The shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic impediment to biodiversity research and conservation planning. The taxonomic impediment and the biodiversity crisis are widely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerous countries worldwide have devoted considerable effort to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for the preparation of a working list of all known plant species by 2010 and an online world Flora by 2020. Brazil is a megadiverse country, home to more of the world's known plant species than any other country. Despite that, Flora Brasiliensis, concluded in 1906, was the last comprehensive treatment of the Brazilian flora. The lack of accurate estimates of the number of species of algae, fungi, and plants occurring in Brazil contributes to the prevailing taxonomic impediment and delays progress towards the GSPC targets. Over the past 12 years, a legion of taxonomists motivated to meet Target 1 of the GSPC, worked together to gather and integrate knowledge on the algal, plant, and fungal diversity of Brazil. Overall, a team of about 980 taxonomists joined efforts in a highly collaborative project that used cybertaxonomy to prepare an updated Flora of Brazil, showing the power of scientific collaboration to reach ambitious goals. This paper presents an overview of the Brazilian Flora 2020 and provides taxonomic and spatial updates on the algae, fungi, and plants found in one of the world's most biodiverse countries. We further identify collection gaps and summarize future goals that extend beyond 2020. Our results show that Brazil is home to 46,975 native species of algae, fungi, and plants, of which 19,669 are endemic to the country. The data compiled to date suggests that the Atlantic Rainforest might be the most diverse Brazilian domain for all plant groups except gymnosperms, which are most diverse in the Amazon. However, scientific knowledge of Brazilian diversity is still unequally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the country. In times of “scientific reductionism”, with botanical and mycological sciences suffering pervasive depreciation in recent decades, the first online Flora of Brazil 2020 significantly enhanced the quality and quantity of taxonomic data available for algae, fungi, and plants from Brazil. This project also made all the information freely available online, providing a firm foundation for future research and for the management, conservation, and sustainable use of the Brazilian funga and flora.

-(Heliantheae s.l. (Asteraceae) from Parque Estadual do Biribiri, Diamantina, Minas Gerais State, Brazil). Heliantheae s.l., the third largest tribe in the Asteraceae family, has 48 genera and 379 species in Brazil, with 199 species restricted to this country. The tribe is very representative of Espinhaço Range flora, which presents a great diversity and endemism. This work presents the taxonomic treatment of Heliantheae s.l. of Parque Estadual do Biribiri (PEB), located in the Espinhaço Range, Diamantina municipality, Minas Gerais State. It provides an identification key, morphological description, geographic distribution, and taxonomic commentaries for each species. The tribe Heliantheae s.l. in PEB has nine genera and 16 species: Acanthospermum, Aldama, Cosmos, Dimerostemma, Galinsoga, and Melampodium (one species each); Aspilia and Bidens (three spp. each), and Calea (four spp.). The PEB has a great number of species Heliantheae s.l. compared with other areas of Minas Gerais State, and it has 12.5% of its species restricted to Minas Gerais State, revealing the importance of this park to protect the flora of Espinhaço Range.

Lepidaploa is a taxonomically complex genus of Vernonieae, which is difficult to delimit morphologically due to vegetative and reproductive characters that overlap with Chrysolaena and Lessingianthus. Anatomical studies of cypselae are taxonomically useful for delimiting subtribes, genera and species of Asteraceae, and especially within Astereae and Eupatorieae. Given the importance of cypselae to the taxonomy of tribes of Asteraceae, we searched for morphological patterns among the species of Lepidaploa. Using light microscopy, we analyzed fruits of 21 species of Lepidaploa to evaluate the taxonomic position of the genus and species of questionable placement in the group. Our results showed that the morphologies of the cypselae of species of Lepidaploa are homogeneous and similar to other species of Vernonieae. However, pappus vascularization and the number of mesocarp layers could be useful for differentiating the sister groups Chrysolaena, Lepidaploa and Lessingianthus, which present similar macro-and micro-morphological, palynological and chromosomal characters. Also, the presence of glandular trichomes and idioblasts in the cypsela, and lignified cells in the carpopodium exocarp, can be used to separate closely related species.

Lepidaploa belongs to tribe Vernonieae, one of the most complex tribes of Asteraceae, and the relationships within Lepidaploa and among related genera are poorly understood. Microcharacters may be of taxonomic value and may be used in the identification of taxa at different ranks. To evaluate the reliability of microcharacters as taxonomic markers in this group, we analysed the micromorphology of phyllaries, florets and cypselae in detail in 23 species of Lepidaploa .The species were studied using stereo, light, and scanning electron microscopy. Eight trichome types (eglandular and glandular) were observed on phyllaries, florets and cypselae, in addition to crystals, idioblasts and other microstructures. The results demonstrates that the ocurrence of different combinations of trichome types and crystals, presence of a stylar basal node, idioblasts and glandular apical anther appendages are highly useful to differentiate between related species of Lepidaploa and a diagnostic key using these characters is presented. However, these characters are not of much use to distinguish between closely related genera of Vernonieae since most characters appear homeoplasic and are found in representatives of different genera.

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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. "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.

Palynological data have been used in Vernonieae for generic and specific delimitations, particularly in the Lepidaploinae subtribe. For this reason, pollen studies in the genus Lepidaploa are important to solve taxonomic conflicts. We characterized 23 species of Lepidaploa searching for morphological differences among themselves. We then compared the data obtained with other genera of the Lepidaploinae. The results show that the species have pollen type “C” (with polar lacuna) or “G” (without polar lacuna), oblate-spheroidal, subprolate or prolate-spheroidal, 3-colporate and equinolophate. The pollen types and shape of pollen grain are taxonomically useful. Pollen morphology is useful to distinguish species and genera of Lepidaploinae. Together with macromorphological data it is possible to delimit Lepidaploa and the species studied here.

A morphological analysis of the genus Lepidaploa (Vernonieae) of southern South America has been carried out. Until now, the information concerning the genus was fragmented and incomplete for this region. Altogether, 13 species are described and illustrated here. A comprehensive key to the species of southern South America is presented; in addition, we characterized and delimited the distributions of the species.