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We describe three new species of Malpighiaceae that are endemic to central Brazil and related to the Heteropterys pannosa complex, a group of xylopodiferous, unbranched subshrubs with fruit in mericarps that have a strongly reduced or no dorsal wing. Heteropterys tocantinensis is more common in eastern Tocantins State and on the border with Bahia State, and there are a few records from Mato Grosso State. Heteropterys veadeirensis is restricted to northern Goiás State and H. walteri has a wider distribution, occurring in some municipalities in northern Goiás and southern Tocantins. Additionally, we also provide detailed redescriptions of H. pannosa and H. rosmarinifolia, the two previously known species in this complex. All species are considered Endangered (EN) based on IUCN criteria, especially due to the low area of occupancy. Illustrations, distribution maps, and information about phenology and habitat are also provided for all taxa.

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Tovomitopsis Planch. & Triana is a Brazilian Atlantic Forest endemic genus composed of two species: T.paniculata (Spreng.) Planch. & Triana and T.saldanhae Engl. An investigation was conducted to clarify the nomenclatural history of Tovomitopsis. We report the results of this investigation, provide an updated description of the genus, and propose lectotypes for T.paniculata and its synonyms: Tovomitafoliosa C.Presl and Tovomitapaniculata Cambess. We also propose lectotypes for T.saldanhae and for the new synonym Clusiaangustifolia Engl.

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Palicourea species has been used in folk medicine in the treatment of some diseases including cancer and inflammatory disorders. This work aimed to evaluate the in vitro antiproliferative and in vivo topical anti-inflammatory activities of the methanolic extract, fractions and two major alkaloids isolated from Palicourea minutiflora. Methanolic extract, non-alkaloidal and alkaloidal fractions exhibited strong growth inhibition for ovarian cell lines (OVCAR-3, GI50 = 3.8 at 16.3 µg mL-1) and the vincosamide alkaloid revealed selective effect on the growth of glioma cell lines (U251, GI50 = 33.0 µg mL-1) compared with doxorubicin (DOX, GI50 = 0.42 and 0.025 µg mL-1, respectively) anticancer drug. Methanolic extract, fractions and strictosidinic acid showed significant inhibitory effect with 62.7% at 77.5% (p < 0.05) to ear edema induced by croton oil and 81% at 100% (p < 0.05) to myeloperoxidase assay compared with indomethacin (positive control) 68.4% and 91.3% (p < 0.05), respectively.

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BACKGROUND: Brazil is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, with about 37,000 species of land plants. Part of this biodiversity is within protected areas. The development of online databases in the last years greatly improved the available biodiversity data. However, the existing databases do not provide information about the protected areas in which individual plant species occur. The lack of such information is a crucial gap for conservation actions. This study aimed to show how the information captured from online databases, cleaned by a protocol and verified by taxonomists allowed us to obtain a comprehensive list of the vascular plant species from the "Parque Nacional do Itatiaia", the first national park founded in Brazil. All existing records in the online database JABOT (15,100 vouchers) were downloaded, resulting in 11,783 vouchers identified at the species level. Overall, we documented 2,316 species belonging to 176 families and 837 genera of vascular plants in the "Parque Nacional do Itatiaia". Considering the whole vascular flora, 2,238 species are native and 78 are non-native. NEW INFORMATION: The "Parque Nacional do Itatiaia" houses 13% of the angiosperm and 37% of the fern species known from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Amongst these species, 82 have been cited as threatened, following IUCN categories (CR, EN or VU), seven are data deficient (DD) and 15 have been classified as a conservation priority, because they are only known from a single specimen collected before 1969.

