Tropical Plants of Costa Rica: A Guide to Native and Exotic Flora (Zona Tropical Publications) - Tapa blanda

"This attractive book provides a means for visitors to Costa Rica to learn about and recognize 430 of the more prominent plants of the country and to learn about them in a wonderfully exciting way. A 'must' for any ecotourist, and a refresher course about the biology of tropical plants for anyone. I wish such a book had existed when I first visited Costa Rica forty years ago!" -- Peter H. Raven, Director, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis "One is hard-pressed to come up with a list of plants that should have been included but are missing from this fabulous survey of tropical beauty. Tropical Plants of Costa Rica is a real gem. This is a well-constructed, nicely formatted, high-quality book. Essential. All levels." -- G. C. Stevens, Choice, October 2007

Ranging from miniature epiphytic orchids to towering trees, and from mangrove forests lining coastal waterways to high-elevation cloud forests, Costa Rica's rich and varied flora dazzles visitors and botanists alike. Tropical Plants of Costa Rica, the first popular treatment to include plants from all regions of the country, is an indispensable guide to native and exotic species found in the neotropics.This book is beautifully illustrated with more than 540 full-color photographs taken in the field, each depicting an entire plant or a closer view of flowers, fruits, or seeds. Instructive pen-and-ink drawings of botanical details also accompany many of the accounts. The text clearly explains each plant's identifying characteristics and reveals fascinating facts about its natural history, chemical properties, economic importance, and medicinal and other uses. Sidebar features throughout the book highlight conservation, ethnobotany, and ecology; their topics include unusual applications for plants, distinct attributes of certain plant families, and plants of particular microhabitats. Tropical Plants of Costa Rica is a wonderful resource for naturalists, students, and researchers, as well as both experienced and first-time visitors to Costa Rica and the American tropics.