Flora of Colombia

The Flora of Colombia is characterized by 130,000 species of plants that have been described within Colombian territory.

The national flower of Colombia is the orchid Cattleya trianae which was named after the Colombian naturalist José Jerónimo Triana. The orchid was selected by botanist Emilio Robledo, in representation of the Colombian Academy of History to determine the most representative flowering plant of Colombia. He described it as one of the most beautiful flowers in the world and selected Cattleya trianae as National symbol.

The national tree of Colombia is the palm Ceroxylon quindiuense (Quindío Wax Palm) which was named after the Colombian Department of Quindío where is located the Cocora valley, only habitat of this restricted range species. The Wax palm was selected as the national tree by the government of Belisario Betancur and was the first tree officially declared as a protected species in Colombia. C. quindiuense is the only palm that grows at high altitudes and is the tallest monocot in the world.

Colombia has the largest amount of endemic species (species that are not found naturally anywhere else) worldwide. About 10% of the species in the world live in Colombia. Some determinant factors in the distribution range of the species are the weather conditions, temperature, humidity and sunlight availability.

Endemics can easily become endangered or extinct due to their restricted habitat and vulnerability to the actions of man, including the introduction of new organisms.

According to the Colombian Ministry of Environment, the following ecoregions have the highest percentage of botanic endemic species:

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