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Although the number of recently described Tovomita species is relatively high, much more remains to be done, given that each new survey of representative Amazonian collections reveals many potentially undescribed taxa. In the treatment for Tovomita published in Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana, at least six distinct morphotypes did not match any previously described species. Here we recognize morphotype "D" as a new endemic species from Cerro de la Neblina. Additionally, we provide an identification key to the Tovomita species in Venezuela. (AU)

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Several centers of endemism have been proposed for Melastomataceae, particularly in Amazonia and Atlantic Forest. Despite the high degree of human-caused degradation in the last 500 years, the Atlantic Forest still presents some of the largest levels of diversity and endemism across all angiosperms. With several recently described species in the last decade, the knowledge on Bertolonia's distribution and morphological characterization has changed, with most new species found in northern Atlantic Forest and with different flower color patterns than the species from southern Atlantic Forest. We first tested the monophyly of the genus sampling over 85% of its species to generate a reliable phylogenetic hypothesis. Afterwards, we used Bertolonia as a model group to study distribution patterns and morphological evolution of lineages in the Atlantic Forest. Bertolonia is particularly interesting to address such questions because it is endemic to this domain, with species distributed either in the southern, central or northern portions of the Atlantic Forest. The second step of our work aimed to respond (1) Do closely related species endemic to Atlantic Forest tend to have similar distributions and share similar morphological traits? and (2) Are floral traits more conserved within clades than vegetative characters? We hypothesize that both (1) and (2) are true due to the low dispersal ability and consequent microendemic distribution of most species in the genus. Our results confirm the veracity of the proposed hypotheses. Three major groups were recovered in our analysis: marmorata, formosa and nymphaeifolia clades. Most species that occur in northern Atlantic Forest were recovered in the marmorata clade. Most species distributed in central Atlantic Forest were recovered in the formosa clade, and the ones from the southern Atlantic Forest in the nymphaeifolia clade. A similar pattern was recovered with reproductive characters reconstructed across the phylogeny. Generally, species with pink petals and cream-colored anthers with an extrorse pore occur in northern Atlantic Forest, and species with white petals and yellow anthers with an introrse or apical pore tend to occur in southern Atlantic Forest. Some vegetative characters also have evolutionary congruence and are restricted to one or few lineages, while other characters, such as the texture of the leaf blade surface, have a strong taxonomic value and are useful to identify species, but are not homologous. Our analysis also indicates that the division between southern and northern Atlantic Forest could also be related to ancient events, not only linked with recent phylogeographic patterns. Moreover, we suggest that the orientation of the anther pore in Bertolonia could be related with diversity of species and stability of its populations. In summary, we corroborate, based on the evolutionary history of Bertolonia, that closely related species endemic to Atlantic Forest tend to have similar distributions and share similar morphological floral traits.

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BACKGROUND: Brazilian protected areas are essential for plant conservation in the Atlantic Forest domain, one of the 36 global biodiversity hotspots. A major challenge for improving conservation actions is to know the plant richness, protected by these areas. Online databases offer an accessible way to build plant species lists and to provide relevant information about biodiversity. A list of land plants of "Parque Nacional do Caparaó" (PNC) was previously built using online databases and published on the website "Catálogo de Plantas das Unidades de Conservação do Brasil." Here, we provide and discuss additional information about plant species richness, endemism and conservation in the PNC that could not be included in the List. We documented 1,791 species of land plants as occurring in PNC, of which 63 are cited as threatened (CR, EN or VU) by the Brazilian National Red List, seven as data deficient (DD) and five as priorities for conservation. Fifity-one species were possible new ocurrences for ES and MG states. NEW INFORMATION: "Parque Nacional do Caparaó" houses 8% of the land plant species endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, including 6% of its angiosperms, 31% of its lycophytes and ferns and 14% of its avascular plants. Twelve percent of the threatened species listed for the State of Espírito Santo and 7% listed for the State of Minas Gerais are also protected by PNC. Surprisingly, 79% of the collections analysed here were carried out in Minas Gerais, which represents just 21% of the total extension of the Park. The compiled data uncover a huge botanical collection gap in this federally-protected area.

