitic islands, c. 110 mosses, c. 108 liverworts and more than 200 lichens.