A Phytogeographically Significant New Species of Jatropha (Euphorbiaceae) from Costa Rica
- 1 April 1978
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Nature in Brittonia
- Vol. 30 (2), 265-270
- https://doi.org/10.2307/2806661
Abstract
Jatropha costaricensis is described from Guanacaste, Costa Rica and assigned to sect.Platyphyllae. It is most similar toJ. alamanii of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico, and represents part of a secondary Central American radiation of xeric-adapted Euphorbiaceae. Its geographic relationships indicate a formerly more widespread occurrence of a tropical deciduous flora in Mesoamerica, and it is suggested that xeric range disjunctions here and in adjacent South America may be largely due to climaticallyinduced extinction rather than to long-distance dispersal.This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- The Pleistocene Changes of Vegetation and Climate in Tropical South AmericaJournal of Biogeography, 1974