Prosperous Bay Plain

Prosperous Bay Plain is an area on the eastern coast of Saint Helena, a British island territory in the South Atlantic Ocean.

Annual flushes of endemic babies'-toes (Hydrodea cryptantha), goosefoot (Chenopodium helenense) and neglected sedge (Bulbostylis neglecta) occur across the plain.

There are a few scattered scrubwoods (Commidendrum rugosum), teaplants (Frankenia portulacifolia) and salad plant (Hypertelis acida), threatened endemics which may have grown more plentifully in the area in the past, before the introduction of exotic herbivores.

[1] Prosperous Bay Plain is a biodiversity hotspot, home to an extraordinary concentration of endemic invertebrates, the area being the main evolutionary centre on the island for animals adapted to arid habitats.

[1] The mollusc Nesopupa turtoni in the whorl snail family Vertiginidae, previously known only as a fossil and long presumed to be extinct, was discovered alive in a 2003 survey[3] Invertebrate habitats on the plain have been affected by many factors, including the systematic removal of loose and portable rocks for construction purposes, the formation of vehicle tracks, and the building of structures such as forts.