The Euphorbiaceae sensu lato are distributed mainly in the tropics, in various types of vegetation and habitats, being one of the largest, most complex and diverse families of angiosperms. It has recently been divided into four families, according to classification systems based on molecular phylogeny: Euphorbiaceae sensu stricto, Phyllanthaceae, Putranjivaceae, and Picrodendraceae. There is a proposition to establish Peraceae still under discussion. There were also changes in the taxonomic position of genera widely distributed in the Brazilian territory, such as Amanoa, Drypetes, Pera, Phyllanthus, Podocalyx, Pogonophora, and Richeria, among others. In addition, new species have been proposed and the limits of taxa distribution are expanding in Brazil. Thus, the authors provide an overview of recent studies and advances in the taxonomy of Euphorbiaceae s.l. in the Northern, Northeastern, Southeastern and Southern regions of Brazil, concentrating on review works and regional floras, as well as the changes that resulted in setting a new taxonomic family.

Herbaria represent irreplaceable repositories of biodiversity and are used to answer questions about conservation, ecology, systematics, and other sciences. In this sense, we characterize the infrastructure, human resources, and idiosyncrasies of Brazilian herbaria. To achieve this goal, curators were sent a structured and standardized questionnaire to gather information about herbaria. The Brazilian Herbaria Network listed 216 active herbaria in the year 2018, of which 139 answered the questionnaire. These herbaria hold 6,741,469 samples in their collections and more than 39,000 type samples. Most herbaria are in federal universities (40.28 %). Only 24 % of the curators considered that their herbarium is valued by their institutions and 52 % indicated inadequate storage areas. Only nine collections have smoke sensors. Our analysis showed that if an herbarium has an institutional policy the curator is 78 % more likely to consider its herbarium valued. Therefore, it is important for all herbaria to institute their policy. These numbers reflect the difficulty in maintaining herbaria, in many cases cared for only by its curator without institutional recognition and support. Despite recent losses in Brazilian natural history collections, herbaria are still threatened by a lack of basic infrastructure.

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.

ResumoPera Mutis é um gênero neotropical, com aproximadamente 30 espécies e centro de diversidade localizado na Bacia Amazônica. São árvores ou arbustos, dióicos ou raramente monóicos, que apresentam uma bráctea globosa que às vezes é confundida com botões florais. A última revisão do gênero foi realizada em 1919, sendo que muitas espécies foram descritas desde então. Este trabalho objetiva realizar um estudo taxonômico das espécies de Pera que ocorrem na Amazônia brasileira, discutindo a posição do gênero como parte de um táxon autônomo (Peraceae) ou como membro das Euphorbiaceae s.s. Foram encontradas 13 espécies na Amazônia brasileira: P. anisotricha Müll. Arg., P. bicolor (Klotzsch) Müll. Arg., P. benensis Ruby, P. coccinea (Benth.) Müll. Arg., P. decipiens Müll. Arg., P. distichophylla (Mart.) Baill., P. eiteniorum Bigio & Secco, P. glabrata (Schott) Baill., P. heteranthera (Schranck) I.M. Johnst, P. manausensis Bigio & Secco, P. membranacea Leal, P. tomentosa (Benth.) Müll. Arg. e P. pulchrifolia Ducke. Destas, três são novas ocorrências para a Amazônia brasileira, oito táxons foram considerados como novos sinônimos e novos lectótipos foram designados. Um histórico taxônomico do gênero, informações sobre sua morfologia, bem como descrições, chave de identificação, ilustrações e informações sobre a biologia de cada espécie são fornecidos. Palavras-chave: Peraceae, Acalyphoideae, flora amazônica. AbstractPera Mutis is an endemic genus from the Neotropics, with about 30 species and diversity center located in the Amazon. These species are trees or shrubs, dioecious or rarely monoicous, having globose bracts that are sometimes confused with floral buds. The last revision of this genus was in 1919, and many species have been described since then. This work aims to carry out a taxonomic study of Pera species that occur in the Brazilian Amazon and discussing the position of genera as part of an autonomous taxon (Peraceae) or if a member of the Euphorbiaceae s.s. Thirteen species in the Brazilian Amazon were found: Pera anisotricha Müll. Arg., P. bicolor (Klotzsch) Müll. Arg., P. benensis Ruby, P. coccinea (Benth.) Müll. Arg., P. decipiens Müll. Arg., P. distichophylla (Mart.) Baill., P. eiteniorum Bigio & Secco, P. glabrata (Schott) Baill., P. heteranthera (Schranck) I. M. Johnst, Pera manausensis Bigio & Secco P. membranacea Leal, P. tomentosa (Benth.) Müll. Arg., P. pulchrifolia Ducke. From these species, three are new records for the Brazilian Amazon. Eight taxa were considered to be new synonyms and new lectotypes were designated. Data on the history of the genus, and on morphology and biology, as well as descriptions, identification keys, and illustrations of the species are presented.

The Program for Biodiversity Research (PPBio) is an innovative program designed to integrate all biodiversity research stakeholders. Operating since 2004, it has installed long-term ecological research sites throughout Brazil and its logic has been applied in some other southern-hemisphere countries. The program supports all aspects of research necessary to understand biodiversity and the processes that affect it. There are presently 161 sampling sites (see some of them at Supplementary Appendix), most of which use a standardized methodology that allows comparisons across biomes and through time. To date, there are about 1200 publications associated with PPBio that cover topics ranging from natural history to genetics and species distributions. Most of the field data and metadata are available through PPBio web sites or DataONE. Metadata is available for researchers that intend to explore the different faces of Brazilian biodiversity spatio-temporal variation, as well as for managers intending to improve conservation strategies. The Program also fostered, directly and indirectly, local technical capacity building, and supported the training of hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students. The main challenge is maintaining the long-term funding necessary to understand biodiversity patterns and processes under pressure from global environmental changes.