© Biologiezentrum Linz/Austria; download unter www.biologiezentrum.at ISSN O252-192X AN INTRODUCTdl JRCOVADO 'ÄTIONAL PARK ^ 'EDRAS BLANCAS L^lfcTlONAL PARK "iRECENWALD DER ÖlrÖtlpCICHER*) © Biologiezentrum Linz/Austria; download unter www.biologiezentrum.at Parque v Villa Brizeno £ Nacional r LaSamba M Biancas ) c Rio Claro Map 1. Geographical location of Costa Rica and the Golfo Dulce region with the Corcovado National Park (Parque Nacional Corcovado) and the Piedras Biancas National Park (Parque Nacional Piedras Biancas), the latter encompassing the "Austrian Rainforest" ("Regenwald der Österreicher"). Preparation: Bettina Berger. © Biologiezentrum Linz/Austria; download unter www.biologiezentrum.at AN INTRODUCTORY FIELD GUIDE TO THE FLOWERING PLANTS OF THE GOLFO DULCE RAIN FORESTS COSTA RICA CORCOVADO NATIONAL PARK AND PIEDRAS BLANC AS NATIONAL PARK ("REGENWALD DER ÖSTERREICHER") Managing editor: Anton Weber Co-editors (alphabet.): Werner Huber, Anton Weissenhofer, Nelson Zamora, Georg Zimmermann Authors (alphabet.): Thomas Baumgartner, Jose Gonzalez, Michael Grayum, Armando Estrada, Barry Hammel, Werner Huber, Quirico Jimenez, Christoph Kastinger, Otto Mälzer, Francisco Morales, Susanne Pamperl, Alexander Rodriguez, Joaquin Sanchez, Eva Schembera, Walter Till, Anton Weber, Anton Weissenhofer, Sabine Will, Nelson Zamora, Georg Zimmermann Editing Institution: Biologiezentrum des Oberösterreichischen Landesmuseums A cooperation project between Institute of Botany Institute Nacional de Biodiversidad Museo Nacional de University of Vienna Santo Domingo, Heredia (INBio) Costa Rica, San Jose INBio o Institute Nacional de Biodiversidad Biologiezentrum des Oberösterreichischen Landesmuseums Linz Obcröstcircichischcs MLandes useum Stapfia 78 Linz, Nov. 8,2001 © Biologiezentrum Linz/Austria; download unter www.biologiezentrum.at Stapfia 78 Catalogue of Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum New series nr 172 ISSN0252-192X ISBN 3-85474-072-7 Date of publication: Linz, Nov. 8, 2001 Catalogue Owner Land Oberösterreich, OÖ Landesmuseum Museumstraße 14, A-1040 Linz Managing Editor Anton Weber, Institute of Botany, Univ. of Vienna Co-editors (alphab.) Werner Huber, Institute of Botany, Univ. of Vienna Anton Weissenhofer, Institute of Botany, Univ. of Vienna Nelson Zamora (INBio - Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad, Santo Domingo, Heredia, Costa Rica) Georg Zimmermann, Institute of Botany, Univ. of Vienna Authors (alphab.) Thomas Baumgartner, Jose Gonzales, Michael Grayum, Armando Estrada, Barry Hammel, Werner Huber, Quirico Jimenez, Christoph Kastinger, Otto Malzer, J. Francisco Morales, Susanne Pamperl, Alexander Rodriguez, Joaquin Sanchez, Eva Schembera, Walter Till, Anton Weber, Anton Weissenhofer, Sabine Will, Nelson Zamora, Georg Zimmermann Publisher Biologiezentrum des OÖ Landesmuseums Head: Franz Speta Cover Christoph Luckeneder Graphics Alexander Frackiewicz Printer kb-offset Kroiss & Bichler GmbH Exhibition Biologiezentrum des OÖ Landesmuseums, J.W.-Klein-Straße 73, A-4040 Linz Nov. 8th 2001 to March 10th 2002 Concept and organization W. Huber, S. Weigl, A. Weissenhofer Collaborators (alphab.) Martina Fahrnberger, Harald Fischer, Renate Fischer, Reinhold Gayl, Armin Hinterwirt, Walter Hödl, Christoph Kastinger, Georg Krieger, Brigitte Krückl, Veronika Mayer, Silvester Ölzant, Johannes Rauch, Roland Rupp, Wolfgang Wanek, Rita Wania, Stefan Wegleitner, Peter Weish, Georg Zimmermann. © Biologiezentrum Linz/Austria; download unter www.biologiezentrum.at Sponsors The production of the "Field Guide" would not have been pos- sible without the sponsorship, financial support and/or assis- tance of the following institutions, firms and persons. Their direct or indirect help is gratefully acknowledged. Verein "Regenwald der Österreicher" (Univ.-Prof. Michael Schnitzler) Österreichische Nationalbank (Project no. 6603) Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Kultur, Abteilung Umweltwissenschaften (Dr. Christian Smoliner) Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Kommission für interdisziplinäre ökologische Studien (Univ.-Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. F. Ehrendorfer) MINAE (Ministerio del Ambiente y Energia), Costa Rica Museo Nacional de Costa Rica BRG Purkersdorf (Mag. Günther Biberle) BRG Krems (Mag. Maria Schwingenschlögl) Lion's Club Wels (Mag. Reinhard Rebernigg) Alcatel Austria, Wien (Dipl. Ing. Franz Hofbauer) Matula-Gartengestaltung, Wilhering, O.Ö. (Dipl. Ing. Günther Matula) Wassergärten R. Weixler, Wels, O.