ABSTRACT-Brazil is the third largest fruit producer in the world, but many native fruits remain underexploited, as is the case for mangabeira (Hancornia speciosa Gomes). Little is known about general aspects of this species in its naturally occurring environment. Thus, this study aimed to characterize plant and fruit morphologies from native mangabeira selections in the Savannah-Restinga vegetation transition zone. The experiment was carried out in Patizal, Recanto and Recurso villages located in the Morros municipality, Maranhão State, dominated by extensive Savannah-Restinga vegetation transition zone with naturally occurring mangabeiras. Forty five mangabeira trees were randomly chosen from native selections in the three villages. Data collected were plant height, stem height, stem diameter, canopy volume, number of main and secondary branches and number of fruits. Twenty fruits were collected per plant to determine the mass, length and diameter, pulp and skin mass, pulp yield, seed number and seed mass. There was a high degree of variability for all assessed variables except for the pulp yield (average = 86.69%, minimum = 76.75% and maximum = 91.11%; CV= 3.51%). Significant and positive high magnitude correlations were noted among the variables of fruit mass and pulp mass plus skin with seed number (r=0,01; ρ≤0,78 e ρ≤0,74, respectively). Index terms: Hancornia speciosa Gomes, native selections, biometry. CARACTERIZAÇÃO DE ÁRVORES E FRUTOS DE MANGABEIRANA ZONA DE TRANSIÇÃO CERRADO-RESTINGA RESUMO -O Brasil é o terceiro maior produtor de frutas do mundo, porém muitas fruteiras nativas continuam subexploradas, como ocorre com a mangabeira (Hancornia speciosa Gomes). Pouco se conhece sobre os aspectos gerais da espécie em seus ambientes de ocorrência natural. Desta forma, objetivou-se caracterizar a morfologia da planta e do fruto de mangabeiras silvestres selecionadas em áreas de ocorrência natural da espécie, em vegetação de transição entre o Cerrado e a Restinga. O experimento foi realizado no município de Morros-Maranhão, nos povoados Patizal, Recanto e Recurso, caracterizados por extensas áreas de vegetação de transição: Cerrado e Restinga, com ocorrência natural de mangabeira. Nos três povoados, selecionaram-se 45 mangabeiras-matrizes, das quais se mensuraram a altura total, altura do fuste, diâmetro do caule, volume de copa, número de ramos principais e secundários, e número de frutos. Coletaram-se 20 frutos por matriz e determinaram-se a massa, comprimento e diâmetro dos frutos, massa da polpa mais casca, rendimento de polpa, número e massa de sementes. Houve elevado grau de variabilidade para todas as variáveis estudadas, exceto para o rendimento de polpa (média = 86,69%, mínimo = 76,75% e máximo = 91,11%; CV = 3,51%). Há correlação positiva significativa de alta magnitude entre as variáveis massa do fruto e massa da polpa mais casca com o número de sementes (r=0,01; ρ≤0,78 e ρ≤0,74, respectivamente). Termos para indexação: Hancornia speciosa Gomes, seleções silvestres, biometria.

The mangabeira (Hancornia speciosa Gomes) has great food and pharmaceutical values but its production is almost entirely made by people gathering fruits in forests, which increases the risk extinction, particularly in savannah regions. Thus, the objective of this study was to compare floristic, phytosociology and species diversity in five areas of natural occurrence of mangabeira. All plants with a diameter at soil level equal to or greater than five cm were selected by the quadrant method in five villages in the state of Maranhão, northeastern Brazil. The assessed variables for the whole vegetation were number of individuals, number of species, total density, the Shannon Diversity Index (H'), the Jaccard Similarity Index, total plant height and diameter at soil level. The phytosociological parameters computed for the mangabeira population were absolute and relative density, frequency and dominance; basal area, importance value and cover value. We recorded 1,696 plants from 26 species and 16 families. Anacardiaceae, Apocynaceae and Fabaceae were the families that stood out most with two species each. The species diversity was low in all villages, varying from H’= 0.659 in Santana to H’ = 1.777 in Recanto. The floristic similarity among the vegetation in all villages was low except between Patizal and Recurso (0.571). For the mangabeira population, the importance value and cover value were higher in Santana, with 79.35% and 85.28% respectively and the highest values of plant height (6.02 meters) and diameter at soil level (13.76 cm) were found in Patizal village. These results could be used for management, preservation and sustainability of the mangabeira in northeastern Brazil.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract