(e.g., Gymnosporia haberiana, Celastraceae, an en-
demic of the Cordilleras de Tilaran and Guanacaste
with its only congeners in South America), Several
prominent taxa have their origins in the flora of tem-
perate North America and Eurasia, such as Cornus
(Cornaceae), //ex (Aquifoliaceae), Oreomunnea (Juglan-
daceae), Magnolia (Magnoliaceae), Myrica (Myri-
caceae), Prunus (Rosaceae), Quercus (Fagaceae), some
Theaceae, Ulmus (Ulmaceae), and Viburnum (Capri-
foliaceae). A few genera have their origin in the tem-
perate flora of the southern hemisphere, including
southern Africa and Australia, such as Podocarpus
(Podocarpaceae), Panopsis and Roupala (Proteaceae),
and Weinmannia (Cunoniaceae; Gentry 1985, 1993).
In contrast to Podocarpus, which reaches north to
Guatemala, the distribution of the North and Central
American conifers (e.g., Pinus and Cupressus species)
stops at or before the Nicaraguan lowlands; thus, no
pines occur naturally in Costa Rica. Most of the mon-
tane flora that reaches Costa Rica from northern Cen-
tral America also extends into South America; how-
ever, many Andean genera have not extended their
ranges north across lowland Panama (Kappelle et al.
1990, Gentry 1993, Kelly et al. 1994, Kappelle 1995).
The cloud forest also supports endemic species whose
relatives lie either to the north or south, as well as in
the lowlands.
3.5. ConservationTwo main conservation issues are of obvious concern
for Monteverde's plants: the protection of rare species
and the preservation of representative plant commu-
nities (i.e., local habitats, life zones, and edaphic as-
sociations). An example of a rare species is Triuris sp.
near brevistylis (Triuridaceae). The only known speci-
men of this possibly undescribed species of sapro-
phyte was collected by R. Lawton in the elfin forest
(Davidse et al. 1994, W. Burger, pers. comm.). Another
example is Ocotea ("tajo"), an undescribed species in
the Lauraceae known from three reproductive indi-
viduals and a few saplings in the Quebrada Maquina.
The entire known distribution of the species covers
10 ha. No part of this range is included within any
protected area. Noteworthy new species found at
Monteverde are the four species of orchids (then un-
described) in the genus Stellilabium found in one
pasture near the entry to the MCFP (Atwood 1989).
Three of the species were found in flower on a single
fallen tree branch on the same day. Subsequently, two
more new species have been found in the same area
(Atwood and Dressier 1995, G. Barboza, pers. comm.),
making Monteverde the worldwide center of diver-
sity and endemism for this genus.Another example of a rare tree with a limited local
distribution is Dalbergia tilarana N. Zamora, ined., a
new species known only from one hilltop between
Monteverde and Tilaran. At this site, which consists
of pastures and disturbed forest fragments, the tree is
common and appears to reproduce successfully, al-
though almost all of the seeds are killed by weevils.
Dalbergia is the genus of Rosewood or "Cocobolo," a
species of precious tropical hardwood used in mak-
ing fine furniture and bowls.
The following undescribed or recently published
tree species exemplify taxa that occur almost totally
outside of officially protected areas: Amphitecna
gentry! (Bignoniaceae), EugeniahaberiP. E. Sanchez,
ined. (Myrtaceae), Eugenia "monteverdensis" (Myrta-
ceae), Gymnosporia haberiana B. Hammel (Celastra-
ceae), Ilex "Cliff Edge" (Aquifoliaceae), Ilex haberi
(Lundell) W. J. Hahn (Aquifoliaceae), Mollinedia
"Monteverde" (Monimiaceae), Myrcianthes "Black
Fruit" (Myrtaceae), Ocotea "Los Llanos", andPleuro-
thyrium guindonii van der Werff (Lauraceae). These
recently discovered species are known only at Bajo
del Tigre (Fig. 1.8), which includes 35 ha of mixed
primary and secondary forest, and a few other sites
on the upper Pacific slope between Monteverde and
Tilaran. Most of this habitat type (a transition from
premontane moist to premontane wet forest) has
been extirpated from the country. The patches that
remain may be too small to maintain viable popula-
tions of these species, especially because some of
these trees grow only on ridge tops. These species
exemplify the common situation in which the main
objective should be to protect as much of the remain-
ing habitat as possible. It would be desirable to pro-
tect even deforested parts of this habitat adjacent to
the remaining fragments as sites for future succes-
sion and reforestation (Harris 1984, Alverson et al.
1994).
Conservation priorities for plants of the Monte-
verde area should focus on the preservation of as
much as possible of the rare habitat on the upper Pa-
cific slope within the premontane moist and wet life
zones. Forests in these zones have suffered the high-
est degree of destruction and fragmentation from
human impact and occupy a limited area in this re-
gion. Specific habitats within these zones, such as
hilltops and ridges, merit special attention because of
the rare species they support, especially endemics
with narrow local distributions.Acknowledgments I thank John Atwood, Erick Bello,
Eladio Cruz, Gordon Frankie, Mike Grayum, Carlos
Guindon, Barry Hammel, Chris Ivey, Darin Penneys,
and Willow Zuchowski. Many colleagues provided rare
specimens and unusual insights. The numerous plant69 Plants and Vegetation