Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica 4] 
tributed much to the florulas of both La Selva (Atwood, 1988) and Monteverde (Atwood, 
2000), as another American, Garrett E. Crow (b. 1942), carefully inventoried aquatic 
vascular plants throughout the country (Crow, 1993; Crow & Rivera, 1986; Crow et al., 
1987). Jorge G6mez-Laurito continued his work toward a florula of the Alberto M. 
Brenes Biological Reserve, while Grayum, Quirico Jiménez, and Richard H. Warner 
collected extensively in Carara National Park toward preparation of a checklist for that 
site (Jiménez M. & Grayum, 2002). The Manual project continued to employ plant col- 
lectors on an occasional basis, including Abelardo Chacon (who ranged widely), Juan 
Marin (Osa Peninsula), and Orlando Vargas (b. 1967; Sarapiqui region). 
The Costa Rican Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INBio) was established in 
1989 by distinguished Universidad de Costa Rica microbiologist Rodrigo Gamez 
(b. 1936) and renowned entomologist and tropical ecologist Daniel H. Janzen 
(b. 1939), of the University of Pennsylvania, in part to temporarily house the Herbario 
Nacional following the demolition of its quarters at the Museo Nacional (see Gamez, 
1999; Zeled6n, 2000). INBio immediately initiated a systematic program of both floris- 
tic and faunistic inventories of Costa Rica, placing specially trained “parataxonomists” 
at selected stations throughout the country. 
The Manual de plantas de Costa Rica project, which had been based in the Museo 
Nacional, followed CR to the new INBio headquarters in Santo Domingo de Heredia. 
Although the Herbario Nacional returned to new quarters at the Museo in 1991, the 
Manual project remained at INBio due to space considerations. There, it functioned es- 
sentially as INBio’s botany department and herbarium. In 1993, INBio established its 
own herbarium (INB), in order to accommodate the burgeoning collections of its 
botanists and parataxonomists. In a relatively short time, under the direction of Botany 
Department head Nelson Zamora, INB has grown to house over 120,000 numbers. But 
although INB is currently the more active herbarium, CR will remain of paramount im- 
portance because of its many types and other historical collections. 
During the past decade, INBio personnel were responsible for many advances in 
Costa Rican floristics, especially curators José Gonzalez, Juan Francisco Morales 
(b. 1970), Alexander Rodriguez, and Nelson Zamora, and former curators Maria Marta 
Chavarria, Quirico Jiménez (now a deputy in the Costa Rican Congress), and Alexan- 
der Rojas (see, e.g., Jiménez M., 1997, 1999; J. F. Morales, 1998a, 2001; Rojas A., 
1999; Jiménez M. et al., 2002). Several INBio parataxonomists have distinguished 
themselves as botanical specialists, most notably Reinaldo Aguilar, Evelio Alfaro 
(b. 1964), Flor Araya, Erick Bello, Ulises Chavarria, Roberto Espinoza, Billen Gam- 
boa (b. 1976), Juan Marin, Francisco (Javier) Quesada (b. 1964), and Rodolfo Zuniga 
(b. 1962), and some have authored publications on the Costa Rican flora (see, e.g., Que- 
sada Q. et al., 1997; Alfaro & Gamboa, 1999; Chavarria et al., 2001; Alfaro, 2003). 
Botanists at other Costa Rican institutions also continue to play important roles. At 
the Museo Nacional, Alfredo Cascante (b. 1967), Armando Estrada, and Joaquin 
Sanchez (b. 1962) pursue their richly rewarding explorations of the central Pacific 
