Flora of South Andaman Islands, India

South Andaman Islands extended over 2980 Km2 is the largest island group in Andaman and Nicobar Islands harbor 1268 wild and naturalized taxa from South Andaman Islands belonging to 683 genera and 150 families. Of these, 950 are dicots, 265 are monocots, 6 are gymnosperms and 47 are pteridophytes. Present study added 38 new distributional records to Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Of these, Polycarpaea corymbosa and Tribulus terrestris represent two new family records Caryophyllaceae and Zygophyllaceae. Biophytum reinwardtii and Cyanotis axillaris are the basis for two new generic records. Rubiaceae is the dominant family with 95 species followed by Fabaceae with 93. Ficus is the largest genus with 16 species followed by Cyperus 13, Dendrobium 12, Ipomoea, Jasminum, Ixora, Ipomoea, with 11 species each. Of the 1268 wild and naturalized taxa, 429 are trees, 165 are shrubs; 422 are herbs; 121 are climbers and remaining 83 are epiphytes/parasites. It is interesting to note that trees are the dominant life forms (34%) in south Andamans followed by herbs (33%). Of 1268 taxa, 1107 are terrestrial and 78 are aquatic. Obligate mangrove represents 27 species in south Andaman Islands.