Summary
Included here is the Andes mountain range of South America. It extends from north to south through Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina and represents the longest continental mountain range in the world. However, it has not been possible to seperate endemic plants in terms of the central and northern Andean bioprovinces.
Of the endemic and near endemic vascular plants so far recorded for the Andes as a whole there are about 2085 species in 418 genera and 100 families. There are 136 endemic genera (marked red) and 1 near endemic family (Brunelliaceae) although the family Alstroemeriaceae is confined to Central and South America, the family Bromeliaceae are mainly confined to the tropical and sub-tropical Americas, with just one species (Pitcairnia felicianain) found in tropical west Africa, and the families Cyclanthaceae and Marcgraviaceae are mainly confined to the neotropics.
However, this list has been created mainly from endemic Andean floras developed for Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru and therefore likely to represent just a small percentage of the actual number of endemic plants. In fact, it has been estimated that there could be up to 20,000 endemic plants in just the tropical Andes alone.
References
Beck, S.G., 1985. Florula ecológica de Bolivia: Puna semiárida en el Altiplano Boliviano. Ecología en Bolivia, 6: 1-41.Bogh, A. 1992. Composition and distribution of the vascular epiphytes flora of an Ecuadorian montane rain forest. Selbyana, 13: 25-34.
Borchsenius, F. 1997. Patterns plant species diversity in Ecuador. Biodiversity and Conservation, 6: 379-399.
Brako, L & Zarucchi, J. 1993. Catalogue of the flowering plants and gymnosperms of Peru. Missouri Botanical Garden.
Cleef, A. M. 1979. The phytogeographical position of the neotropical vascular Paramo flora with special references to the Colombian Cordillera Oriental. In: Tropical Botany. Eds. K. Larsen and L. B. Holm-Nielsen. Academic Press.
Davis, S. D., V. H. Heywood, O. Herrera-MacBryde, J. Villa-Lobos & A. C. Hamilton. 1997. Altoandina Argentina, Chile. Centres of plant diversity: A guide and strategy for their conservation, Vol. 3 The Americas. Eds. S.D. Davis, V.H. Heywood, O. Herrera-MacBryde, J. Villa-Lobos and A C. Hamilton IUCN, WWF, Oxford, UK.
Fjeldså, J. & Kessler, M. 1996. Conserving the biological diversity of Polylepis woodlands of the highland of Peru and Bolivia. A contribution to sustainable natural resource management in the Andes. NORDECO, Copenhagen.
Forero, E. 1988. Botanical exploration and phytogeography of Colombia: past, present and future. Taxon, 37: 561-566.
Franco-Rosselli, P., Betancur, J. & Fernandez-Alonso, J. L. 1997. Diveridad floristica en dos bosques subandinos del sur de Colombia. Caldasia, 19: 205-234.
Hammen, T. van der. 1979. History of the flora, vegetation and climate in the Colombian Cordillera Oriental during the last five million years. In: Tropical Botany. Eds. K. Larsen and L. B. Holm-Nielsen. Academic Press.
Hammen, T. van der. & Cleef, A. M. 1986. Development of the high Andean paramo flora and vegetation. In: High Altitude Tropical Biogeography. Eds. F. Vuilleumier and M. Monasterio. Oxford University Press and American Museum of Natural History.
Jorgenson, P. M. & León-Yánez, S. (eds). 1999. Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Ecuador. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Gardens, 75: 1-1169.
Jorgenson, P. M. & Ulloa, C. U. 1994. Seed plants of the high Andes of Ecuador – a checklist. Department of Systematic Botany, University of Aarhus, Denmark. AAU Reports 34.
Jorgenson, P. M., Ulloa, C. U., Madsen, J. E. & Valencia, R. 1995. A floristic analysis of the High Andes of Equador. In: Biodiversity and Conservation of Neotropical Montane Forests. Eds. S. P. Churchill, H. Balslev, E. Forero and J. L. Luteyn. The New York Botanical Garden.
Kessler, M. 2002. The elevational gradient of Andean plant endemism: varying influences of taxon-specific traits and topography at different taxonomic levels. Journal of Biogeography, 29: 1159-1165.
Krömer, T., Kessler, M., Gradstein, S. R. & Acebey, A. 2005. Diversity patterns of vascular epiphytes along an elevation gradient in the Andes. Journal of Biogeography, 32: 1799-1809.
Kuentz, A., Galán de Mera, A. G. de., Ledru, M-P. & Thouret, J-C. 2007. Phytogeographical data and modern pollen rain of the puna belt in southern Peru (Nevado Coropuna, Western Cordillera). Journal of Biogeography, 34: 1762–1776.
Kuper, W., Kreft, H., Neider, J., Koster, N. & Barthlott, W. 2004. Large-scale diversity patterns of vascular epiphytes in Neotropical montane rain forests. Journal of Biogeography, 31: 1477-1487.
Luteyn, J. L. 1999. Paramos – a checklist of plant diversity, geographical distribution and botanical literature. Memoirs of The New York Botanical Garden, Volume 84.
Madsen, J. E. & Øllgaard, B. 1994. Floristic composition, structure, and dynamics of an upper montane rain forest in Southern Ecuador. Nordic Journal of Botany, 14: 403-423.
Neider, J. & Barthlott, W. 2001. The flora of Rio Guajalito mountain rain forest (Ecuador). Volkswagen Foundation.
Sklenár, P. 2006. Searching for altitudinal zonation: species distribution and vegetation composition in the superpáramo of Volcán Iliniza, Ecuador. Plant Ecology, 184: 337-350.
Sklenár, P. & Balslev, H. 2004. Superpáramo plant species diversity and phytogeography in Ecuador. Flora, 200: 416-433.
Steyermark, J. A. 1979. Plant refuge and dispersal centres in Venezuela: their relict and endemic elements. In: Tropical Botany. Eds. K. Larsen and L. B. Holm-Nielsen. Academic Press.
Valencia, R., Balslev, H., Palacios, W., Neill, D., Josse, C., Tirada, M. & Skov, F. 1998. Diversity and family composition of trees in different regions of Ecuador: a sample of 18 one-hectare plots. In: Forest biodiversity in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. Eds. F. Dallmeier and J. A. Comiskey. Man and the Biosphere Series, Vol. 21. The Parthenon Publishing Group.
Werff, H. Van Der. & Consiglio, T. 2004. Distribution and conservation significance of endemic species of flowering plants in Peru. Biodiversity and Conservation, 13: 1699-1713.
Young, K.R., B. Leon, A. Cano & O. Herrera-MacBryde. 1997. Peruvian Puna Peru. In: Centres of plant diversity: A guide and strategy for their conservation, Vol. 3 The Americas. Eds. S.D. Davis, V.H. Heywood, O. Herrera-MacBryde, J. Villa-Lobos and A C. Hamilton. IUCN, WWF, Oxford, U.K.