Collection, "Phanerogamic Flora of São Paulo," gains its seventh volume

Nineteen years ago, a group of researchers took on the challenge of mapping and classifying the taxonomy of over 7,000 species of flowering plants—or phanerogams—found in the state of São Paulo. Their work led to the publication of six books. The seventh volume of the Flora Fanerogâmica do Estado de São Paulo is available.

By Karina Toledo

Agência FAPESP – Nineteen years ago, a group of researchers took on the challenge of mapping and classifying the taxonomy of over 7,000 species of flowering plants—or phanerogams—found in the state of São Paulo. Their work led to the publication of six books. The seventh volume of the Flora Fanerogâmica do Estado de São Paulo [Phanerogamic Flora of São Paulo State] was released on June 6 at the Botanical Institute of São Paulo (IBt).

Volume 7 presents monographs on 19 families, 67 genera and 470 species of plants. Ornamental plants, such as Araceae, with its beautiful anthuriums and philodendrons, and Begoniaceae, which includes begonias, are strongly represented.

The Musaceae family (banana plants) is also represented, as is the Marantaceae family. Marantaceae is known for its caetés, with their showy leaves, and for arrowroot, which contains a type of flour used in food. The largest family in Volume 7 is Piperaceae, which include peperomias and pariparoba.

“This edition received contributions from 49 botanical specialists and students. The greatest challenge was the taxonomy of the Marantaceae, as there weren’t any specialists on the family in Brazil,” recounted Maria das Graças Lapa Wanderley, an IBt researcher who coordinated the project and participated in developing the monographs.

Work on the Flora Fanerogâmica do Estado de São Paulo began in 1993 with a thematic project financed by FAPESP and coordinated by Hermógenes de Freitas Leitão Filho (1944-1996), a professor at the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp).

The project has involved over 200 researchers, both within Brazil and abroad, and has helped to graduate over 100 students in biology, agronomy engineering and related fields.

Project coordinators include George Sheperd, Therezinha Melhem, Suzana Martins and Ana Maria Giulietti. Newly added members of the editing team include José Rubens Pirani, Inês Cordeiro, Rebeca Romanini, Maria Margarida Fiuza de Melo, Mizue Kirizawa and Luiza Kinoshita.

“We paid homage in this volume to Professor Shepherd from the Unicamp Biology Institute, who has participated in the project since the beginning and has been fundamental to its development,” stated Lapa Wanderley.

The first publications were released in 2001. The plan is to complete 15 volumes that encompass 180 families, 1,500 genera and 7,500 species of phanerogams. “We’re halfway through,” stated Lapa Wanderley.

The monographs contain descriptions of the families, genera and species. Keys are given in the case of multiple genera, species or infraspecific taxa. Each monograph has botanical illustrations and information on the phenotypic variation and geographic distribution of the species within the state.

Lapa Wanderley listed recent advances in the areas of genetics and molecular phylogeny among the difficulties encountered in completing the monographs. “The discoveries have presented new proposals for species classification. So frequent updates are necessary and this makes the editing process longer,” she said.

Other states also took on the commitment to map their flowering plant populations in the early 1990s, but only São Paulo and the Federal District are in the advanced stages of study, said Lapa Wanderley.

“The decision to map out Brazil’s flora by state was made during congresses of the Brazilian Botanical Society. As soon as the proposal was approved, São Paulo began studies and sent the project to FAPESP,” she recalled.

Native vegetation checklist

The Flora Fanerogâmica do Estado de São Paulo researchers, working with the BIOTA-FAPESP program team, completed a checklist of all the phanerogamic species in São Paulo State in December 2011.

“It’s a list made by specialists, with updates of the names of the species and herbarium references. The BIOTA program intends to make a checklist of all the native vegetation in São Paulo. We have already finished the phanerogam part,” explained Lapa Wanderley.

A summary of the work was published online in the BIOTA Neotropica journal. The printed version will be released in August.

At the release party for Volume 7 of the Flora Fanerogâmica do Estado de São Paulo, the “Guide to Identification of Bromeliads in the Paranapiacaba Reserve” was also released.

This guide is the result of the scientific initiative of Sergio Sakagawa, a FAPESP scholar and Lapa Wanderley’s advisee, who stated “It’s a 108-page pamphlet with an introduction on the Paranapiacaba Reserve and descriptions of 38 Bromelia species found there.”

• Flora Fanerogâmica do Estado de São Paulo – Volume 7
  R$ 120
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