Ö. (Richard Weixler) Kleiderfabrik Nitsch, Wien (Gustav Nitsch) Anna Garns, Edith Müllner, Heinz & Marion Gottfried, Alfred Rogenhofer, Willi & Maria Pintar, Franz Berger, Mario Boggi, Dr. Peter Stütz, and many other persons who have helped by generous donations © Biologiezentrum Linz/Austria; download unter www.biologiezentrum.at © Biologiezentrum Linz/Austria; download unter www.biologiezentrum.at Contents Preface 7 The Golfo Dulce and its Rain Forests: Introduction 9 Basic geographical and climatic features of the Golfo Dulce Region 11 Abrief outline of the flora and vegetation of the Golfo Dulce Region 15 Utilization and conservation of the Golfo Dulce Rain Forests 25 Soils in the Golfo Dulce Region 28 Geological history of Costa Rica and the Golfo Dulce Region 34 Tourist and research facilities of Corcovado and Piedras Biancas National Parks 47 Technical remarks on the "Introductory Field Guide" 50 Identification of the plant families 53 Special habits and "spot characters" of conspicuous Golfo Dulce plants 81 The plant families Gymnosperms - Cycads (Zamiaceae) 86 Gymnosperms - Conifers (Podocarpaceae) 87 Angiosperms - Monocotyledons (Alismataceae to Zingiberaceae) 88 Angiosperms - Dicotyledons (Acanthaceae to Zygophyllaceae) 158 Appendix I. Authors of family treatments 433 Appendix II. List of photo authors 434 Appendix III. Authors of line drawings 435 Appendix IV. List of vascular plants collected in the Golfo Dulce Region (until 2001) 437 Index to families and genera (botanical names) 455 Photo plates 465 © Biologiezentrum Linz/Austria; download unter www.biologiezentrum.at © Biologiezentrum Linz/Austria; download unter www.biologiezentrum.at Preface The rainforests of the Golfo Dulce region in southeast Costa Rica belong to the most interesting and species-rich forests in Central America. About fifty years ago, the American botanist Paul H. Allen (1956) carried out pioneering work in the region, and described the vegetation and plant diversity in the book The Rain Forests of Golfo Dulce. A proper flora covering the estimated 3000 species or more is still lacking. A first step towards such a flora was the booklet "Ärboles de la Peninsula de Osa" by QUESADA & al. (1997) which presents a brief survey on the most common trees of the Osa peninsula (with line drawings). The present "Introductory Field Guide" is an effort to make a further step. It is not restricted to trees, but covers all the commoner flowering plants, including shrubs, lianas, epiphytes, ground herbs and aquatic plants, and it is not restricted to the Osa Peninsula, but covers the whole Golfo Dulce region. This area is now home to two National Parks: the "Corcovado National Park" (on the Osa Peninsula) and the "Piedras Biancas National Park" (formerly "Corcovado National Park secciön Esquinas" or "seccion Piedras Biancas", the "Esquinas Rainforest") northwest of Golfito (Map 1). For a proper flora more collecting work (especially in the more remote areas of the parks) and intensive study of special plant groups is needed. The production of the Field Guide is intimately connected with the conservation efforts of the Esquinas Rainforest and is the result of many fortunate events. About ten years ago I became involved in the fas- cinating project aimed to protect a tropical rainforest. Michael Schnitzler, a distinguished musician and professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, had started an initiative to save the "Esquinas Rainforest" from destruction. Though the area of this forest was declared on paper as a National Park (now Piedras Biancas National Park), there was still uncontrolled logging by land own- ers. Prof. Schnitzler founded the association "Regenwald der Österreicher", collected over many years money in Austria and conveyed it to the Costa Rican government. With that money the government bought tracts of forest from the landowners thereby saving the forest from clearance. Prof. Schnitzler showed remarkable far-sightedness in his vision for the "Regenwald der Österreicher". Not only did he promote forest protection, but he also encouraged scientific work in the forest. He first bought a small hut located at the edge of the Esquinas forest. This hut was the start of the Field Station La Gamba ("Tropenstation La Gamba"), which is located today in another, larger and much more com- fortable, building. In Austria, Prof. Schnitzler established an advisory board consisting of Austrian sci- entists interested in tropical biology. I was invited to join the advisory board and so I started to search for students interested in tropical botany. Eventually I found two students who were enthusiastic and adventurous enough to tackle botanical work in the Esquinas forest: Werner Huber and Anton Weissen- hofer. They used the hut as a base camp and from there they carried out studies on the floristic compo- sition and structure of a selected plot as part of their diploma theses. In 1996 they finished their theses, but continued to work scientifically until now. Nearby the field station the Esquinas Rain Forest Lodge was constructed for eco-tourists. Thus also stu- dent