Barra del Colorado Flora

This refuge is covered by vegetation in more than 80%. Up to 11 habitats have been identified and it contains three types of forest: yolillal, gamalotal and flooded forest, which can be defined as a hydric association, where the soil remains flooded all year round. It includes all the known species of palms in the rainforest plus five other species that have not yet been described. The main ones are the coastal vegetation, with the presence of coconut palms (Cocos nucifera); very humid high forests, forests on hills, swamp forests, with trees up to 40 m high; yolillales, formed almost exclusively by the yolillo palm (Raphia taedigera); herbaceous swamps, made up of herbaceous plants up to 2 m high, and herbaceous communities of floating vegetation, in which sometimes the chroja (Eichhornia crassipes) is so dense that it impedes navigation. In general, some of the most abundant trees are the sparrow hawk (Pentaclethra macroloba), the male cedar or caobilla (Carapa guianensis) and the cativo (Prioria copaifera). So far, 642 plant species have been identified, of which some 58 species are endemic.