Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica |Plan of the Manual| 257 
capitalize Isla, Rio, Valle, Volcan, etc., according to that usage. For data (including geo- 
graphic coordinates and elevation) on specific localities, consult the Manual gazetteer at: 
http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/Research/costaricagaz.shtml 
Other useful compendia of Costa Rican localities can be found in Durand (1891), 
Pittier (1893), Noriega (1904), Carriker (1910), Bartram (1928), Dodge (1933), and 
Leon (2003). 
Information on flowering phenology in the Manual is mostly based on actual data 
(usually from herbarium specimens), and is not to be taken literally. Many species are 
known from just one or a few Costa Rican specimens. Thus, “Fl. may., jun.” means that 
a particular species has been found in flower during the indicated months, but does not 
necessarily imply that flowering is restricted to those months. For rare species that have 
not been collected in flower in Costa Rica, fruiting phenology may instead be indi- 
cated: e.g., “FI.(?); fr. mar., jul’; or else, flowering phenology from a neighboring 
country: “Fl. may. (Pan.); or, flowering phenology of specimens cultivated in Costa 
Rica: “Fl. jun., jul. (cult.).” Flowering dates for plants brought to flower outside Costa 
Rica, or otherwise forced under cultivation, are not considered. 
Overall geographic range (beyond Costa Rica) is expressed roughly in a north-to- 
south manner, with “ENDEMICA” used for species that have never (to our knowledge) 
been collected outside Costa Rica. The Manual takes a hard line on the concept of en- 
demism, preferring facts to speculation. Thus, manuscript expressions such as “CR and 
probably O Pan.” were changed to simply “ENDEMICA,” on the grounds that en- 
demism is hypothetical under any circumstances. In the same vein, all species presently 
flagged as “ENDEMICA” are subject to lose that status in the future, as collections 
continue to accrue from neighboring countries; indeed, numerous ostensible Costa 
Rican endemics (especially in Orchidaceae) had to be declassified as such during the 
preparation of our monocot volumes. The likelihood that plant species presently qual- 
ifying as Costa Rican endemics may eventually be found elsewhere can be evaluated 
on the basis of their known distribution within Costa Rica. 
Voucher citation 
For every species treated formally, a voucher specimen collected in Costa Rica is cited. 
This is, indeed, a condition for inclusion in the Manual: species not vouchered from 
Costa Rica have been excluded, even though they may be known from near the border 
or in both Nicaragua and Panama. We are aware of many species that have been attrib- 
uted to Costa Rica in an offhand manner (without citation of vouchers) by other re- 
gional floras, but of which we have no record. These are omitted from the Manual, 
