The Lindi local centre of endemism in SE Tanzania

An examination of hitherto published botanical monographs, together with notes from more recent collections, has identified a local centre of endemism focussed on the dissected plateaux inland of Lindi in SE Tanzania. The lowland forests on and around these plateaux contain between 40 and 91 vascular plant species which are not found elsewhere (depending on how rigorously the available data are interpreted), most of which have been collected less than three times and are limited to a single locality. The level of floristic endemism in this area is strikingly greater than in neighbouring areas, in spite of an apparent similarity in topography and vegetation. The full extent of the surviving remnants of forest is still poorly known, and an increased conservation initiative in this area is urgently required, together with further biological studies.