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Flora of Colombia
The Flora of Colombia is characterized by a high biodiversity, with the highest rate of species by area unit worldwide. Over 130.000 species of plants have been described within Colombian territory.
National flower of Colombia
The national flower of Colombia is the orchid Cattleya trianae which was named after the Colombian naturalist Jose Jeronimo Triana. The orchid was selected by botanist Emilio Robledo, in representation of the Colombian Academy of History to determine the most representative flowering plant of Colombia. He described it as one of the most beautiful flowers in the world and selected Cattleya trianae as National symbol
National Tree of Colombia
The national tree of Colombia is the palm Ceroxylon quindiuense (Quindio Wax Palm) which was named after the Colombian Department of Quindio where is located the Cocora valley, only habitat of this restricted range specie. The Wax palm was selected as the national tree by the government of Belisario Betancur and was the first tree officially declared as protected specie in Colombia. C. quindiuense is the only palm that grows at high altitudes and is the tallest monocot in the world.
Endemisms
Colombia has the largest amount of endemisms (species that are not found naturally anywhere else) worldwide. About 10% of the species in the world live in Colombia. Some determinant factors In the distribution range of the species are the weather conditions, temperature, humidity and sunlight availability.
Endemics can easily become endangered or extinct due to their restricted habitat and vulnerability to the actions of man, including the introduction of new organisms.
Ecoregions with high endemism
According to the colombian Ministry of Environment, the following ecoregions have the highest percentage of botanic endemisms:
Colombian Amazon basin
Catatumbo River basin
Mid Magdalena river basin
Pacific coastal region
Tree species
Many of the colombian trees are endangered species due to the high quality of the woods and timber industry explotation (such as Colombian oak Quercus humboldtidiana and colombian mahogany) and as source of tanning substances for the leather industry (such as mangrove and Encenillo tree Weinmannia tormentosa).
Some tree species described in Colombia are:
Anadenanthera peregrina
Amazon Grape
Adenolisianthus arboreus
Aiouea angulata
Anthodiscus montanus
Astrocaryum triandrum
Attalea septuagenata
Bactris coloniata
Banara ibaguensis
Blakea granatensis
Bonnetia holostyla
Bulnesia carrapo
Brazil Nut
Borojoa patinoi
Caryocar nuciferum
Caryodaphnopsis cogolloi
Casearia megacarpa
Coccothrinax argentata
Cryosophila kalbreyeri
Cyathea incana
Cyrilla
Chelyocarpus dianeurus
Cherimoya
Dendropanax colombianus
Esenbeckia alata
Feijoa
Guaiacum officinale
Garcia nutans
Gonolobus condurango
Graffenrieda grandifolia
Hirtella enneandra
Huberodendron patinoi
Hampea thespesioides
Henriettella goudotiana
Humiriastrum melanocarpum
Itaya amicorum
Macrosamanea consanguinea
Neosprucea sararensis
Platonia
Quararibea asterolepis
Quararibea cordata
Ouratea tumacoensis
Reinhardtia
Simaba cedron
Syagrus smithii
Tessmannianthus quadridomius
Trigonobalanus excelsa
Flora genera
Abarema
Abarema callejasii
Abarema ganymedea
Abarema josephi
Abarema killipii
Abarema lehmannii
Acidocroton
Acidocroton gentryi
Aiphanes
Aiphanes acaulis
Aiphanes duquei
Aiphanes leiostachys
Aiphanes lindeniana
Aiphanes linearis
Aniba
Aniba novo-granatensis
Aniba rosaeodora
Aniba vaupesiana
Brownea
Brownea santanderensis
Browneopsis excelsa
Brunellia
Brunellia almaguerensis
Brunellia antioquensis
Brunellia boqueronensis
Brunellia elliptica
Brunellia farallonensis
