Pleodendron costaricense, a very rare, lowland rainforest tree known from southern Pacific Costa Rica is described and illustrated. Its only congener, P. macranthum, grows about 2000 km to the northeast, in Puerto Rico. The only other member of the family Canellaceae known from Central America is the mostly West Indian, Canella winterana, which reaches the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. rEsumEn. ...