Anatomia do escapo floral de esp\ue9cies brasileiras de Paepalanthus subg\ueanero Platycaulon (Eriocaulaceae)

Foi estudada a anatomia dos escapos de 17 espécies de Paepalanthus subgênero Platycaulon, sendo 10 da sect. Divisi e sete da sect. Conferti. O trabalho foi realizado para caracterizar anatomicamente os escapos. como contribuição para o entendimento do grupo, uma vez que. morfologicamente, esse é o caráter laxonômico mais importante. Procurou-se, também, confirmar ou não o reconhecimento das duas seções dentro do subgênero. Para os estudos anatômicos utilizou-se material proveniente do Brasil, obtido de exsicatas de diferentes herbários e/ou coletado na Serra do Cipó, MG. Neste trabalho observou-se que Paepalanthus subg. Platycaulon é caracterizado morfologicamente por apresentar escapos pluricapitulados no ápice. Anatomicamente, as espécies estudadas da sect. Divisi apresentam escapos com vários cilindros vasculares, na região mediana e, ainda apresentam, em Paepalanthus vellozioides e P. spixianus, feixes vasculares corticais, características únicas na família. Diferentemente, as espécies avaliadas da sect. Conferti apresentam escapos com cilindro vascular único na região mediana, padrão análogo ao das demais Eriocaulaccae, e ainda apresentam, em Paepalanthus itatiaiensis, P. planifolius e P. paulensis, feixes vasculares medulares, que até então não haviam sido referidos para a família.The scape anatomy of 17 taxa of Paepalanthus subgenus Platycaylon were studied, being 10 taxa of sect. Divisi and seven of sect. Conferti. The study was carried out to see whether scape morphology and anatomy provide valid taxonomic characters at the subgeneric level in Paepalanthus and to lest a proposal to recognize two sections within Paepalanthus subgenus Platycaylon: sect. Divisi and sect. Conferti. The material for anatomical study was collected in Brazil, partly from herbarium specimens and partly from fresh material collected in the field, from the Serra do Cipó. Minas Gerais State. In this work, we observe that Paepalanthus subg. Platycaulon is characterized morphologically by its pluricapitulate scapes. Anatomycally, the studied species of the Divisi sect, are characterized by having separate vascular cylinders, and present cortical vascular bundles in Paepalanthus vellozioides and P. spixianus, being these characteristics unique to the family, while the scapes of the studied members of sect. Conferti display a continuous vascular cylinder, which is analogous with other groups within the Eriocaulaceac, and present pith vascular bundles in Paepalanthus itatiaiensis, P planifolius and P. paulensis, characteristics unique to the family

Growing knowledge: an overview of Seed Plant diversity in Brazil

Abstract An updated inventory of Brazilian seed plants is presented and offers important insights into the country's biodiversity. This work started in 2010, with the publication of the Plants and Fungi Catalogue, and has been updated since by more than 430 specialists working online. Brazil is home to 32,086 native Angiosperms and 23 native Gymnosperms, showing an increase of 3% in its species richness in relation to 2010. The Amazon Rainforest is the richest Brazilian biome for Gymnosperms, while the Atlantic Rainforest is the richest one for Angiosperms. There was a considerable increment in the number of species and endemism rates for biomes, except for the Amazon that showed a decrease of 2.5% of recorded endemics. However, well over half of Brazillian seed plant species (57.4%) is endemic to this territory. The proportion of life-forms varies among different biomes: trees are more expressive in the Amazon and Atlantic Rainforest biomes while herbs predominate in the Pampa, and lianas are more expressive in the Amazon, Atlantic Rainforest, and Pantanal. This compilation serves not only to quantify Brazilian biodiversity, but also to highlight areas where there information is lacking and to provide a framework for the challenge faced in conserving Brazil's unique and diverse flora