The geography of Puerto Rico consists of an archipelago located between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of the Dominican Republic or Hispaniola, west of the Virgin Islands and north of Venezuela. The main island of Puerto Rico is the smallest and easternmost of the Greater Antilles. With an area of 3,515 square miles (9,104 km2), it is the third largest island in the United States and the 82nd largest island in the world. Various smaller islands and cays, including Vieques, Culebra, Mona, Desecheo, and Caja de Muertos comprise the remainder of the archipelago with only Culebra and Vieques being inhabited year-round. Mona is uninhabited through large parts of the year except for employees of the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources.
El Yunque National Forest, formerly known as the Caribbean National Forest, is a forest located in northeastern Puerto Rico. It is the only tropical rainforest in the United States National Forest System and the United States Forest Service. El Yunque National Rainforest is located on the slopes of the Sierra de Luquillo mountains, encompassing 28,000 acres of land, making it the largest block of public land in Puerto Rico.
The elfin woods warbler is a species of bird endemic to Puerto Rico, where it is local and uncommon. Discovered in 1968 and described in 1972, it is the most recently described New World warbler.
Cupressus sargentii is a species of conifer in the family Cupressaceae known by the common name Sargent's cypress. It is endemic to California, where it is known from Mendocino County southwards to Santa Barbara County. This taxon is limited to the Coast Range mountains. It grows in forests with other conifers, as well as chaparral and other local mountain habitat, usually in pure stands on serpentine soils. It generally grows 10 to 15 meters tall, but it is known to exceed 22 meters. On Carson Ridge in Marin County, as well as Hood Mountain in Sonoma County, the species comprises a pygmy forest of trees which do not attain heights greater than 240–360 cm due to high mineral concentrations in the serpentine soil.
Brunfelsia portoricensis, the Puerto Rico raintree, is a species of flowering plant in the family Solanaceae. It is endemic to Puerto Rico, where it occurs in El Yunque National Forest.
Eugenia haematocarpa is a rare species of plant in the family Myrtaceae. It is endemic to Puerto Rico. It is classified as an endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and there has been a plan for its recovery in place for some years. Its common names include uvillo and Luquillo Mountain stopper.
Myrcia neocambessedeana was a species of plant in the family Myrtaceae. It was endemic to Brazil.
Pleodendron macranthum (chupacallos) is a rare species of tree in the family Canellaceae. It is endemic to Puerto Rico, where there are only three tiny populations remaining. Two individual plants are located in El Yunque and 8 to 10 plants remain in Río Abajo State Forest. This tree is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
Psidium sintenisii is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. It is endemic to Puerto Rico, where it is known from three or four small subpopulations, mainly within El Yunque National Forest. It grows in wet mountain forest habitat. Its common names are Sintenis' guava and hoja menuda.
Styrax portoricensis, locally known as palo de jazmin, is a species of flowering plant in the family Styracaceae. It is endemic to Puerto Rico. It is one of the rarest endemic trees of Puerto Rico and is known to occur only in the northeastern Luquillo Mountains and the north-central Cayey Mountains.
Trichilia triacantha, the bariaco, is a species of plant in the Meliaceae family. It is endemic to Puerto Rico. It is threatened by habitat loss. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
Farallones de Cali is a cluster of mountains in the West Andes of Colombia. It is located west of the city of Cali and gives rise to many of the rivers that provide water and electricity to Cali. The PNN Farallones de Cali encompasses 150,000 ha (580 sq mi) in the mountains as well as much of the Pacific slope and is an area of very high biodiversity. The average temperature ranges from 25 °C (77 °F) in the tropical foothills to 5 °C (41 °F) in the páramo. In this territory are located the district of Pichinde, Andes and Leonera, and two villages Penas Blancas and Lomas de la Cajita.
Protea nitida, commonly called wagon tree, waboom or blousuikerbos, is a large, slow-growing Protea endemic to South Africa. It is one of the few Protea species that grows into trees, and the only one that has usable timber.
Cornutia obovata is a rare species of tree in the mint family, and formerly considered a member of the verbena family. It is endemic to forested slopes in Puerto Rico, where its common names are capá jigüerilla, nigua, and palo de nigua. When it was added to the endangered species list of the United States in 1988 there were only seven individuals known to remain in the wild. By 1998 there were eight plants known. This is considered one population divided amongst a few locations in the mountain forests of the island.
Myrcia ascendens is a species of plant in the family Myrtaceae, endemic to Bahia in north-east Brazil, and first described in 2015.
Myrcia attenuata is a species of plant in the family Myrtaceae, endemic to French Guiana, and first described in 2015.
Myrcia costeira is a species of plant in the family Myrtaceae, endemic to the south and south-east of Brazil, and first described in 2015.
Myrcia rupestris is a species of plant in the family Myrtaceae, endemic to south-east Brazil, and first described in 2015.
Myrcia subterminalis is a species of plant in the family Myrtaceae, endemic to the east of Brazil, and first described in 2015.
