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.

The Brazilian state of Maranhão is located in a transition zone between the Amazon and Cerrado domains; its geographic position enables the coexistence of species from both biomes. Taxonomic information of Orchidaceae and especially Epidendrum in the state are scarce; thus this study aimed to provide a taxonomic treatment for the genus based on field expeditions and analyses of herbarium specimens (IAN, MAR, MG, NY, SLUI, and UB). Epidendrum is represented in Maranhão by 10 species, of which three are new records: E. amapense, E. anceps, and E. carpophorum. Another three previously cited species, E. nocturnum, E. sculptum, and E. viviparum, were not collected and also not found in the herbaria visited; moreover, these records represent misidentifications. The majority of the species is distributed in the Amazon domain; however, E. macrocarpum is recorded for the first time for the Brazilian Cerrado. Here we provide an identification key, descriptions, photographs, and a distribution map of the species in the state.

Abstract— Turnera carolina, a new species from Chapada das Mesas region in the Brazilian Cerrado, is described and illustrated. The new taxon can be characterized by having internodes up to 5 cm long, leaves with dark spots on both sides, petals that are smaller than the sepals, bracts and calyx that are usually reddish, and an orange corolla. We also present a distribution map, illustrations, field photos, comments on taxonomy, and an identification key to the species of Turnera from Chapada das Mesas National Park and surroundings.

An updated checklist of the Orchidaceae from the state of Maranhão is provided. We confirmed 51 genera and 119 species, of which the most representative genera are Habenaria (17 spp.), Catasetum (14 spp.) and Epidendrum (10 spp.). Our checklist includes 30 species that are not listed in the Flora do Brasil for the state, many of which, however, have been recorded in previous publications. Thus, excluding these, six species are cited here for the first time to Maranhão, all of which are also new records for the Brazilian Northeast region. Comparing such data with previous lists, with 103 and 105 species, we detected a strong incongruity among the data. Of the former list, 25 species lack vouchers from the state and were not collected in our expeditions, thus these taxa are not confirmed, while of the latter we found 20 species that are also not confirmed for the same reasons. A list with the 34 excluded taxa is provided. Most of the collection effort in the state coincides with university campuses, and the northwestern region is the most species rich, but unfortunately it is also the most threatened area.

This study provides an inventory of the Orchidaceae in one of the most threatened areas of the Brazilian Amazon, situated in the eastern portion of the Belém Endemism Center. A total of 51 species, distributed in 24 genera, are recorded. Epiphytes represent 86% of the species, the remaining are terricolous (6%), hemiepiphytic (6%) or myco-heterotrophic (2%). The most representative genera were Epidendrum (6 spp.) and Maxillaria (5 spp.). This study cites for the first time five genera (Coryanthes, Sarcoglottis, Stelis, Trichosalpinx and Wullschlaegelia) and ten species for the flora of Maranhão, of which four are new records to the Brazilian Northeast. An identification key, photographs of the new records, taxonomic and ecological comments, as well as geographic distribution are provided. The data reinforce the importance of the forest fragments of the Amazon Forest in Maranhão for the conservation of Orchidaceae which is constantly threatened by deforestation in the Belém Endemism Center.

Expansion of the geographic distribution of Rapatea paludosa Aubl. (Rapateaceae) to the state of Maranhão, northeastern Brazil. The occurrence of R. paludosa is reported for the flora of Maranhão from the municipality of Cândido Mendes. This is the second species of the genus found in the state. The collected samples are also the second record of R. paludosa in the Northeastern Region of Brazil, adding information on its geographic distribution. Rapatea paludosa is described, illustrated, and its distribution mapped.

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