Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica 215 
Standley (1937b: 24) commented that at least the shrubby species of Piper stand 
out in the tierra templada region “in greater numbers than at any other level.” Our data 
also suggest a slight bulge in the numbers of shrub species in general at this elevational 
range, based on the Rubiaceae, Melastomataceae, and Asteraceae collected from be- 
tween 800 and 1500 m (Fig. 5). In this case, however, the shrub-rich Melastomataceae 
are represented in the database by more collections from the lowlands than from the 
upper two belts. The only other pattern suggested by our graphics is a concentration of 
vine species in the Pacific tierra caliente, with a sharp decline moving up through the 
tierra templada and tierra fria. While Standley made no observations on the relative di- 
versity of vines among the four regions, he did discuss (only for the tierra caliente re- 
gions) the ubiquitous species of “Escalera de mono” (Bauhinia), “Bejuco de agua” 
(Dilleniaceae), Bignoniaceae, Cissus, Combretum, Fabaceae, Malpighiaceae, and 
Strychnos, to mention a few. The peak in vine species for the Pacific lowlands is prob- 
ably related to the greater rainfall seasonality and lower precipitation on that slope; in 
Gentry & Dodson’s (1987) study, the number of liana species was also found to be 
much higher in dry and moist forest than in wet. 
The above graphics and observations are estimates based on only three families per 
habit type (the ones chosen as most diverse for each habit type, in the total flora). As 
the database is made more accurate with continued collecting from little-explored re- 
gions, and as we complete the marking of the species as to habit type, we will be able 
to make more robust observations about the distribution of species and their habit types. 
In this way, different patterns may result. Especially, once precipitation and soil types 
can be queried in the database, we expect many interesting patterns to be revealed. 
Knowledge of the Costa Rican flora continues to grow, as can be seen in Tables | (p. 92) 
and 5 (below), and the country now has a very significant number of herbarium speci- 
mens (approximately 450,000) in the five herbaria registered with Index herbariorum 
(Holmgren et al., 1990; http://www.nybg.org/bsci/ih/). 
Table 5. Current summary of all Costa Rican vascular plants. 
Dicotiledéneas Monocotiledéneas Gimnospermas Pteridofitas Total 
Familias 177 45 5 28 * 255 
Géneros 1378 515 6 124 2025 
Especies 5250 2986 13 1112 9361 
*Includes ca. 15 families of non-native species, naturalized or commercially cultivated. 
