One Hundred Wild Plants from the Páramo / Cien Plantas silvestres del Páramo

Language: Bilingual in English and Spanish

The flora of Cajas National Park in Ecuador is unique; several peculiar species are only found there and do not occur elsewhere on our planet. In the paramo of CNP some 500 species of vascular plants are found belonging to 243 genera and 70 families. The most diverse family is the sunflower family (Asteraceae or Compositae) with 85 species, followed by the Pteridophytes (ferns) with 64, Poaceae (grasses) with 42, Rosaceae (roses) with 22, Cyperaceae (sedges) with 16, and Apiaceae, Gentianaceae, Juncaceae, and Valerianaceae with 12 species each. In Cajas National Park, 71 of the more than 4000 Ecuadorian endemic plant species occur; of these, 10 species nowhere outside of the Park.