Describing a plant species that grows in a specific area and has a restricted distribution. Some species (broad endemics) are restricted to a particular large region. Other species (narrow endemics) are confined to a much smaller area, such as a few square kilometres, and tend to be very specialized. Examples of broad endemics are the sugar maple (Acer saccharum) in the eastern United States and the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao) in the Amazon basin. An example of a narrow endemic is Darcycarpus viellardii in the island of New Caledonia. Some endemic species (palaeoendemics) represent the relicts of once widespread species. For example, Lyonothamnus floribundus, which today is only found on the California Islands, grew throughout California in the Tertiary. Species found in two or more widely separated regions are termed discontinuous or disjunct, e.g. magnolias grow in southeast Asia, eastern North America, and Central America, but nowhere in between. Compare cosmopolitan. |
