Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica 179 
Ficus insipida, Luehea seemannii, and Rollinia pittieri. Toward the coast lies the Coto 
Colorado wetland or mangrove, with species typical for such habitats (see, e.g., the 
Valle del Diquis, below), but including the only population of the palm Manicaria sac- 
cifera on the entire Pacific coast of Mesoamerica. 
Southeastern coastal strip. This floristic region begins just south of the Rio Grande 
de Tarcoles, extends to the Osa Peninsula, and continues to the Burica Peninsula, on the 
border with Panama. The majority of this large area is classified as tropical wet forest 
in the life-zone system (Holdridge, 1967; Tosi, 1969) and, as pointed out by Herrera & 
Gomez P. (1993), the seasonality is fairly uniform throughout. On various occasions, 
Wercklé (1909) mentioned that the coastal strip of the Pacific slope becomes more 
humid and displays a different floristic composition to the south of Turrubares. Never- 
theless, various species found there could be considered extensions (though not con- 
tinuous) from the dry forests of the north 
down to the basin of the Rio Grande de Can- 
delaria; some of these are Allophylus race- 
mosus, Calycophyllum candidissimum, Ery- 
throxylum havanense, Exostema mexicanum, 
Hyperbaena tonduzii, Platymiscium parvi- 
florum, Semialarium mexicanum, and Sider- 
oxylon capiri. Similarly, in the wooded sa- 
vanna on the slopes of Cerro Rayos (near 
San Pedro de Turrubares) an important, iso- 
lated population of Curatella americana is 
found, in association with other savanna 
species such as Acrocomia aculeata, Ane- 
mia oblongifolia, Bulbostylis junciformis, 
Calea urticifolia, Chamaecrista flexuosa, 
C. kunthiana, Clidemia sericea, Cochlo- 
spermum vitifolium, Declieuxia fruticosa, 
Eriosema crinitum, E. diffusum, Polygala 
longicaulis, P. timoutoides, Rhynchospora 
barbata, Sauvagesia erecta, Stylosanthes humilis, S. viscosa, Tephrosia nitens, and Ti- 
bouchina bipenicillata. The tropical dry forest life zone has been supposed to reach its 
southern limit at this locality (Holdridge, 1967; Tosi, 1969), but see the preceding dis- 
cussions about the canyon of the Rio Grande de Térraba. 
At higher elevations (1000-1756 m) on Cerro Turrubares, one encounters numer- 
ous elements typical of the premontane rain forest life zone, such as Baccharis pedun- 
culata, Ceiba rosea, Chamaedorea dammeriana, C. pinnatifrons, Cinchona pubescens, 
Citronella costaricensis, Conostegia oerstediana, Costus montanus, Cuphea appen- 
diculata, Dendrophthora haberi, Diplazium myriomerum, Euonymus costaricensis, 
Cerro Rayos (2002) 
