Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica 163 
El Rodeo Protection Zone, near Santa Ana. Besides many of the species typical of dry 
forest mentioned above that are found here, we should also point out numerous others 
for their rarity, unusual distribution or endemism, e.g.: Acacia polyphylla, Aspidosperma 
rigidum, Chamaecrista rotundifolia, Deppea inaequalis, Dracontium soconuscum, Eu- 
phorbia chiapensis, E. pulcherrima, Hauya elegans, Inga herrerae (endemic), Ipomoea 
santae-rosae, Lycianthes grandifrons, Myrox- 
ylon balsamum, Pogonopus exsertus, Poly- 
botrya sorbifolia, Prionostemma asperum, 
Rondeletia aspera (endemic), Salvia costari- 
censis (endemic), Syngonium wendlandii (en- 
demic), Zinowiewia integerrima, and Zamia 
fairchildiana. A study of the trees of this area 
showed that the families with most species 
are Fabaceae, Lauraceae, and Moraceae (in 
decreasing order), while the species with the 
most individuals (also in decreasing order) 
are Pseudolmedia oxyphyllaria, Clarisia ra- 
cemosa, Heisteria concinna, Brosimum ali- 
castrum, and Tapirira mexicana (Cascante 
M. & Estrada Ch., 2001). For more detailed 
information about this flora, see Fournier O. 
et al. (1985) and Cascante M. & Estrada Ch. 
(1999). 
The native vegetation of the Central Val- Hauya elegans 
ley above 1000 m is today scarcely evident, 
having been degraded by agriculture and urban sprawl since even before Wercklé 
(1909) and Standley (1937b), who gave scant description of that flora. Nevertheless, 
the vegetation can be divided into a western sector, around the present capital city of 
San José, and an eastern sector (sometimes called the El Guarco Valley), around the city 
of Cartago. The western sector is characterized by a flora similar to that of the middle 
elevations to the north, combined with certain elements more or less specific to such 
human-influenced habitat. A few of these species are Acacia angustissima, Acnistus ar- 
borescens, Ageratum conyzoides, Annona cherimola, Anoda cristata, Calliandra 
calothyrsus, Casimiroa sapota, Cestrum pittieri, Cordia eriostigma, C. spinescens, 
Crotalaria vitellina, Croton draco, Cupania glabra, Diphysa americana, Ehretia lati- 
folia, Erythrina berteroana, Euphorbia hoffmanniana, Ficus costaricana, F. jimenezii, 
Guatteria oliviformis, Hauya elegans, Inga densiflora, I. oerstediana, I. punctata, 
Jaegeria hirta, Mauria heterophylla, Melampodium perfoliatum, Montanoa hibiscifo- 
lia, Nicandra physalodes, Peltostigma pteleoides, Persea caerulea, Psidium guineense, 
Quercus cortesii, Q. oocarpa, Rhamnus capraeifolia, Ricinus communis, Robinsonella 
