O gênero Phyllanthus L. (Phyllantheae - Euphorbiaceae Juss.) no bioma Caatinga do estado de Pernambuco - Brasil

Abstract

RESUMO O estudo taxonômico de Phyllanthus L. no bioma Caatinga de Pernambuco foi realizado através da análise morfológica de materiais herborizados e de observações de campo. Constataramse 11 taxa: Phyllanthus acuminatus Vahl., P. amarus Schumach. & Thonn., P. caroliniensis Walt. subsp. caroliniensis., P. claussenii Müll. Arg., P. jacobinensis Müll. Arg., P. klotzschianus Müll. Arg., P. minutulus Müll. Arg., P niruri L., P. heteradenius Müll. Arg., P. stipulatus (Raf.) Webster e P. tenellus Roxb. Os principais caracteres morfológicos utilizados para separação das espécies foram o hábito, o padrão de ramificação, a forma do disco glandular das flores de ambos os sexos, o número e união dos estames e a ornamentação das sementes. A maior parte das espécies apresenta distribuição nas subzonas do agreste e sertão em vegetação de Caatinga. Apenas P. acuminatus Vahl, P. minutulus Müll. Arg. e P. stipulatus (Raf.) Webster foram encontradas exclusivamente na subzona do Agreste, nas florestas Montanas.

SEM observations on seeds of some herbaceous Phyllanthus L. species (Phyllanthaceae)

“…Through micromorphologic examination of each seed coat, three types of rib disposition on dorsal and ventral face were recognized. The seed descriptions and illustrations of Silva and Sales (2004) for P. amarus, P. caroliniensis, P. niruri, P. stipulatus and P tenellus can not be compared with the SEM micromorphology described in Table 2 because of the lower magnifi cation used.…”

“…It is diffi cult to identify the species correctly, such as the case of P. niruri and P. amarus (Unander et al, 1990;1991;1992), and to establish which of the species has useful medicinal properties with the available ethno-botanical and ethnopharmacological data. In herbaceous Phyllanthus, fl oral characters have limited utility for the identifi cation of species and supra-specifi c taxa, due to the small size of the fl owers and the relative narrow range of variation in number and shape of parts, but it is unquestionable that the mean size and the ornamentation pattern of seeds tend to be the best diagnostic (Webster, 1970;Silva;Sales, 2004). Based on a literature revision, the present work focuses on some medicinal herbaceous Phyllanthus species occurring in Brazil known as "quebra-pedra" Downs, 1959;Smith et al, 1988;Falcão et al, 2005;Barbosa-Filho et al, 2005) in order to study the surface ornamentation patterns of P. amarus Schum.…”

“…& Haic., reviewed in this paper, and other fi ve species. Also Silva and Sales (2004) studied some species with a taxonomic approach, with short seed descriptions and illustrations.…”

A Study on Phytochemical Analysis of Phyllanthus Tenellus Roxb.

“…One of the species of Phyllanthus is a "stone breaker" (quebra-pedra) is Phyllanthus tenellus Roxb. which is inhabitant to a common weed in humid environments and Brazilian tropical and subtropical regions 5 . This species is found in cultivated areas, sidewalk edges land strips and garden seed beds.…”

Phyllanthus L. (Phyllanthaceae) em Pernambuco, Brasil

“…Choretropsis; de Webster (2002b), que elaborou uma sinopse das espécies brasileiras do subgênero Phyllanthus. Além destes, refereciam-se as floras locais: Rio Grande do Sul (Allem 1977), Santa Catarina (Smith & Downs 1959), Serra do Cipó, em Minas Gerais (Cordeiro 1992), Pico das Almas, na Bahia (Cordeiro 1995), Chapada Diamantina, na Bahia (Torres et al 2003) e no bioma caatinga de Pernambuco (Silva & Sales 2004).…”