The present study aims to expand the knowledge of phylogenetic relationships in Olyrinae, a subtribe of herbaceous bamboos (Poaceae: Bambusoideae: Olyreae). Our focus is on Parodiolyra and Raddiella, two historically related genera that, with their sister Diandrolyra, form one of the four main lineages in the subtribe. Previous phylogenetic analyses suggested that Parodiolyra is not monophyletic, but its taxonomic boundaries and its relationship with Raddiella remain uncertain due to low sampling. We increased the taxon sampling and sequenced five regions of the nuclear and plastid genomes for this lineage and other representatives of Olyreae. We used maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, Bayesian inference and coalescence analysis. Our results corroborate the paraphyly of Parodiolyra, with P. micrantha sister to a clade including the remaining Parodiolyra and Raddiella. All remaining Parodiolyra form a well-supported clade, but Raddiella had conflicting resolutions, being either monophyletic or not. Thus, based on phylogenetic and morphological evidence, we here recircumscribe Parodiolyra, transferring P. micrantha and P. colombiensis to the new genus Taquara (described here). Regarding Raddiella, sampling is still not comprehensive and does not allow a decision on to its taxonomic status to be made at this time. Inclusion of other phreatophytic species may be crucial to resolve the problem of conflicting topologies.

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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.

ABSTRACT. Forest fragmentation reduces the effective size of natural populations, isolates individuals in the landscape, and, consequently, changes species' mating systems by increasing the degree of relatedness between individuals and inbreeding. Investigating the impact of habitat degradation on forest fragments helps to assess the genetic and ecological consequences of these changes, and allows the development of effective and sustainable conservation strategies to manage the genetic resources of species living in degraded landscapes. The aim of the present study was to assess the genetic diversity of fragmented Theobroma speciosum populations using microsatellite markers. Three urban forest fragments were selected in the municipality of Alta Floresta, Mato Grosso State, Brazil, namely C/E park, J park, and Zoo Botanical park. Seventy-five individuals (25 in each fragment) were sampled by collecting their leaves for genomic DNA extraction. Polymerase chain reaction amplifications were performed using nine polymorphic simple sequence repeat primers, which amplified 84 alleles. The mean expected heterozygosity was 0.970, and it was always higher than the observed heterozygosity. Analysis of molecular variance revealed that most variability occurred within populations (64%) rather than between them (36%). The Structure software and an unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean dendrogram revealed three distinct groups, showing that individuals were allocated to their correct populations. Genotype number 3 from C/E park, number 45 from J park, and number 51 from Zoo Botanical park could be used as stock plants in breeding programs, because they were the most dissimilar within the populations studied. The high genetic diversity levels detected in all three populations studied emphasize the importance of protecting this species in its natural habitat.

Piresia, a small genus of herbaceous bamboos, has a geographical disjunction between the Caribbean and northern/western South America and the north-eastern Atlantic Forest in Brazil. Piresia leptophylla is reported from western Amazonia (WA) and the north-eastern Atlantic Forest (NAF), but its occurrence in western Amazonia is questionable. Using an integrative approach, we combined traditional morphological analysis, anatomy and niche modelling. The results revealed few macromorphological differences between WA and NAF specimens (only plant height, leaf length, lodicule dimensions, shape and position), contrasting with consistent differences in leaf anatomy (macrohairs and cruciform silica bodies in the costal zone of the adaxial/abaxial leaf surfaces, crenate silica bodies on the abaxial leaf surface, lack of panicoid hairs on the abaxial leaf surface, bicellular microhairs and lobed papillae over the abaxial leaf surface, and sparse but elongated fusoid cells in the mesophyll of WA specimens) and in niche patterns. The anatomical/micromorphological characters suggest environmental adaptations to the Amazonian and ‘restinga’ forests, respectively. We therefore propose the segregation of the WA populations into a new species, Piresia tenella sp. nov. We provide a formal description, photographs, a line illustration, a distribution map and discussion of the conservation status for the new species.

Piresia is a low growing perennial grass in the tribe Olyreae (Poaceae, Bambusoideae). It differs from other herbaceous bamboos in having dimorphic culms: aerial ones bear broad and flat leaf blades at the top and rarely develop an inflorescence, and decumbent ones usually bear reduced leaves or bladeless leaf sheaths, with inflorescences that are raceme-like, few-flowered, and often hidden under the litter. Four species are accepted in this genus, and a fifth one is described and illustrated herein. Piresia palmula. This new species resembles P. leptophylla in having narrow leaf blades, but differs in the number of aerial culms, texture of leaf blades, and in the number and size of inflorescences on both aerial and decumbent culms. Both species are associated with rainforest remnants, but display distinct patterns of geographic distribution and environmental conditions. Piresia leptophylla occurs in northern South America and northeastern Brazil (Bahia to Parai'ba), often in sandy soils, especially in "Restinga" forests, whereas the new species is known only from Michelin's Ecological Reserve, in southern Bahia, growing on rocky substrate in a humid environment. For these reasons it is considered as CR (critically endangered) according to IUCN criteria.

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