Flora of Colombia Flora of Colombia The Flora of Colombia is characterized by 130,000 species of plants that have been described within Colombian territory. The national flower of Colombia is the orchid "Cattleya trianae" which was named after the Colombian naturalist José Jerónimo Triana. The orchid was selected by botanist Emilio Robledo, in representation of the Colombian Academy of History to determine the most representative flowering plant of Colombia. He described it as one of the most beautiful flowers in the world and selected "Cattleya trianae" as National symbol. The national tree of Colombia is the palm "Ceroxylon quindiuense" (Quindío wax palm) which
Flowering plant evolution continues to the present day; modern flowers have been so profoundly influenced by humans that some of them cannot be pollinated in nature. Many modern domesticated flower species were formerly simple weeds, which sprouted only when the ground was disturbed. Some of them tended to grow with human crops, perhaps already having symbiotic companion plant relationships with them, and the prettiest did not get plucked because of their beauty, developing a dependence upon and special adaptation to human affection. A few paleontologists have also proposed that flowering plants, or angiosperms, might have evolved due to interactions with dinosaurs. One