Flora of Acanthaceae of Iguaçu National Park, Paraná, Brazil

Abstract

Species of Acanthaceae are predominantly associated with conserved forest environments such as Iguaçu National Park (PARNA Iguaçu), which is composed of Semideciduous Seasonal Forest and Araucaria forest. The aim of this work was to perform a floristic study of Acanthaceae of PARNA Iguaçu, with botanical illustrations, an identification key and descriptions of the species. Collections were carried out monthly from August 2015 to July 2016, in the areas of Céu Azul, Capanema and Foz do Iguaçu. The individuals collected were deposited in the UNOP herbarium and the specimens present in the herbaria EVB, HCF, MBM and UNOP, as well as in the virtual herbaria Reflora and SpeciesLink, were analyzed. A total of 13 native species were recorded from Atlantic Forest, distributed in seven genera. Justicia was the most representative, with five species. In all, 12 new records were made for PARNA Iguaçu, of which eight are new records for Semideciduous Seasonal Forest. Of the species found, three are threatened with extinction, one of which is considered vulnerable and two are categorized as endangered, which reinforces the role of PARNA Iguaçu in in-situ conservation in the state of Paraná.

Floristic inventory of Myrtaceae of Parque Nacional do Iguaçu, Paraná, Brazil

“…For this study, the park was divided into three large areas, as established by Hammes et al (2021) (Fig. 1), and 19 trails were followed for the collection of specimens (Fig.…”

Acanthaceae from Cuiabá lowlands, Mato Grosso, Brazil: a vegetational mosaic extending from Chapada dos Guimarães to Pantanal

“…Many changes in genus and species delimitation have occurred since the XIX century and a large number of new species were described in the past decade in South America and Brazil (Kameyama 2008;Braz & Monteiro 2006;Côrtes & Rapini 2011;Wood 2012;Indriunas & Kameyama 2012;Wasshausen 2013;Alcantara et al 2020), which indicates the need for new taxonomic studies of Brazilian Acanthaceae. Compared to other large Angiosperm families, relatively few studies focused on local floras have been published for Acanthaceae in Brazil, among these, most were developed in areas of Atlantic forest (e.g., Wasshausen & Smith 1969;Harvey & Wasshausen 1995;Braz et al 2002;Kameyama 1995Kameyama , 2003Kameyama , 2006Kameyama , 2009Silva et al 2010;Côrtes & Rapini 2013;Monteiro et al 2018;Macedo et al 2020;Hammes et al 2021;Alcantara & Alves 2022), and despite presumedly presenting a high number of species and genera (Flora e Funga do Brasil 2020, continuously updated), studies on Acanthaceae in the Central-West region are even more scarce (Rodrigues 2017;Sartin 2015;Vilar 2009).…”