New records for different lineages of Melastomataceae in the Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

We present novelties on the occurrence of species belonging to the tribes Marcetieae, Melastomateae and Pyxidantheae (Melastomataceae) derived from revision of herbarium material and recent collections in the Brazilian Amazon. We report the rediscovery of the type species of Comolia, known only from the original material, the first records of Appendicularia, Dicrananthera and Blakea in the states of Pará, Roraima and Rondônia, respectively, and the first record of Pterogastra in Brazil. We provide maps with the updated geographical distribution for each species based on the revision of herbarium collections available in online databases followed by manual data cleaning. Geographic location coordinates were obtained after reviewing the identities and locality information of all herbarium specimens. Most distribution records result from recent botanical expeditions within protected areas in the Brazilian Amazon. The first records of Pterogastra in Brazil expand the diversity of Melastomataceae in Brazilian flora to 59 genera. These novelties reinforce the importance of botanical expeditions throughout the Brazilian Amazon to cover the extensive spatial gaps in taxonomic knowledge in the region which should be prioritized as the focus of botanical fieldwork.