Abstract
Despite a long history of botanical collecting in the three oceanic islands of the Gulf of Guinea, no recent studies have documented floristic patterns. This chapter summarizes information on the vascular plants of the islands, including inventories conducted on Príncipe and São Tomé since 2017, as well as two recent expeditions to Annobón. An updated database of the vascular flora was compiled, which includes 14,376 records representing 1285 species and infraspecific taxa (1028 native). Príncipe has 445 species and infraspecific taxa (394 native), São Tomé has 1044 (842 native), and Annobón has 344 (274 native). Recent inventory work has generated collections of more than 90% of the endemic woody species. Several very rare taxa were rediscovered, including Balthasaria mannii (Oliv.) Verdc., 1969 (Pentaphylacaceae) and Psychotria exellii R. Alves, Figueiredo and A.P. Davis, 2005 (Rubiaceae), neither of which had been seen for more than 50 years. At least 17 species new to science were also discovered on Príncipe and São Tomé. Of the 1028 indigenous taxa, 164 (16%) are currently considered endemic to the islands. Of the 285 species evaluated according to the IUCN Red List criteria, 2 (0.7%) were Data Deficient, 226 (79.3%) Least Concern or Near Threatened, 55 (19.3%) threatened (including 3 Critically Endangered, 21 Endangered, and 31 Vulnerable), and 2 (0.7%) Extinct. On São Tomé and Príncipe, 325 plant species are used in traditional medicine, 37 of which are endemic. These results should be used to identify new priority sites for conservation, including on Annobón, where priority sites are less well defined.