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5 plants worth knowing

Nauru

Nauru is a tiny coral island of just 21 km², with a raised limestone plateau (Topside) ringed by a narrow, fertile coastal strip. For over a hundred years phosphate was strip-mined here, destroying the forest and soil on about 80% of the island – greenery has survived mainly on the coast and around Buada Lagoon, while on the plateau a landscape of limestone pinnacles remains.

Hover over a plant to see on the map where it grows.

where it grows

  1. Tamanu 1

    tree · Sprig of tomano flowers on the coat of arms of Nauru

    Tamanu

    Calophyllum inophyllum

    Tomano flowers adorn Nauru’s coat of arms – the tree once dominated the plateau forest before phosphate mining destroyed it.
  2. Coconut palm 2

    palm

    Coconut palm

    Cocos nucifera

    Coconut palms fringe the entire coast of Nauru – before the phosphate era, coconuts and fish were the islanders’ mainstay.
  3. Thatch screwpine 3

    tree

    Thatch screwpine

    Pandanus tectorius

    Pandanus fed Nauruans through long droughts – its fruit can be eaten raw, cooked, or dried and stored.
  4. Beach naupaka 4

    shrub

    Beach naupaka

    Scaevola taccada

    A shrub with “half” flowers, as if someone had cut off half their petals – a green barrier protecting Nauru’s beaches from erosion.
  5. Oriental mangrove 5

    tree

    Oriental mangrove

    Bruguiera gymnorhiza

    Nauru’s only mangroves grow in the brackish ponds of Ijuw and Anabar – a habitat for birds and fish that is rare on the island.