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Orchids
The orchids are the masters of flowers among plants. Their diversity includes about 20,000 species in the world, and Costa Rica has about 1500 species. One of them is our national flower, the la Guaria Morada (Guarianthe skinneri). These plants are very useful as they provide nectars, waxes and essences.
Most of the orchids are epiphytes, and few of them are terrestrial, meaning they grow on the ground. As a group, the orchids do not have a specific flowering time, but some species do flower in specific months. Also, the flowering activity could be related to the transition among seasons. In Costa Rica, orchids occur from sea level to 3500 meters, but they are especially abundant in the middle elevations, in the wetter regions, and in the rainforest. A great amount of the research about this amazing family of plants is performed in the Jardín Botánico Lankester, a division of the Universidad de Costa Rica. This botanical garden has an excellent database called Epidendra that is accessible online.
Reference: Zuchowski, W. 2007. Tropical Plants of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press.
