- Lower Montane
Rain Forest
6. Premontane Rain
Forest
7. Tropical Wet
Forest-Transition
Alchornea latifolia
Ardisia solomonii
Billia hippocastanum
Brunellia costaricensis
Calyptranthes
monteverdensis, ined.
Cecropia polyphlebia
Conostegia rufescens
Dendropanax latilobus
Elaeagia auriculata
Eugenia valerii
Ficus crassiuscula
Guarea kunthiana
Guettarda poasana
Ilex costaricensis
Inga longispica
Magnolia poasana
Ocotea cf. viridiflora
Ocotea near insularis
Persea schiedeana
Podocarpus
m on teverdeen sis
Prestoea acuminata
Prunus brachybotrys
Quercus corrugata
Ruagea glabra
Salacia petenensis
Sapium rigidifolium
Symplocos povedae
Tovomitopsis allenii
Viburnum venustum
Weinmannia pinnata
Zanthoxylum
melanostictum
Allophylus psilospermus
Bourreria costaricensis
Capparis discolor
Cecropia insignis
Cedrela tonduzii
Chrysophyllum hirsutum
Citharexylum donnell-
smithii
Cupania sp.
Elaeagia uxpanapensis
Guarea kunthiana
Inga leonis
Lunania mexicana
Meliosma glabrata
Meliosma vernicosa
Mortoniodendron
anisophyllum
Naucleopsis capirensis
Ocotea tonduzii
Ocotea meziana
Pie uran th o den dron
lindenii
Pleurothyrium
palmanum
Pouteria austin-smithii
Pseudolmedia mollis
Psychotria eurycarpa
Pterocarpus cf. rohrii
Quararibea costaricensis
Rauvolfia aphlebia
Sapium laurifolium
Sapium rigidifolium
Ticodendron incognitum
Trichilia martiana
Trophis mexicanaAcacia ruddiae
Albizia carbonaria
Alchornea costaricensis
Alchornea glandulosa
Calatola costaricensis
Cespedesia macrophylla
Chimarrhis parviflora
Chionanthus
oblanceolatus
Chomelia venulosa
Croton megistocarpus
Dussia sp.
Ficus crassivenosa
Hedyosmum
bonplandianum
Inga barbourii
Iriartea deltoidea
Jacaratia spinosa
Mortoniodendron
anisophyllum
Ocotea dentata
Ocotea stenoneura
Oreomunnea pterocarpa
Otoba novogranatensis
Pachira aquatica
Pentagonia costaricensis
Platymiscium sp.
Pouteria congestifolia
Sapium rigidifolium
Sloanea ligulata
Terminalia bucidoides
Theobroma mammosum
Vochysia guatemalensis
Zinowiewia costaricensisleafless during the dry season, including two species
of bromeliads (Pitcairnia heterophylla and P. maidi-
folia), which grow on bare exposed rocks. Several
species of orchids and evergreen succulent litho-
phytes (plants that grow on rocks) also grow on these
ridges (e.g., Echeveria australis, Furcraea cabuya,
Selenicereus wercklei). A few species of ferns and
their relatives are also characteristic of these dry sites
(e.g., Selaginella pallescens, Polypodium spp.).
Elfin forest. High peaks and ridges exposed to the
mist-laden trade winds support a type of forest that
is reduced in height and characterized by short, dense,
gnarled trees whose trunks are covered in thick mats
of bryophytes. This elfin woodland or dwarf forest
("bosque enano") is composed of species more char-
acteristic of higher elevations, some of which grow as
epiphytic shrubs in nearby leeward forest (Table 3.3).
Examples include Clusia spp., Schefflera rodrigue-
ziana, and Cosmibuena valerii. The canopy of the
elfin forest can be extremely uniform, combed
smooth by the strong northeast trade winds. In other
spots, the canopy is low and broken by occasional
straggly emergent trees. The dynamics of this forest
have been well studied (Lawton 1980, 1982, 1984,
1990, Lawton and Putz 1988; see Chap. 9, Ecosystem
Ecology).Swamp forest. A swamp forest occurs at 1600 m along
the Sendero Pantanoso in the MCFP between the cliff
edge above the Penas Blancas canyon and Cerro Sin
Nombre. This poorly drained area has standing pools
of water during the wet season and mushy holes where
feet sink deep into the mud at any time. The water of
one outflowing stream is noticeably tea colored, pre-
sumably due to dissolved tannins. This forest has oc-
casional large trees (e.g., Billia hippocastanum, Mag-
nolia poasana, Ocotea viridifolia, Sapium rigidifolium,45 Plants and Vegetation