Taxonomic study of Epidendrum (Laeliinae–Orchidaceae) in the state of Maranhão, northeastern Brazil

Abstract

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.

An updated checklist reveals strong incongruities with previous studies: insights after revisiting a regional orchid list

“…Our checklist includes 30 species that are not listed in Flora do Brasil 2020 (2020) to the state, however many of them have been recorded in previous publications (Silva et al 1999;Ferreira et al 2017;Rodrigues et al 2019;Saraiva et al 2020;Oliveira et al 2021;Gomes et al 2021;Silva et al in press). Thus, excluding these, a total of six species are cited here for the first time to Maranhão, all also being new records for northeastern Brazil (Tab.…”

“…Our initial database was constructed based on the lists provided by Silva et al (1999) andBFG (2015; and new records published more recently (Ferreira et al 2017;Rodrigues et al 2019;Saraiva et al 2020;Oliveira et al 2021;Gomes et al 2021;Silva et al in press). Subsequently, the main Brazilian herbaria and local herbaria were visited (CEN, HABIT, HB, HUEFS, INPA, IAN, MAR, MG, RB, SLUI, SP, SPF, UB, acronyms according to Thiers 2021, continuous adapted) in order to find specimens collected in the state to serve as vouchers of the taxa reported in the literature.…”

Selaginella P.Beauv. (Selaginellaceae) in the state of Maranhão, northeastern, Brazil: A floristic survey and a new record for the Cerrado domain

“…Various recent floristic studies confirm that Maranhão is undercollected (Ferreira et al 2017, Ferreira et al 2018, Ferreira et al 2019a, b, Ferreira et al 2022, Gomes et al 2021, Guarçoni et al 2018a, b, Guarçoni et al 2020, Oliveira et al 2021, Scatigna et al 2020. There are few surveys of the fern and lycophyte species in Maranhão (Almeida et al 2020, Silva Junior et al 2020, Fernandes et al 2022, suggesting the need for new botanical studies in the state to update the Flora e Funga do Brasil database, which currently only lists five Selaginella species.…”

Expansion of the geographic distribution of a Brazilian endemic, Encyclia gonzalezii L.C. Menezes (Orchidaceae, Epidendroideae), to the Cerrado of Maranhão and the Northeast Region of Brazil

“…Encyclia gonzalezii bloomed under cultivation between October and November, a time similar to the flowering period mentioned by Meneguzzo et al (2012), i.e., between September and October. Despite the botanical potential of Maranhão, not much research is available about surveying species. Recent studies in Maranhão have shown that, with increasing sampling effort, new records of Orchidaceae (Ferreira et al 2017(Ferreira et al , 2019aGomes et al 2021;Oliveira et al 2021;Pessoa et al in press) and other plant families (Ferreira et al , 2019bGuarçoni et al 2020b;Silva Júnior et al 2020) are discoverable. Even new species are found in Maranhão, as attested by Scatigna et al (2019), Guarçoni et al (2020a), andSantos et al (2020).…”