We present here the first records of Vanilla bahiana and Vanilla pompona from Maranhão state, northeastern Brazil. Both species were collected in a gallery forest, in areas of Cerrado vegetation at Caxias municipality. This work contributes with knowledge on the geographical distribution of the species in northeastern Brazil.

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.

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This study reports the first record of Passiflora pedata L. (Passifloraceae) from the state of Maranhão and from the Northeast Region of Brazil. The species was collected in the municipality of Buriticupu, which is located in a remnant of Amazon Forest in western Maranhão. This work adds to the knowledge of the flora of Maranhão and the distribution of P. pedata in the Brazilian Amazon.

We report the first records of Tillandsia kegeliana, T. loliacea, T. paraensis, T. parvispica, T. recurvata, and T. tenuifolia for Maranhão, Brazil. These species were collected in the Amazonian and Cerrado biomes. This work adds new knowledge to the flora of Maranhão and extends the distribution of these species within Brazil.

We report the first record of Voyria caerulea from the state of Maranhão, northeastern Brazil. A fertile specimen was collected in a gallery forest during the rainy season, within the boundaries of the municipality of São Raimundo das Mangabeiras. This find contributes to the knowledge on the micoheterotrophic flora of Maranhão and expands the geographic distribution of this species in Brazil. We also present a taxonomic description, illustrations, an occurrence map of the newly found population, and an identification key for all the species of Voyria that occur in Maranhão.

RESUMO O objetivo desse estudo foi realizar um inventario etnobotânico das espécies madeireiras e medicinais utilizadas no município de Aldeias Altas-MA. Para isso, foram realizadas aplicação de questionários semiestruturados, além de conversas informais com proprietários de serrarias e raizeiros. Foram listadas 49 espécies de uso popular no município, das quais seis espécies (12%) foram citadas somente para o uso madeireiro; 38 espécies (78%) somente para o uso medicinal e cinco espécies (10%) em ambas as categorias de uso. As famílias mais representativas foram, Fabaceae e Lamiaceae, com espécies madeireiras e medicinais usadas de modo frequente pela população como fonte de renda, energia e saúde. Nesse sentido, faz-se necessários mais estudos que ampliem esses conhecimentos sobre essas espécies, e suas utilizações de maneira mais segura e sustentável.

Dyckia racemosa is a Bromeliaceae species known from only three collections near Serra Geral, Central Brazil. In this study, the area of occurrence of the species is reported to extend to a Cerrado area in Maranhão state, northeastern Brazil. Digital collections from Brazilian and international herbaria were consulted. The species original description is complemented herein with illustrations and information on the species phenology, ecology, and conservation status. The discovery of D. racemosa in Maranhão demonstrates the importance of floristic studies and the need for further research of this nature in that Brazilian state.