-(The genus Habenaria (Orchidaceae) in the Brazilian Amazon). A survey of Habenaria in the Amazon region in northern Brazil was undertaken. Forty species are recognized for the region. The majority of the species occur in savannah vegetation and the vegetation types with the highest number of species are the inland savannahs on terra firme (19 spp.), the savannahs of Roraima (16 spp.) and the coastal savannahs of Pará and Amapá (15 spp.). Only four species grow in forest and three in the Amazonian caatinga. Nine of these species are restricted in Brazil to the Amazon region, four species from forest formations and three from highlands at the border with Venezuela. Only one species, H. sylvicultrix Lindl. ex Kraenzl., is possibly endemic to northern Brazil. When compared to other regions, the greatest similarity is found with the "cerrado" of the centralwestern region (28 spp. in common) and the Guianas (26 spp.). Only five species are common with the Atlantic Forest. Five species are recorded for the first time or confirmed in Brazil: H.

RESUMO -O Estado do Maranhão faz parte da Amazônia Legal e tem sido um dos mais atingidos pelos projetos impactadores do meio ambiente, causando sérios riscos de extinção de espécies vegetais e animais, algumas, ainda desconhecidas pela ciência. Com o objetivo de conhecer a flora orquídica daquele Estado foram conduzidos estudos ao longo de aproximadamente 12 anos, registrando-se a ocorrência de 103 diferentes espécies de Orchidaceae. Os resultados demonstraram a grande riqueza em espécies nesta família, e o quanto ela era desconhecida, uma vez que antes deste estudo, conheciase pela literatura, apenas dez espécies ocorrendo no Estado do Maranhão. PALAVRAS CHAVE: Orchidaceae, Amazônia Legal, Diversidade Checklist of Orchidaceae from State of Maranhão, Brazil.ABSTRACT -The Maranhão State is part of "Amazônia Legal", and has been one of the most affected by the impacts of projects to environment, and leading to extintion many species of plants and animals, some of them not discovered by science. A study with the orchids flora of Maranhão state for about 12 years registered the occurence of 103 different species of Orchidaceae. These results show a great variety of the species in this this family and how much it was unknown, since, before this study, of only 10 different species of Orchidaceae, were cited the in Brazilian State of Maranhão.

The geographical distribution and morpho-genetic variation of wild and domesticated populations of a crop species are essential information for identifying a center of origin. The pejibaye (Bactris gasipaes Kunth) is the only domesticated neotropical palm, whose starchy-oily fruits are subsistence products and whose heart-of-palm is an expanding agribusiness. The origin of pejibaye is unresolved, but probably will be found in the distribution of type 1 B. gasipaes var. chichagui in southwestern Amazonia. A new area of occurrence of this type is reported around São Felix do Xingu, Pará, Brazil, 52°41' W 6°34' S, about 600 km northeast of the eastern-most known population, in central Mato Grosso, Brazil. The plants of this population are slightly less robust than other type 1 plants and have small fruit bunches (60-70 fruit), small fruit (0.45 g and 10 by 9 mm) and seed (0.23 g and 6.5 by 7.4 mm), all smaller than previous descriptions. Although this find is disjunct from earlier reports, it is unlikely that other populations are absent between it and central Mato Grosso, expanding type 1 var. chichagui's distribution by 30% and redefining it as a typical element of the transition between humid and semi-humid forests across southern Amazonia, rather than an Andean element expanding into the region.

Resumo -Duas espécies de Orchidaceae, Myoxanthus parvilabius (C. Schweinf.) Luer e Trichosalpinx intricata (Lind) Luer, foram registradas pela primeira vez para a flora brasileira, ambas encontradas no município de Santa Izabel do Rio Negro, Amazonas, Brasil. Palavras