Endemic flora of Trinidad and Tobago

The endemic flora of Trinidad and Tobago includes a total of 59 species of vascular plants belonging to 34 plant families. This is less than 3% of the total vascular plant flora of Trinidad and Tobago. Thirty-nine of these species are endemic to Trinidad, 12 are Tobagonian endemics, and six are present on both islands.^[1]

Island systems tend to be rich centres of endemism as a result of their isolation. The islands of the Greater Antilles have rates of endemism which range from 12 to 50% of their flora.^[2] Trinidad and Tobago has a far lower rate of endemism, probably as a result of its geological history. The islands of Trinidad and Tobago lie on the South American continental shelf, and were both connected to the mainland during the Pleistocene. Tobago was separated from the mainland about 13,000 years ago; Trinidad was connected until more recently, and may only have become separated about 1,500 years ago.^[1]

The flora of Trinidad and Tobago has been estimated to include about 2,500 vascular plant species.^[1] Although historically as many as 222 species were thought to be endemic, a study by Veerle Van den Eynden and colleagues at the University of the West Indies found that only 59 of these species could validly be considered endemic, including eight species which they were unable to positively confirm as either endemic or non-endemic.^[1]