Vanishing Beauty: Native Costa Rican Orchids

The most recent biodiversity estimates show that Costa Rica possesses the richest orchid flora in the world. With more almost 1,400 species, this country exhibits an astonishing variety of orchids, equivalent to about half of all the species recorded for the African continent or for Brazil, a country perhaps one hundred times larger.

Vanishing Beauty is a tribute by Universidad de Costa Rica to the surprising variety and the fragile beauty of the native orchids of the country, and at the same time, it is a recognition of the Jardin Botanico Lankester's tradition in orchid research and conservation.

Authored by Professor Franco Pupulin, the three volumes illustrate in detail the 180 genera of Costa Rican orchids, with 1000 stunning photographs taken by the author of the collections at the Jardin Botanico Lankester and other public and private collections, and they include texts by the most widely recognized specialists on Neotropical Orchidaceae.