Exploring for Plants Conserving the Cockpit Country of Jamaica

Today was our first day of hiking on Kosrae.  It was a great success– We found very healthy populations of Ponapea ledermanniana on two parts of the island, and saw many other interesting plants along the way.  Overall, we are impressed with the health of the populations we have seen. Although the distribution of Ponapea palms may be limited, they appear to be reproducing well and do not seem to be in decline here on Kosrae.  

Swampy forest of Ponapea ledermanniana palms.

This morning we searched for the last location where Ponapea palms were seen and collected more than ten years ago.  Using location data from a herbarium specimen, we followed a dirt road to its end and hiked a trail that criscrossed a stream.  Christie spotted the first Ponapea palm, and then Steve found a few further along the trail.  Eventually we found a big group of a few adult palms and many young ones.  

Christie and Faith sighting the first Ponapea.

For the afternoon hike we were accompanied by Jacob, a student at the local university and employee of the Kosrae Conservation and Safety Organization (KCSO).  He knows the few roads to the interior of the island, and many of the hiking trails as well.  We followed a seldom-used road until we spotted a Ponapea, and then discovered a large population nearby.

We were most surprised by the habitat of the Ponapea palms we found today.  They were growing in very wet, swampy areas, sometimes in shallow running water.  As we hike to higher parts of the island tomorrow and Friday we’ll see whether we can find Ponapea growing in drier locations.  

The world’s most famous swamp-dwelling palm is Nypa fruticans, and we have seen it in many brackish swamps on Kosrae.  We stopped at a large stand of Nypa, and I waded into the swamp to photograph some of its unusual fruiting stalks.