A floristic inventory and reassessment of the Flora of Sanibel Island (Lee Co.), Florida, U.S.A.

Abstract

Sanibel Island (Lee Co., Florida) manifests eight main categories and 12 subcategories of habitats, and individual plant taxa occupy habitat(s) from one or more of those categories. Documented, presently as growing wild/apparently wild on Sanibel Island are individuals of 119 families, 397 genera, 611 species (including two hybrids), and 621 infrageneric taxa of vascular plants. Of the 621 infrageneric taxa, 420 (67.6%) are native and 13 (2.1 %) are endemic to Florida. We interpret the Island’s flora in terms of its history of severe natural and artificial disturbances.