excursions into the Esquinas forest became possible. During that time, the plan to produce an iden- tification guide for common plants of the Esquinas forest was born. Initial work for the project was funded by the Austrian National Bank (Österreichische Nationalbank). Enthusiastic students joined the project and worked out some of the major families as parts of their diploma theses: Thomas Baumgart- ner (palms), Eva Schembera (legumes), and Sabine Will (Rubiaceae). Another diploma thesis, by Dominik Lautsch was devoted to ferns and fern allies. The results will be published separately, as we had to restrict the Field Guide to flowering plants. Apart from these floristic theses, scientific work on many more aspects of the rainforest was performed during the years. A report on these activities, cov- ering the years from the beginning (1993) until the end of 1999 can be obtained by the editors or con- sulted in the Internet (http://www.regenwald.at). © Biologiezentrum Linz/Austria; download unter www.biologiezentrum.at The Field Guide project could not have been successfully finished without the participation of Georg Zimmermann. He wrote the greatest portion of the family treatments. For the introductory part an essay on the geology and geological history of the Osa Peninsula was written by the geologist Dr. Otto Mälzer, and a special chapter on its soils was contributed by Susanne Pamperl. another student who conducted a diploma thesis in the Esquinas Forest. Initially, we restricted our efforts for the Field Guide to the plants in the Esquinas forest. However, Nelson Zamora, leading botanist of the "Flora of Costa Rica" project centered at INBio (Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad, Heredia), recently joined the Field Guide project, and the decision was taken to expand the coverage of the Field Guide also to the Corcovado National Park on the Osa Peninsula. Nelson Zamora proved most helpful and active. He revised the text of many families, helped with plant identi- fications, made drawings, slides and maps located at INBio available, and agreed to act as a co-editor. From INBio we also received support from Reinaldo Aguilar, whose excellent plant knowledge and field experience proved indispensable, and from Maria Marta Chavarria Diaz, who helped with plant identifications. Another important Costa Rican institution that deserves acknowledgement is the Museo Nacional de Costa Rica, San Jose. The staff members of the herbarium, especially Joaquin Sanchez, Armando Ruiz, Alfredo Cascante, Mariela Bermüdez, Silvia Lobo, and Armando Estrada, as well as Guiselle Alvarado (Dept. of Ornithology) were most cooperative and helpful through the years. Some even agreed to act as co-authors and revised certain plant families. Botanists from other institutions provided support as well, especially Dr. Barry Hammel (Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis), who helped from the beginnning with information and plant identifica- tions and who improved of many of the family treatmens. In addition, we are grateful for the coopera- tion of Dr. Michael Grayum (Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis), Dr. Robert Dressier (Micanopy, Florida), and Dr. Günther Gerlach (Botanical Garden Munich). Special thanks go to the following scientific journals and institutions for granting permission to repro- duce illustrations (line drawings) and maps: Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden ("Flora of Pana- ma", Missouri Botanical Garden), Nature, Tectonophysics (Elsevier Science), Geological Society of America Special Papers (GSA), Instituto Geogräfico Nacional de Costa Rica (Map 2), EcoMapas-Pro- ject (INBio-SINAC) (Map 3), INBio (line drawings by Claudia Aragon) and Missouri Botanical Gar- den (line drawings by R.J. Bazan, J.H. Becker, H.J. Cuddy, J.E. Klein, L. Mourre, B. Velick, R.J. White, Y.L. Wilson, R. Wise). Map 1 was prepared by Mrs. Bettina Berger. Dr. Peter Stütz and Stefan Jirka were most helpful in reading and correcting large portions of the text. For manifold technical assistance thanks go to (in alphabetical order) Dr. Ralf Büchner, Stefanie Csekits, Manfred Dworak, Dr. Michael Kiehn, Mag. Brigitte Krückl, Dr. Veronika Mayer, Matischa Orator, Monika Paschinger, Wolfgang Prader, Verena Schmelz, and Mag. Susanne Sontag. Last but not least, I have to thank the many institutions and people who supported the project through grants and generous donations. They are listed on a foregoing page. I would be happy if the Field Guide would prove to be a valuable contribution to the appreciation of rainforests and their plant diversity in a relatively poor and little known region of Costa Rica. May this be another stepping stone to preserve these complex and vulnerable ecosystems for future generations. Vienna, November 2001 Anton Weber