The shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic impediment to biodiversity research and conservation planning. The taxonomic impediment and the biodiversity crisis are widely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerous countries worldwide have devoted considerable effort to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for the preparation of a working list of all known plant species by 2010 and an online world Flora by 2020. Brazil is a megadiverse country, home to more of the world's known plant species than any other country. Despite that, Flora Brasiliensis, concluded in 1906, was the last comprehensive treatment of the Brazilian flora. The lack of accurate estimates of the number of species of algae, fungi, and plants occurring in Brazil contributes to the prevailing taxonomic impediment and delays progress towards the GSPC targets. Over the past 12 years, a legion of taxonomists motivated to meet Target 1 of the GSPC, worked together to gather and integrate knowledge on the algal, plant, and fungal diversity of Brazil. Overall, a team of about 980 taxonomists joined efforts in a highly collaborative project that used cybertaxonomy to prepare an updated Flora of Brazil, showing the power of scientific collaboration to reach ambitious goals. This paper presents an overview of the Brazilian Flora 2020 and provides taxonomic and spatial updates on the algae, fungi, and plants found in one of the world's most biodiverse countries. We further identify collection gaps and summarize future goals that extend beyond 2020. Our results show that Brazil is home to 46,975 native species of algae, fungi, and plants, of which 19,669 are endemic to the country. The data compiled to date suggests that the Atlantic Rainforest might be the most diverse Brazilian domain for all plant groups except gymnosperms, which are most diverse in the Amazon. However, scientific knowledge of Brazilian diversity is still unequally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the country. In times of “scientific reductionism”, with botanical and mycological sciences suffering pervasive depreciation in recent decades, the first online Flora of Brazil 2020 significantly enhanced the quality and quantity of taxonomic data available for algae, fungi, and plants from Brazil. This project also made all the information freely available online, providing a firm foundation for future research and for the management, conservation, and sustainable use of the Brazilian funga and flora.

Zingiberales está representada na flora brasileira por cerca de 300 espécies, ocorrendo na região Nordeste aproximadamente 100 espécies. O conhecimento sobre a ordem na Floresta Atlântica do estado de Pernambuco é incipiente, tendo esse estudo o objetivo de inventariar e caracterizar morfologicamente as espécies das Zingiberales da Usina São José, localizada em Igarassu. As coletas foram realizadas em oito expedições (entre Novembro de 2013 a Dezembro de 2014), além de visitas aos herbários HST, IPA, PEUFR e UFP. Na área de estudo foram encontradas uma espécie de Costaceae, três de Heliconiaceae, e sete de Marantaceae. Heliconia episcopalis eMarantasubterranea são citadas como novos registros para o estado. São apresentadas chave de identificação, descrições, comentários e ilustrações.

A new species of Maranta subg. Maranta, M. gigantea, is described and illustrated. This is known from the submontane Atlantic Forest in the states of Pernambuco and Alagoas (Brazil). Based on the zingiberoid growth form it is morphologically similar to M. anderssoniana and M. zingiberina, differing mainly in the shape of the leaf blade (lanceolate to oblong or ovate respectively vs. narrow-lanceolate) and number of calli in the callose staminode (one prominent callus vs. two prominent calli). It is further differentiated from M. anderssoniana by being larger plants (up to 1.8 m tall vs. up to 1.0 m tall), with a tomentose leaf sheath (vs. sericeous), larger corolla tube length (9−12 mm long vs. 5−6 mm long), asymmetrically elliptical corolla lobes (vs. asymmetrically oblong) and larger outer staminodes (minor 12−15 × 6.5−8 mm vs. 10−11 × 5.5−6 mm and major 13−16 × 8.5 × 10.5 mm vs. 10−12 × 8−9.2 mm). Due to its narrow distribution, it is classified as critically endangered.

Neotropical Maranta has repeatedly emerged as non-monophyletic in molecular phylogenetic studies, but no taxonomic changes have been proposed due to previous weak support for the main clades and overall sparse taxonomic sampling. Our study includes a phylogenetic hypothesis strictly based on molecular evidence, using nuclear ribosomal (nrITS) and plastid (rps16, trnL-F and rpl32-trnL) markers for Maranta and allied genera. Thirty-two species from eight genera were sampled, and maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) analyses were carried out. Non-ambiguous indels were scored in both analyses to test their contribution to internal support. Our results confirm that Maranta, as previously delimited, is non-monophyletic, with species of Hylaeanthe, Myrosma and Koernickanthe nested among clades of Maranta. The combined BI analysis without indels was the best resolved, and inclusion of indels increased support only for terminal clades. The sampled species comprise two sister clades, one with Maranta + Hylaeanthe + Myrosma + Koernickanthe and the other with Ctenanthe + Saranthe + Stromanthe. The infrageneric classification proposed by Schumann for Maranta (M. subgenera Maranta and Calateastrum) is partially corroborated by our results, but the remaining subgenera need to be further studied. Based on our strongly supported phylogenetic results, we revise the taxonomy of these genera, expanding the limits of Maranta. We propose two new combinations and a new name for Hylaeanthe in Maranta.

Resumo O território de Pernambuco engloba partes da Caatinga e da Mata Atlântica, abrigando áreas de extrema importância biológica, ricas em espécies de Marantaceae. Este estudo apresenta uma sinopse taxonômica de Marantaceae ocorrentes no estado, sendo baseada na análise morfológica de materiais herborizados depositados em herbários nacionais e de espécimes provenientes de excursões de campo realizadas no período de 2013 a 2018. Foram encontradas 26 espécies pertencentes a 10 gêneros, sendo Maranta (sete spp.) e Goeppertia (cinco spp.) os mais representativos. Dentre as espécies, Ctenanthe casupoides e Hylaeanthe hexantha são novos registros para o estado, e Goeppertia yoshida-arnsiae, G. widgrenii, e Maranta gigantea são espécies que se encontram sob algum grau de ameaça. Dez espécies são endêmicas da Mata Atlântica e quatro restritas a região Nordeste. Com relação à distribuição local, 22 spp. (85%) ocorrem na Floresta Estacional Semidecidual de Terras Baixas. São apresentadas descrições, chaves de identificação, comentários sobre distribuição geográfica e habitats, e mapas de distribuição local, juntamente com prancha de fotos das espécies.