Taxonomy of Aspidosperma Mart. (Apocynaceae, Rauvolfioideae) in the State of Pará, Northern Brazil

Abstract

Aspidosperma Mart. is one of the most important genera from Apocynaceae Juss. occurring in Brazil. It is present in many plant formations and has species with both medicinal and economic value. From a taxonomic point of view, many of its species are difficult to identify, especially those occurring in the Amazonian region. In order to complement the information already available with regard to the taxonomy and distribution of the genus, the goal of this work was to provide a taxonomic study of the Aspidosperma species occurring in the state of Pará , northern Brazil. This study was based on the analysis of vouchers from the BHCB, HBRA, IAC, IAN, INPA, MG, R, RB and UEC herbaria, as well as scanned images of vouchers from Brazilian and foreign herbaria, and specimens collected in the field. Species identification was confirmed by analysis of protologues and types (or images). We present taxonomic descriptions, illustrations and one identification key for the 20 species of Aspidosperma found in Pará , with the Baixo Amazonas Mesoregion presenting the largest number of species (17), and the Metropolitana de Belém Mesoregion presenting the smallest number of species (3). Aspidosperma eteanum, A. oblongum, A. salgadense (endemic of Pará ) and A. sandwithianum are accepted as species here. Aspidosperma cuspa is a new record for Pará . The fruits of Aspidosperma eteanum and A. salgadense, and the seeds of A. eteanum, have been described and illustrated for the first time. Resumo: Dentre os gêneros de Apocynaceae Juss. ocorrentes no Brasil, Aspidosperma Mart. é um dos mais importantes. Está presente em vá rias formac¸õ es vegetais e apresenta espécies com valor medicinal e econô mico. Do ponto de vista taxonô mico, vá rias de suas espécies sã o de difícil identificac¸ão, principalmente as que ocorrem na Amazô nia. Com o intuito de complementar as informac¸õ es disponíveis sobre a taxonomia e a distribuic¸ã o do gênero, este trabalho teve por objetivo realizar estudos taxonô micos com as espécies de Aspidosperma ocorrentes no estado do Pará , Brasil. Este estudo foi baseado na aná lise de exsicatas dos herbá rios BHCB, HBRA, IAC, IAN, INPA, MG, R, RB e UEC, assim como de imagens digitalizadas de exsicatas de herbá rios nacionais e estrangeiros, e de materiais coletados. A identificac¸ã o das espécies foi confirmada por meio de consulta aos protó logos e tipos (ou imagens). Sã o apresentadas descric¸õ es, ilustrac¸õ es e uma chave de identificac¸ã o para as 20 espécies de Aspidosperma encontradas no Pará , com a Mesorregiã o do Baixo Amazonas apresentando um maior nú mero de espécies (17), e a Mesorregiã o Metropolitana de Belém apresentando um menor nú mero de espécies (3). As espécies Aspidosperma eteanum, A. oblongum, A. salgadense (endêmica do Pará) e A. sandwithianum sã o aqui aceitas. Aspidosperma cuspa é uma nova ocorrência para o Pará . Os frutos de Aspidosperma eteanum e A. salgadense, e as sementes de A. eteanum, estã o sendo descritos e ilustrados pela primeira vez.

Aspidosperma pyrifolium Mart: neuroprotective, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in a Parkinson's disease model in rats

“…The genus Aspidosperma is a most important one from the Apocynaceae family occurring in Brazil, with species presenting medicinal and economical value . Chemically, species from this genus show a predominance of indole alkaloids, which constitute good chemotaxonomic markers for the botanical classification of the Aspidosperma genus …”

Flora das cangas da Serra dos Carajás, Pará, Brasil: Apocynaceae

“…Sua distribuição é cosmopolita (Mabberley 2008;Pereira et al 2016), com cerca de 756 espécies, ocorrendo em todos os domínios fitogeográficos brasileiros. Nas cangas da Serra dos Carajás a família está representada por cinco gêneros e oito espécies para a subfamília Apocynoideae, cinco gêneros e seis espécies para subfamília Asclepiadoideae, e três gêneros e oito espécies para a subfamília Rauvolfioideae.…”

Reestablishment, new records, and a key for the species of Aspidosperma (Apocynaceae) from the Brazilian Amazon

“…(Apocynaceae) is the largest genus of the tribe Aspidospermeae Miers, and belongs to the rauvolfioid grade (Endress et al 2014;Simões et al 2007;. The genus has a Neotropical distribution, occurring from Mexico to Argentina (except Chile), and currently comprises 64 species (Marcondes-Ferreira 1999;Morales & Zamora 2017;Pereira et al 2016;2017;Scudeler et al 2018; Brazilian Flora 2020 under construction). The genus can be recognized by having the following: arboreal or shrubby habit, usually whitish or reddish (rarely colorless) latex, usually alternate (rarely opposite or whorled) leaves, flowers with slightly-differentiated style-head, woody follicles, and winged seeds (Woodson 1951;Marcondes-Ferreira 1988;Machate et al 2016;Pereira et al 2016).…”

“…Aspidosperma is one of the most important genera of Apocynaceae in Brazil, due to its ecological, economic (mainly for its timber) and medicinal value (Duarte 1970;Marcondes-Ferreira 1988;Pereira et al 2016). Fifty-six species of Aspidosperma are reported to occur in Brazil (23 endemic), which makes it the country with the greatest diversity of species (Morales & Zamora 2017;Brazilian Flora 2020 under construction).…”

“…Although Aspidosperma is a well-studied genus (e.g., Candolle 1844; Müller-Argoviensis 1860; Schumann 1895; Pichon 1947;Woodson 1951;Marcondes-Ferreira 1988;Marcondes-Ferreira & Kinoshita 1996;Potgieter 1999), the circumscription of some species remains unclear and the genus is considered one of the most taxonomically difficult among Neotropical Apocynaceae (Morales & Zamora 2017). Recent taxonomic studies have been performed on species of Aspidosperma from Brazil (Machate et al 2016;Pereira et al 2016), with three new species being described for the genus (Morales & Zamora 2017;Pereira et al 2017;Scudeler et al 2018).…”