Blakea eriocalyx
Overview
A detailed profile for this species is sourced from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as assessments become available.
Blakea eriocalyx faces severe pressure from ongoing deforestation and agricultural expansion throughout its limited range in Central American cloud forests. The species' restricted distribution makes it particularly vulnerable to habitat fragmentation, as remaining forest patches become increasingly isolated. Climate change poses an additional threat by altering the moisture-dependent conditions essential for cloud forest ecosystems where this endemic shrub thrives.
Habitat
Blakea eriocalyx is endemic to montane cloud forests of Central America, typically occurring at elevations between 1,200-2,400 meters. The species requires the consistently moist, fog-shrouded conditions characteristic of these specialized ecosystems, growing as an understory shrub in primary and well-developed secondary forests.