Brunellia macrophylla
Brunellia occidentalis
Brunellia penderiscana
Brunellia racemifera
Brunellia rufa
Brunellia subsessilis
Calatola
Calatola columbiana
Centronia
Centronia brachycera
Centronia mutisii
Ceroxylon
Ceroxylon alpinum
Ceroxylon ferrugineum
Ceroxylon quindiuense
Ceroxylon sasaimae
Clusia
Clusia croatii
Clusia osseocarpa
Eschweilera
Eschweilera bogotensis
Eschweilera boltenii
Eschweilera integricalyx
Eschweilera integrifolia
Eschweilera pittieri
Eschweilera punctata
Eschweilera rimbachii
Eschweilera sclerophylla
Espeletia
Freziera
Freziera echinata
Freziera euryoides
Freziera jaramilloi
Freziera longipes
Freziera punctata
Freziera retinveria
Freziera sessiliflora
Freziera smithiana
Freziera stuebelii
Freziera velutina
Grias
Grias colombiana
Grias haughtii
Grias multinervia
Guarea
Guarea caulobotrys
Guarea corrugata
Gustavia
Gustavia excelsa
Gustavia foliosa
Gustavia gracillima
Gustavia latifolia
Gustavia longifuniculata
Gustavia monocaulis
Gustavia petiolata
Gustavia pubescens
Gustavia santanderiensis
Gustavia sessilis
Gustavia verticillata
Herrania
Herrania laciniifolia
Herrania umbratica
Huilaea
Huilaea kirkbridei
Huilaea macrocarpa
Huilaea minor
Huilaea mutisiana
Huilaea occidentalis
Huilaea penduliflora
Inga
Inga allenii
Inga coragypsea
Inga goniocalyx
Inga interfluminensis
Inga macarenensis
Inga mucuna
Inga saffordiana
Lennoaceae
Leptolejeunea
Leptolejeunea tridentata
Licania
Licania salicifolia
Macrolobium
Macrolobium pittieri
Magnolia
Magnolia calimaensis
Magnolia calophylla
Magnolia cararensis
Magnolia caricifragrans
Magnolia cespedesii
Magnolia colombiana
Magnolia espinalii
Magnolia georgii
Magnolia gilbertoi
Magnolia guatapensis
Magnolia henaoi
Magnolia hernandezii
Magnolia katiorum
Magnolia lenticellatum
Magnolia mahechae
Magnolia narinensis
Magnolia polyhypsophylla
Magnolia santanderiana
Magnolia urraoense
Magnolia virolinensis
Magnolia wolfii
Magnolia yarumalense
Mayna
Mayna pubescens
Mayna suaveolens
Meriania
Meriania peltata
Meriania versicolor
Metteniusa
Metteniusa cundinamarcensis
Metteniusa edulis
Metteniusa huilensis
Metteniusa santanderensis
Miconia
Miconia poecilantha
Oenocarpus
Oenocarpus circumtextus
Oenocarpus makeru
Oenocarpus simplex
Orphanodendron
Orphanodendron bernalii
Parmentiera
Parmentiera stenocarpa
Passiflora
Passiflora tarminiana
Phytelephas
Phytelephas seemannii
Phytelephas tumacana
Pouteria
Pouteria arguacoensium
Pouteria bracteata
Pouteria chocoensis
Pouteria espinae
Pradosia
Pradosia cuatrecasasii
Prunus
Prunus carolinae
Prunus ernestii
Prunus villegasiana
Rinorea
Rinorea antioquiensis
Rinorea cordata
Rinorea haughtii
Rinorea hymenosepala
Rinorea laurifolia
Rinorea marginata
Rinorea ulmifolia
Rollinia
Rollinia amazonica
Rollinia pachyantha
Rollinia rufinervis
Romeroa
Romeroa verticillata
Schoenocephalium
Inirida flower
Solanum
Solanum sibundoyense
Solanum betaceum (tamarillo)
Sphaerolejeunea
Sphaerolejeunea umbilicata
Streptosolen
Streptosolen jamesonii
Swartzia
Swartzia macrophylla
Swartzia oraria
Swartzia robiniifolia
Swartzia santanderensis
Utricularia
Utricularia neottioides
Utricularia nervosa
Utricularia oliveriana
Utricularia pusilla
Utricularia triloba
Vantanea
Vantanea magdalenensis
Wettinia
Wettinia anomala
Wettinia disticha
Wettinia fascicularis
Wettinia hirsuta
Wettinia kalbreyeri
Xylosma
Xylosma obovatum
Zamia
Zamia amplifolia
Zamia encephalartoides
Zamia montana
Zamia wallisii
Zygia
Zygia lehmannii
Orchid species
Colombia has the largest number of orchids in the world. Among others:
Frondaria
Frondaria caulescens
Restrepia
Restrepia antennifera
Restrepia chocoensis
Restrepia citrina
Restrepia muscifera
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Flora of Colombia
