Language: English
An annotated checklist of vascular plants of southern Nigeria is presented. In addition to the name, for each taxon the following citations are included where available: basionym and synonym, family, common and vernacular names. The checklist includes the vascular plants (flowering plants, conifers, cycads and fern species) found mainly in forest (mangrove, fresh water swamp, riparine or gallery forest and lowland evergreen, secondary and degraded forests) and derived savanna. The area extends from the Atlantic seaboard in the south towards the northern fringes where the rivers Niger and Benue provide the natural landmark delimiting northern and southern Nigeria in the northwest and northeast respectively. One thousand three hundred and twelve (1312) plant taxa distributed in 141 plant families are inventoried in this checklist. Using FAO estimates, this represents 28.52% of the estimated 4,600 vascular plant species in Nigeria.