The Royal Spanish Botanical Expedition to the Viceroyalty of Peru in the 18th century was one of the most important European expeditions to American territories. Using the herbarium sheets of Ruiz and Pavón (Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid) and their edited works, manuscripts and expedition diaries, we have constructed a database of the collected and observed flora, which has served as the basis for a map containing all of the Peruvian localities of the expedition. Based on the method of bioclimatic belts and our own observations, we have deduced to which type of vegetation the flora studied in the expedition belongs. The uses of the flora per locality were studied, as well as the ethnic groups involved in the different localities. By using a Principal Component Analysis, we have obtained the distribution of the bioclimatic belts whose vegetation was the most explored. In order to observe the bioclimatic tendency of plant uses, a Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) was conducted to identify the distribution of localities with the highest frequencies of plant uses. The expedition’s explorations focused on the most humid areas of the thermo- and mesotropical belts, from where a large number of plants with practical uses were obtained.

This work is a phytosociological approach to the montane rainforests of Peru with the aim of advancing on the diversity of plant communities, which we had already begun in previous research. From 364 phytosociological plots and 3389 species of the South American tropics, we have developed a cluster, using the Sørensen index, to know the similarities between the forests and their parallelism with bioclimatic conditions. After studying the existence of characteristic groups of the Peruvian forests, we have established different communities and phytosociological units for Peru. As a result, we have described seven associations, within three new alliances, which are gathered in the new order Saurauio peruvianae-Condaminetalia corymbosae of the new class Morello pubescentis-Myrsinetea coriaceae. In addition, two associations have been described within the class Pruno rigidae-Oreopanacetea floribundae (mesotropical laurel-like forests), and three for the class Alnetea acuminatae (alder forests and palm groves). The humid forests of Peru are closer to those of Ecuador and to those of the set formed by the three Colombian mountain ranges than to those of Bolivia and Argentina, due to the common flora these share with areas of Paraguay and even of the Parana River region.

A phytosociological approach to dry forest and cactus communities on the occidental slopes of the Peruvian Andes is presented in base of 164 plots carried out following the Braun-Blanquet method. From them, 52 have been made recently, and the other 112 were taken from the literature. After a multivariate analysis, using a hierarchical clustering and a detendred correspondence analysis, the Acacio-Prosopidetea class (dry forest and cactus communities, developed on soils with some edaphic humidity or precipitations derived from El Niño Current), the Opuntietea sphaericae class (cactus communities of central and southern Peru, on few stabilized rocky or sandy soils) and the Carico-Caesalpinietea class (dry forests of the Peruvian coastal desert, infl uenced by the maritime humidity of the cold Humboldt Current), are differentiated. Within the Acacio-Prosopidetea class, two alliances are commented: the Bursero-Prosopidion pallidae (with two new associations Loxopterygio huasanginis-Neoraimondietum arequipensis and Crotono ruiziani-Acacietum macracanthae), and the new alliance Baccharido-Jacarandion acutifoliae (with the new associations Armatocereo balsasensis-Cercidietum praecocis and Diplopterydo leiocarpae-Acacietum macracanthae). For the Opuntietea sphaericae class, the association Haageocereo versicoloris-Armatocereetum proceri (Espostoo-Neoraimondion) is described on the basis of plots from hyperarid localities of central Peru. Finally, a typological classifi cation of the studied plant communities is given.

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The present work is an update of the syntaxonomic scheme of Peru, with the results obtained to present. We currently recognize 218 phytosociological associations, of which 11 are novelties: Ageratino azangaroensis-Polylepidetum incarum ass. nov., Alchemillo pinnatae-Stipetum hans-meyeri ass. nov., Barnadesio dombeyanae-Polylepidetum racemosae ass. nov., Eclipto prostratae-Echinochloetum crus-pavonis ass. nov., Geoffroeetum decorticantis ass. nov., Junellio arequipensis-Proustietum cuneifoliae ass. nov., Lemnetum aequinoctialis ass. nov., Mutisio cochabambensis-Polylepidetum incarum ass. nov., Poo glaberrimae-Calamagrostietum eminentis ass. nov., Sarcocornietum andinae ass. nov., and Schino mollis-Prosopidetum calderensis ass. nov. These 218 associations belong to 34 phytosociological classes, four of which are described here for the first time: Limoselletea australis cl. nov., Mimulo glabrati-Plantaginetea australis cl. nov., Tillandsietea latifolio-landbeckii cl. nov., Woodsio montevidensis-Cheilanthetea pruinatae cl. nov. In addition, 5 new orders (Alternanthero pungentis-Cynodontetalia dactylonis ord. nov., Coreopsietalia fasciculatae ord. nov., Echinopsio schoenii-Proustetalia cuneifoliae ord. nov., Mimulo glabrati-Plantaginetalia australis ord. nov., Tillandsietalia latifolio-landbeckii ord. nov.), and 7 new alliances (Azollo filiculoidis-Lemnion gibbae all. nov., Ditricho submerse-Isoetion lechleri all. nov., Echinopsio schoenii-Proustion cuneifoliae all. nov., Haageocerion acranthi all. nov., Lepidio chichicarae-Cynodontion dactylonis all. nov., Schoenoplection tatorae all. nov., and Tillandsion purpureo-latifoliae all. nov.) are also described.

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We present the diversity of Asteraceae in the Arequipa Region of southern Peru, an area strongly influenced by volcanism, which has given rise to different soil types and has determined a very wide bioclimatic and vegetational zonation. We present the distribution of Asteraceae endemisms of Peru and Arequipa, and of the dry puna. For this purpose, we have used the bioclimatic methodology of Rivas-Martínez, the characteristic soils of each collection point, and the distance of the collection localities from the volcanoes. In the Arequipa Region, we found 232 species of Asteraceae, of which 49 are endemic to Peru or to the dry puna and 7 are endemic to the studied area. Of these endemics, 10 are thermotropical, 1 is mesotropical, 3 are supratropical, and 3 are orotropical bioindicators, being mainly distributed in two large groups of soils: sandy and saline or gypsiferous soils, mostly located within the thermotropical belt of the coastal desert, and andosols and cambisols distributed from the thermotropical to the cryorotropical belts of the Andes. The greatest number of endemics and semi-endemics are found in the vicinity of the arc formed by the Misti, Chachani and Pichu-Pichu volcanoes.