Useful plants within a campesino community in a Costa Rican montane cloud forest

An ethnobotanical survey was carried out among a campesino community in a Costa Rican montane cloud forest. Campesino families were interviewed about how they used indigenous and introduced vascular plants along an altitudinal gradient (2000–3000 m). From a total of 590 species known in the area, 23.8% of 189 useful plant species were used for medicinal purposes, 39.7% for food, and 24.3% for construction (timber) or as combustibles (fuelwood, charcoal). Less important uses included dye, ornament (ecotourism), fodder, gum, oil, and poison. A total of 61.9 % of the plants..