Abstract
The Farasan Archipelago is an Important Plant Area near the Arabian Peninsula. The islands are small, low-lying and subject to considerable tourist and industrial development, putting their native flora at risk. Here, we report an updated checklist covering 52 families, including 152 genera and 245 species, which is being published online for the first time. This inventory was performed by a baseline survey of the literature followed by field surveys across the entire archipelago. Taxonomic updates result in four new family reports: Cleomaceae, Asphodelaceae, Loranthaceae and Asparagaceae. Forty percent of the flora has been reclassified at the family, genus or species level based on modern treatments, and the remaining sixty percent remains unchanged. This checklist will help to focus conservation efforts and provide a framework for research, conservation and policy development for The Farasan Archipelago flora.
•The vegetation richness' papers of the natural systems of Farasan Archipelago, it's main to keep updated list of its flora.•Describe the distribution patterns of taxa on the islands from field survey it will help to allow conservation planning.•Study confirms biodiversity of Farasan Archipelago tends to be different from the closet area on the mainland (Jizan region).•In Farasan Archipelago the small Islands are dominated by halophyte plants While the large Islands contain of shoreline types.