Subsp. poasana is characterized within Tournefortiopsis crispiflora by its glabrous to sparsely strigillose stems, petioles, and leaf blades and its geographic range only in premontane to montane forest in northern Costa Rica. These plants are morphologically well marked but not quite completely distinct from Subsp. discolor.
Wet forest at 1100–2300 m, northern Costa Rica (Alajuela, Guanacaste, Heredia, Puntarenas, San José).