FLORE du GABON
(version Français) The Flore du Gabon (Flora of Gabon) is a series of books devoted to describing the rich and splendid diversity of vascular plants in Gabon, and providing basic information on each species as well as tools to help botanists, conservationists, ecologists, foresters, and all others interested in the flora of this country, to identify the plants they encounter.
The volumes 1 to 37 were published from 1961 to 2005 by the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris. Volumes 38 and beyond were published from 2009 onwards by the Wageningen branch of the National Herbarium of the Netherlands (now part of the Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity Naturalis) and can be ordered through Margraf Publishers at Wekersheim, Germany. Through Margraf you can also purchase the complete series, or notify them of your interest to a standing order to receive all new volumes.
The volumes 38 and beyond are being produced under the guidance of the following editorial team:
- Prof.dr. Marc S.M. Sosef, Editor in Chief, NCB Naturalis – section NHN, Wageningen
- Dr. Jacques Florence, Editor, MNHN, Antenne IRD, Paris
- Dr. Ludovic Ngok Banak, Editor, IRET, CENAREST, Libreville
- Prof.dr. Henri Paul Bourobou Bourobou, Editor, IPHAMETRA - Herbier National du Gabon, CENAREST, Libreville
A large international team of 55 experts in African botany are involved in finishing the Flore du Gabon. The aim is to produce the final volume in 2018. Meanwhile, an initiative to convert all volumes to an electronic format and publish it as part of an EU initiative for an e-Flora platform is on its way.
By clicking here you can see which families have already been treated in the Flore du Gabon series.
Gabon has an estimated 7000 species of vascular plants of which 11% is endemic to the country. As such, Gabon harbours the most species-rich lowland rain forest on the African continent. To date, only some 5200 species are known, but regularly new species are being recorded, either as a new record for the country or as a species completely new to science. The Checklist of Gabonese Vascular Plants (Sosef et al., 2006. Scripta Botanica Belgica vol. 35), which can be ordered from the National Botanic Garden of Belgium at Meise, lists all of the known species together with some basic information and together with all herbarium specimens known.
The NCB Naturalis – section NHN holds a database with valuable information on some 95% of all herbarium specimens ever collected in Gabon. This database can be consulted on-line click here, where it is regularly updated.