Brings together recent research and novel theories to review studies into the evolution, diversity and conservation of island plants worldwide.

List of contributors; Preface Juli Caujapé-Castells; 1. Introduction, islands and plants David Bramwell; 2. The reproductive biology of island plants Daniel J. Crawford, Gregory J. Anderson and Gabriel Bernardello; 3. Spatial methodology in historic biogeography of islands Paula Posadas, Jorge V. Crisci and Liliana Katinas; 4. Origin and evolution of Hawaiian endemics: new patterns revealed by molecular studies Sterling C. Keeley and Vicky A. Funk; 5. Origins and evolution of Galapagos endemic vascular plants Alan Tye and Javier Francisco-Ortega; 6. The plants of the Caribbean Islands: a review of the biogeography, diversity and conservation of a storm-battered biodiversity hot-spot Michael Maunder, Melissa Abdo, Rosalina Berazain, Colin Clubbe, Francisco Jiménez, Ángela Leiva, Eugenio Santiago-Valentín, Brett Jestrow and Javier Francisco-Ortega; 7. The biogeography of Madagascar palms John Dransfield and Mijoro Racotoarinivo; 8. Evolution and biogeography of the flora of the Socotra Archipelago (Yemen) Lisa M. Banfield, Kay Van Damme and Anthony G. Miller; 9. Biogeography and conservation of the flora of New Caledonia David Bramwell; 10. Phytogeography and relationships of the Pitcairn Islands flora Steve Waldren and Naomi Kingston; 11. Chromosomes and evolution in New Zealand endemic Angiosperms and Gymnosperms Brian G. Murray and Peter J. de Lange; 12. Jesters, red queens, boomerangs and surfers: a molecular outlook to the diversity of the Canarian endemic flora Juli Caujapé-Castells; 13. Endemism and evolution in Macaronesian and Mediterranean Limonium taxa M. Dolores Lledó, Per O. Karis, Manuel B. Crespo, Michael F. Fay and Mark W. Chase; 14. Dispersal, diversity and evolution in the Macaronesian Cryptogamic floras Alain Vanderpoorten, Ben Laenen, Rosalina Gabriel, Juana M. González-Mancebo, Fred J. Rumsey and Mark A. Carine; 15. Invasive alien species and islands Michael Kiehn; 16. Ecology, demography and conservation in the Galapagos Islands flora Ole Hamann; 17. New directions and challenges for the conservation of the flora of Madagascar Stuart Cable; 18. Climate change and island floras David Bramwell; 19. Conservation status of endemic plants on Isla de Coco, Costa Rica: applying IUCN red list criteria on a small island Jennifer L. Trusty, Herbert C. Kesler, Jorge Rodríguez and Javier Francisco-Ortega; 20. Botanical gardens and the conservation of island floras Sara Oldfield; 21. The hazardous future of island floras Vernon H. Heywood; Index.