Flora of Costa Rica

Anthurium scherzerianum, the flamingo flower or pigtail plant, is a species of Anthurium (family Araceae) native to Costa Rica. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit as an ornamental houseplant, kept at 15 °C (60 °F) or higher. It is naturally an epiphyte, growing on trees in the rainforest. Anthurium scherzerianum typically reaches 30–45 cm (12–18 in) tall. Its most striking feature is its orange-red curly spadix. It produces shiny, lance-shaped leaves about 20 cm (8 in) long. Common pests include mealybugs, aphids, and soft scale. When growing indoors, it

Costus stenophyllus, the bamboo costus, is a species of plant endemic to Costa Rica. In southern Costa Rica, it grows in forests, most typically on ridges and steep slopes. It is also grown as an ornamental outside of its native range. Costus stenophyllus is not easily confused with other Central American species of Costus, in part due to its narrow leaves.

Zamia acuminata is a species of plant in the family Zamiaceae which is threatened by habitat loss. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama. The holotype of Zamia acuminata is a leaf collected by Anders Sandøe Ørsted in Costa Rica or Nicaragua between 1846 and 1848. It was described by William Turner Thiselton-Dyer in 1884. While the label with the specimen has the note ad flumen S. Juan Nicaragua on it, suggesting that the leaf was collected near the San Juan River in southern Nicaragua, no other specimens of the plant have been found in Nicaragua or adjacent parts of Costa Rica. In 1993, Dennis

Inga skutchii is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is found only in Costa Rica.

Inga litoralis is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is found only in Costa Rica.

Inga herrerae is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is found only in Costa Rica.

Dracula ripleyana is a species of orchid. It can be found in Costa Rica.

Quercus tonduzii is a species of oak. It is endemic to Costa Rica. It is placed in section Lobatae.

Piper cenocladum is a species of shrub in the genus Piper (pepper plants). This plant and a few other closely related species are known as ant plants or ant pipers. P. cenocladum has broad, bright green leaves and grows in dim, swampy areas deep in the rainforest of Costa Rica and surrounding countries. It occurs in the rainforest understory. The species is a myrmecophyte, a plant that lives in ecological mutualism with ants. It has hollow petioles which provide a home for ants, especially of the species Pheidole bicornis. The ants also use the plant as their main food source and defend it

Inga tenuiloba is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is found only in Costa Rica. It grows primarily in the wet tropical biome.

Inga canonegrensis is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is found only in Costa Rica.

Inga bracteifera is a species of plant in the family Fabaceae. It is found only in Costa Rica.

Cryosophila cookii is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It is found only in Costa Rica. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Costus barbatus is a critically endangered species of plant native to Costa Rica. Costus barbatus is a perennial plant with a red inflorescence. The foliage of Costus barbatus is dark green and fuzzy underneath. The long red inflorescences are complemented with bright yellow tubular flowers. Clumps spread easily and produce plants that normally get to six feet tall. Costus barbatus flowers all year round. Costus barbatus is pollinated by hummingbirds. The name Costus barbatus has often been mistakenly applied to Costus comosus. Costus comosus can be found in nurseries and botanical gardens,

Bactris longiseta, the huiscoyol, is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It is found in Costa Rica and Nicaragua around Estero Real Natural Reserve. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Utleya is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Ericaceae. It only contains one known species, Utleya costaricensis. It is native to Costa Rica. The genus name of Utleya is in honour of Kathleen Burt-Utley (b. 1944) and her husband John F. Utley (b. 1944), both American botanists at the University of Florida and the University of New Orleans. The Latin specific epithet of costaricensis means "of the Costa Rica", where the plant was found. Both the genus and the sole species were first described and published in Brittonia Vol.29 on page 267 in 1977. The genus is recognized by the

Pseudorhipsalis lankesteri is an epiphytic root climber endemic to Costa Rica found in the upper levels of the rainforest. It is a cactus (family Cactaceae) with flattened, succulent magenta-colored stems. The flowers are cream-colored.

Peperomia vinasiana is a species of epiphyte or lithophyte plant from the genus Peperomia. It was first described by Casimir de Candolle and the species was published in the book "Bulletin de la Société Royale de Botanique de Belgique 30(1): 231. 1891[1892]". It grows mainly on the wet tropical biomes.

Peperomia ursina is a species of epiphyte or lithophyte from the genus Peperomia. It was first described by Michael Howard Grayum and published in the book "Phytologia 79(2): 112–113. 1995[1996]". It primarily grows on wet tropical biomes.

Masdevallia rolfeana is a species of orchid endemic to Costa Rica. It is in the Epidendreae family, the reed orchids.

Erythrochiton gymnanthus is an endangered tree or shrub from the family Rutaceae. It is endemic to Costa Rica. The genus Erythrochiton consists of only twelve species and it native to the Neotropical region.

Cryosophila grayumii is a species of flowering plant in the family Arecaceae. It is found only in Costa Rica. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Caryocar costaricense is a species of plant in the Caryocaraceae family. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, and Venezuela. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Barkeria lindleyana is a species of orchid.

Arthrostylidium merostachyoides is a species of Arthrostylidium bamboo in the grass family.

Utricularia uxoris is a small epiphytic carnivorous plant in the genus Utricularia that is endemic to Costa Rica. It is distinguished from all other members of section Orchidioides in having green glabrous flowers with a white spur and its small size. The species is only known from its type locality in Reserva Biológica El Copal, Cartago Province. It was collected in 2004 by Jorge Gómez-Laurito, Diego Salazar, and Jorge Carmona and then formally described in 2005 by Gómez-Laurito (2005). Utricularia uxoris is possibly just a form or variety of U. jamesoniana, but Gómez-Laurito indicated in

Standleyanthus is a genus of Central American plants in the tribe Eupatorieae within the family Asteraceae. The genus is named after US botanist Paul Carpenter Standley (1884-1963). The Latin specific epithet of triptychus is a compound word with 'tri' meaning three and 'ptychus' meaning plate. Species The only known species is Standleyanthus triptychus, which is native to Costa Rica.

Puya dasylirioides is a species in the genus Puya. This species is native to Costa Rica. It is unusual for a Puya, as the leaves have no spines along the leaf margins. The flowers are blue with brown buds and the plants reach maturity at 4 to 5 years. Another feature that sets this species is that it grows in boggy areas at 3000 m that dry up seasonally.

Podocarpus costaricensis is a species of conifer in the family Podocarpaceae. It is endemic to Costa Rica, where it is known from four locations in San José Province. It grows in lowland and lower montane tropical rainforest from 70 to 1,700 meters elevation. The species was described in 1990, and its distribution and ecology are poorly understood.

Piper fimbriulatum is a species of plant in the family Piperaceae. It is found in Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama. It is threatened by habitat loss.