In Kyushu, the large-scale lucidophyllous primitive forests have been preserved mainly in the national forests. These forests are excellent field sfor the study of biodiversity .Nine national forests in Mt. Inaodake, Takakuma, Mt. Kurinodake, Shiratori, Ayaminami, Ayakita, Mt. Ichibusayama, Mt. Sumiyama and Mt.Taterasan were selected for studying the species richness. We compared species richness, namely, the mean number of lucidophyllous elements (component species of lucidophyllous forest) per quadrat (lOOrrf) in nine localitie sand clarifie dthe relationship between species richness and environmental conditions. The mean number of total species and the mean number of the lucidophyllous elements per quadrat (100mJ) ranged from 76.0 and 50.8 in Takakuma to 33.1 and 31.1 in Mt. Taterasan, respectively. The high number of species in Takakuma is caused by an adjacent canopy gap. The correlation between the mean number of lucidophyllous elements per quadrat (100 m2) and the mean air temperature of the coldest month in eight localitie sexcept in Takakuma shows a highly significan tlinear regression.
