Pacific plant areas. Introduction

Pacific Plant Areas was first suggested by Prof. Dr. H. J. Lam, Director of the Rijksherbarium, Leyden, during the 6th Pacific Science Congress held at Berkeley, California, in 1939.² In the 7th Pacific Science Congress held in Auckland and Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1949, Doctor Lam made a detailed progress report on the project.¹ A further report consisting of an enumeration of the collections made in various islands of the Pacific basin was made by Prof. Dr. W.R.B. Oliver of Wellington, New Zealand, who was chairman of the Committee from 1949 to 1953, in the 8th Pacific Science Congress held in Manila in 1953.³ During the Congress, its Standing Committee on Pacific Plant Areas was made a subsection of its Botany Section, and Doctor Oliver was succeeded as chairman of the subsection by Doctor Lam who, during the preceding years, had collected a considerable number of tentative distribution maps of genera and species with the help of a number of collaborators.