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he Manual de plantas de Costa Rica is a concise, illustrated 

 guide to all of the species of native, naturalized, and /\ 

 commercially cultivated seed plants of this Central American 

 [country, which lies between Nicaragua and Panama and is thus 

 centered in isthmian Central America -a biogeographical funnel between 

 South and North America, densely rich in species and geological history.^ 

 The Manual is the first comprehensive Spanish-language account of the 

 Costa Rican flora. The work is presented in a series of several volumes; 

 Volume III, concluding the monocots, is the second to appear. 



Volumen III. Monocotiledoneas I 



(Orchidaceae-Zingiberaceae) 



Two large, economically and ornamentally important families, the orchids 

 (Orchidaceae) with 1318 species, and the grasses (Poaceae) with 488 

 species, account for more than 95% of the species in this volume. 

 Besides brief formal descriptions and informal notes about each of a total 

 of 10 families, 331 genera, and 1861 species of monocots, this identification 

 manual contains keys to all the genera and species included within the 

 volume. Finally, the treatments are illustrated with 377 line drawings, 

 10 black-and-white photographs, and 8 pages of color plates. 



Barry Hammel is curator at the Missouri Botanical Garden. He has worked 

 there since 1984, and at INBio since its beginning in 1989. He lives in 

 Costa Rica. Michael Grayum is curator at the Missouri Botanical Garden 

 where he has worked since 1984. He lived in Costa Rica from 1984 to 1990 

 and now lives in Missouri. Cecilia Herrera has been the Manual projects 

 assistant in Costa Rica since its official beginning in 1987. Nelson Zamora 

 is curator and head of the botany department at INBio, and has also been 

 involved with the Manual project essentially since its beginning. 



Missouri Botanical Garden Press 

 P.O. Box 299 

 St. Louis, MO 63166-0299 

 www. mbgpress .org 





Jacket design by Gobberdiel Graphic Design 

 from a concept by Silvia Troyo. 

 Printed in the U.S.A. 



