Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica 181 
Gordonia fruticosa, Guettarda crispiflora, Hydrangea peruviana, Inga sierrae, Laden- 
bergia brenesii, Phyllanthus anisolobus, Pisonia silvatica, Plinia salticola, Poikila- 
canthus macranthus, Prunus annularis, Quercus spp., Rondeletia calycosa, Saurauia 
yasicae, Sorocea trophoides, Spathiphyllum montanum, Styrax glabrescens, Tagetes fil- 
ifolia, Viburnum costaricanum, and Zygia brenesii. Cerro Turrubares is a uniquely iso- 
lated mountain, the northwesternmost outlier of the Talamanca range, whose 1756 m 
peak rises less than 20 km from the Pacific coast, a circumstance reflected in its inter- 
esting flora. Continued exploration of this area is bound to uncover many new records 
for the country, as has already been shown; a few of the Costa Rican endemics found 
here are Hyperbaena eladioana, Psychotria turrubarensis, and Tetranema floribundum. 
The central part of the Pacific coastal strip, especially that below 500—600 m ele- 
vation, is made up of a combination of elements from tropical dry and moist forest in 
common with the Nicoya Peninsula and the Central Valley, and from tropical wet for- 
est in common with the Osa Peninsula. Many species shared with the Osa Peninsula or 
South America have their northern limit in Carara National Park, e.g.: Allosanthus tri- 
foliolatus, Amyris magnifolia, Aspidosperma myristicifolium, Batocarpus costaricensis, 
Bombacopsis sessilis, Brosimum utile, Capparis cynophallophora, Caryocar costari- 
cense, Chrysophyllum lucentifolium, Couratari guianensis, Cryosophila guagara, Cu- 
rarea cuatrecasasii, Desmopsis heteropetala, Guatteria chiriquiensis, Heteropterys 
minutiflora, Inga acrocephala, Licania operculipetala, Mabea excelsa, Mayna odor- 
ata, Meliosma allenii, Peltogyne purpurea, Pouteria foveolata, P. juruana, P. trilocu- 
laris, Pterygota excelsa, Seguieria aculeata, Sloanea zuliaensis, Sorocea cufodontisii, 
Stigmatopteris killipiana, Tachigali versicolor, Thinouia myriantha, Tocoyena pittieri, 
Trichilia tuberculata, Unonopsis theobromifolia, Uribea tamarindoides, and Vochysia 
megalophylla. For more information about the vegetation of Carara National Park, see 
Jiménez M. & Grayum (2002). Another very important protected area in this region 
is La Cangreja National Park, which is more humid than Carara (Acosta, 1998). Its 
flora has even more in common with that of the Osa Peninsula; a few of the shared 
species are Aspidosperma myristicifolium, Batocarpus costaricensis, Bombacopsis 
sessilis, Brosimum utile, Buchenavia tetraphylla, Bursera standleyana, Calathea vi- 
nosa, Calophyllum longifolium, Caryocar costaricense, Caryodaphnopsis_ burgeri, 
Duguetia confusa, Gustavia brachycarpa, Homalomena erythropus, Klarobelia stipi- 
tata, Lecythis mesophylla, Oenocarpus mapora, Peltogyne purpurea, Pterygota ex- 
celsa, Stephanopodium costaricense, Tachigali versicolor, Tocoyena pittieri, Vochysia 
megalophylla, and Williamodendron glaucophyllum. It is interesting to note that, in a 
plot study done in La Cangreja (Acosta, 1998), the three species with the highest abun- 
dance index (trees/ha) were Brosimum utile, Calatola costaricensis, and Vochysia 
megalophylla, the last two of which are considered rare in other areas. 
Toward the southeast, this type of tropical wet forest continues, but in an increas- 
ingly narrow band, due to the coastal range impinging closer to the sea. Remnants of 
this type of forest are scattered along this narrow strip, as, e.g., in the valley of the Rio 
