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Costa Rica: Flora

Total Number of Known Living Species: Over 500,000 Flora and Fauna

(Numbers are approximate due to various reporting methods by varied qualified organizations.)

  • Flora: ~ 11,840 identified species – about 3% of the world’s nearly 400,000 plant species.
    (About an additional 2,130 species remain unclassified, per scientists’ estimates.)
    • Includes ~9,000 flowering plants. 
    • Includes ~2,040 tree species (including 130 that are threatened)
    • Includes ~800 fern species.
    • About 275 plants are threatened or endangered, about 2.3% of all plants in Costa Rica. (IUCN-2021 via Statista)
  • 3,812 total species are threatened – with 8.6% of those classified as critically endangered or vulnerable. (IUCN, as published in The Costa Rica News) 
  • Over 18% of Costa Rica’s estimated 500,000-plus flora and fauna species are unidentified per scientists’ estimates.

Fast Fact: Costa Rica leads the world in biodiversity per square kilometer/mile per scientists’ estimates; over 18% of Costa Rica’s total estimated species are unclassified.