“…In their entirety, the páramos that extend from Costa Rica to northern Peru cover a total area of 33,978 km 2 , of which Ecuador (12,603 km 2 ) occupies the second position after Colombia (Hofstede, 2003). The Andean páramos are home to the most abundant floristic richness among the tropical mountains due to their special historic, geological, geographical -including the phenomenon of insularity -, climatic and anthropic characteristics (Simpson, 1974;Vuilleumier & Monasterio, 1986;Smith & Cleff, 1988;Luteyn, 1992;Jørgensen & Ulloa, 1994;Hofstede & Rossenaar, 1995;Ramsay & Oxley, 1997;Richter & Moreira-Muñoz, 2005;Weigend et al, 2005;Coblenz & Keating, 2008;Josse et al, 2008;Richter et al, 2009;Madriñán et al, 2013;Sklenář et al, 2014;Vázquez et al, 2015). In regard to the flora of the páramo, Luteyn (1999) indicated a total of 447 genera and 3045 species from Costa Rica to Peru; and Sklenář et al (2011) subsequently reported 509 genera and 3564 species, while Rangel-Churío (2000) calculated a total of 566 genera and 3173 species.…”