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.
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Webster, G.L., Poveda, L.J. A phytogeographically significant new species of Jatropha (Euphorbiaceae) from Costa Rica. Brittonia 30, 265–270 (1978). https://doi.org/10.2307/2806661
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2806661