Alzateaceae,a plant family new to Colombia

Alzateaceae is a rarely collected monotypic family (order Myrtales) whose relationships, until recently, have been obscure and controversial. Known previously from a few sites in Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, and Bolivia, it is here reported for the first time from a geographically intermediate locality—a cloud forest of the Cerro del Torrá, Departamento del Chocó, Colombia. The Chocoan population belongs to the Central American subspecies (Alzatea verticillata subsp.amplifolia S. A. Graham), rather than subsp.verticillata of Peru and Bolivia. Explanations for the present geographic distribution are considered.