Among mammals that only live in Colombia are many types of bats, for example the Colombian short-tailed bat; shrews, like the Medellin small-eared shrew; squirrels, like the Santander dwarf squirrel; and mice, like the white-footed Handley's mouse. Colombia also has a high number of native gophers, for example, the Thaeler's pocket gopher, porcupines like the brown hairy dwarf porcupine, and rats like the Minca spiny-rat. The Colombian forests are also heavily populated by monkeys. Among these monkey species are the Colombian black-handed titi and the Hershkovitz's night monkey, also known as the gray-bellied monkey.
The bird kingdom also has a large number of representatives in Colombia. According to Living National Treasures, the most recent bird discovery in Colombia happened in 2007, when the existence of the Antioquia brush-finch was confirmed. Other than that, Colombia is the home of many parrots, like the indigo-winged parrot and the smaller parakeets, like the Santa Marta parakeet. A number of hummingbirds originate in Colombia, like the sapphire-bellied hummingbird. Tanagers, finches and warblers are also commonly species in Colombia.
Because of farming and industry, a lot of native Colombian trees are threatened with extinction. Some of the tree species that grow all over Colombia are The Brazilian nut, the Amazon grape, the Platonia and the Pekea-nut. There are a number of trees which produce edible fruits growing in Colombian forests as well. Very common fruits in Colombia include, but are not limited to, cashew nuts, passion fruit and gooseberry fruit.
Colombia is the country with the largest number of orchids in the world. Over a hundred specimens of different orchids grow wild in Colombia, most of them hidden deep in the rainforest. Even the national flower of Colombia is an orchid species, named Cattleya trianae, also known as the Christmas orchid. It was named as the official Colombian flower, because of the color of it's petals: they are the same as those on the Colombian flag.
