The Marquesas Islands (French Polynesia) are an isolated group of volcanic hot spot islands in the SE Pacific Ocean. These 12 islands range from 61.3 to 330 km2 in size, from 360 to 1250 m in elevation, and from 1.3 to 6.3 Ma in age. Steep and rugged, the Marquesas were, until recently, comparatively unexplored and under-collected botanically. The only existing flora for the region was that of ...