Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica | The physical environment | 59 
Cordillera de Talamanca, Chirripé massif 
from Cerro de La Muerte (1992) 
The Cerros de Escazt (highest point 2428 m), which form much of the southern 
skyline of the Central Valley, may be viewed as a northwestern spur ridge of the Cor- 
dillera de Talamanca, connected to them via Alto Tablazo (1983 m) and the Cerros de 
La Carpintera (highest point 1870 m), on the Continental Divide. Other important 
peaks in the northern Pacific portion of the Talamancas proper include the spectacu- 
larly rocky Cerro Caraigres (2508 m), also known as Cerro Drag6n or Cerro Los Cuar- 
teles, and the splendidly isolated Cerro Turrubares (1756 m), only 17.5 km from the 
sea. Fila de Matama, a much more important Talamancan spur, extends toward the 
Caribbean coast from the central portion of the range, culminating in Cerro Matama 
(2251 m), just 22 km from the sea. In the southern Pacific region, Talamancan spurs 
representing the northern and southern portions of the Fila Costefia, separated by the 
canyon of the Rio Grande de Térraba, embrace the General and Coto Brus Valleys, re- 
spectively. Ramparted Cerro Anguciana (1707 m), in the southern spur, is the highest 
point. The northern spur originates at the valleys of the Rios Savegre and Divisi6n, the 
southern spur at that of the Rio Chiriqui (Panama). The Fila Costefia goes by several 
alternate names, such as the Cordillera or Fila Costera and the Cordillera Brunka or 
Brunquenia. 
At least 68 volcanic cones or peaks have been identified in Costa Rica (Weyl, 
1980), most notably all the active volcanoes of the Cordilleras de Guanacaste (includ- 
ing Volcan Arenal) and Central, but also including many small and/or extinct volca- 
noes—mostly in the aforementioned cordilleras, but also in the Cordillera de Tilaran 
(Montes del Aguacate) and on the Caribbean coastal plain (e.g., Cerro Tortuguero, 119 
m). No significant volcanic structures occur on the Costa Rican mainland south of the 
Central Valley, although some minor eruptive foci or domes are known: e.g., Alto Mano 