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Although the number of recently described Tovomita species is relatively high, much more remains to be done, given that each new survey of representative Amazonian collections reveals many potentially undescribed taxa. In the treatment for Tovomita published in Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana, at least six distinct morphotypes did not match any previously described species. Here we recognize morphotype “D” as a new endemic species from Cerro de la Neblina. Additionally, we provide an identification key to the Tovomita species in Venezuela.(AU)

A pesar del relativo alto número de especies nuevas deTovomitadescritas en los últimos años, aún queda mucho por hacer, ya que en cada nueva investigación de colecciones amazónicas surgen taxa aún no descritos. En el tratamiento deTovomitapublicado en la Flora de la Guayana Venezolana, al menos seis morfotipos distintos no coincidían con ninguna de las especies descritas hasta el momento. Aquí reconocemos el morfotipo “D” como una nueva especie endémica del Cerro de la Neblina. Además, proporcionamos una clave de identificación para las especies venezolanas deTovomita.(AU)

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PREMISE: Laticifers have evolved multiple times in angiosperms and have been interpreted as a key innovation involved in plant defense mechanisms. In Malpighiaceae, laticifers were previously known from a single lineage of trees and shrubs, the Galphimia clade, but with detailed anatomical analyses here, we show that their distribution is broader in the family, also encompassing large clades of lianas. METHODS: From 15 genera, 70 species of Malpighiaceae were surveyed through careful anatomical ontogenetic analysis of roots, stems, and leaves and detailed histochemical tests to elucidate the nature of laticifers and latex in the family. RESULTS: Articulated anastomosing laticifers were encountered in roots, stems, and leaves of two distantly related megadiverse genera of Malpighiaceae lianas: Stigmaphyllon (stigmaphylloid clade) and Tetrapterys s.s. (tetrapteroid clade). From the apex downward, in Stigmaphyllon the laticifers are derived from the procambium and from the cambium during its early activity and are present in the outermost part of the vascular cylinder of stems and leaves and in the pericycle of roots, whereas in Tetrapterys s.s. they are derived from the ground meristem, procambium, and cambium throughout the plant body and are present in the cortex and pith, either the pericycle in roots or the outermost part of the vascular system in stems and leaves, and the primary and secondary phloem. CONCLUSIONS: Laticifers seem to have evolved at least three times independently in Malpighiaceae, once in a lineage of trees and shrubs and twice in two distantly related megadiverse lianescent lineages. Laticifer evolution in Malpighiaceae is homoplastic and may be related to increases in species diversification.

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Recent debates on the number of plant species in the vast lowland rain forests of the Amazon have been based largely on model estimates, neglecting published checklists based on verified voucher data. Here we collate taxonomically verified checklists to present a list of seed plant species from lowland Amazon rain forests. Our list comprises 14,003 species, of which 6,727 are trees. These figures are similar to estimates derived from nonparametric ecological models, but they contrast strongly with predictions of much higher tree diversity derived from parametric models. Based on the known proportion of tree species in neotropical lowland rain forest communities as measured in complete plot censuses, and on overall estimates of seed plant diversity in Brazil and in the neotropics in general, it is more likely that tree diversity in the Amazon is closer to the lower estimates derived from nonparametric models. Much remains unknown about Amazonian plant diversity, but this taxonomically verified dataset provides a valid starting point for macroecological and evolutionary studies aimed at understanding the origin, evolution, and ecology of the exceptional biodiversity of Amazonian forests.

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We describe and illustrate three new species of Bertolonia, all endemic to the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil. Bertolonia duasbocaensis and B. macrocalyx occur close to each other, in the municipalities of Cariacica and Viana. Bertolonia ruschiana has a wider distribution, occurring in the municipalities of Santa Leopoldina, Santa Maria de Jetibá and Santa Teresa. The first two species are classified as critically endangered (CR), and the latter as endangered (EN). We also present an identification key for the species of Bertolonia that occur in Espírito Santo.

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Three new species of Angiosperms have been found in four short collection trips to the same protected reserve-"Estação Ecológica Estadual de Wenceslau Guimarães"-and neighboring areas in the Atlantic Forest in the south of the Brazilian state of Bahia. These new species belong to three genera from three distinct lineages in the family Melastomataceae: Huberia, Meriania and Physeterostemon. The description of these species represent a good example of a Linnean shortfall, i.e., the absence of basic knowledge about the biodiversity in the area, as well as in tropical forests as a whole. The description of these probably endemic species per se is a signal that this area deserves more attention regarding research and policies, but its consequences go farther: this area has a relevant role as a phylogenetic (both genetic and morphological) stock, and thus is also valuable as a phylogenetic conservation priority.