Vellozo's Florae Fluminensis: A new assessment of the São Paulo part of his collecting itinerary, its vegetation, and species list

Abstract

Our analysis of Vellozo's itineraries and his manuscript annotations show that ca. 1/4 of the names described in his Florae Fluminensis were based on plants collected in the municipality of Cunha, state of São Paulo. This region, within the Atlantic Forest domain, encompasses various vegetation formations, such as montane ombrophilous forests, mixed ombrophilous forests, and highaltitude open savanna enclaves. Using Vellozo's manuscripts, we traced his collecting itinerary, correlating his descriptive terms for the vegetation types to the toponyms and dates. In contrast to the term "maritimus", associated in Florae Fluminensis with the Atlantic Forest vegetation in the state of Rio de Janeiro, the term "mediterraneus" is associated with the vegetation along the Royal Road (Estrada Real) in the region of Cunha, state of São Paulo and is usually related to the term "transalpinus" of the region of mountaintops delimiting the border between the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Maps of Vellozo's itinerary, as well as a discussion of species names most likely described from the state of São Paulo are provided.

Erythrina L. (Phaseoleae, Papilionoideae, Leguminosae) of Brazil: an updated nomenclatural treatment with notes on etymology and vernacular names

“…The species was poorly described in Vellozo (1829) and the accompanying illustration in Vellozo (1831) depicts a sterile branch from a specimen growing in the municipality of Cunha, state of São Paulo ( Pastore et al 2021 ). According to Krukoff (1938) , it could represent either E. crista-galli L. or E. falcata Benth.…”

Sinopse de Malpighiaceae no município de Cunha corrobora a ocorrência de fragmentos de Cerrado no Vale do Paraíba, Estado de São Paulo, Brasil.

“…Há muitos anos se discute a existência pretérita e remanescente de ilhas de Cerrado em meio a floresta atlântica do Vale do Paraíba (veja Ab'Saber 2017 para um resumo histórico dos principais trabalhos no tema). Provavelmente, o primeiro relato de fragmentos de Cerrado no vale do Paraíba tenha sido feito pelo Frei José Mariano da Conceição Veloso em sua obra intitulada Florae Fluminensis, entre os atuais municípios de Paraty (Estado do Rio de Janeiro) e Cunha (Estado de São Paulo) (Pastore et al 2021). Outros autores reportam a presença pretérita de campos cerrados em áreas úmidas, principalmente próximas ao rio Paraíba do Sul, em uma faixa estreita entre Jacareí e Guaratinguetá, além de manchas descontínuas entre Caçapava e Taubaté (Devide et al 2014).…”

Supplement to the Rubiaceae in the Flora dos Estados de Goiás e Tocantins, Brazil: Nomenclatural revision, typifications, new records, new identifications, and new combinations

“…bn.gov.br/acervodigital), which is a complete set of the original plates, bound in 11 volumes, with each plate identified by a unique catalogue number; and 2) the Archives of the Torre do Tombo, Lisbon (https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/results?t=florae+fluminensis), which is an incomplete set, with only volumes 6, 7, 8, 9, and 11, and with the drawings slighty different from those in the Manuscript Section of the Brazilian National Library. Pastore et al (2021) showed that the original plates in Lisbon are less precise than those in Rio de Janeiro. In the present taxonomic treatment, lectotypes were chosen from the original unpublished plates made for Florae Fluminensis kept in the Manuscript Section of the National Library of Rio de Janeiro.…”

“…Frei José Mariano da Conceição Vellozo (1742-1811) wrote the Florae Fluminensis, a floristic study of the state of Rio de Janeiro and contiguous areas in the state of São Paulo (Pastore et al 2021). The text of this multi-volume work was published posthumously in 1829, although the frontispiece reports "1825" as the publication date.…”