Lythraceae nas serras centrais do Planalto do Alto Rio Grande, sul de Minas Gerais

Abstract

Lythraceaeincludes trees, shrubs, subshrubs and herbs, having both aquatic and terrestrial habits and presents wide distribution, ocurring mainly in temperate climates regions. The family belogns in the order Myrtales, containnig 31 genders and approximately 600 species. The most outstanding features for identification of the family are the whole and pesistent leaves, campanulate or tubular floral tube and kneaded petals inside the floral button. In Brazil, the family is represented by 13 genders and approximately 226 species with occurrences in all states. In Minas Gerias the mos representative genders are Cuphea, Diplusodon and Lafoensia. There have been many studies made in the State, even though currently, there are no papers adressing the southern region of Minas Gerais. Inserted in the region known as Campos das Vertentes, there is the Planalto do Alto Rio Grande where can be found sequeces of plains, near the São Franciso bay, which outstands the endemism of the communities a high ecologic value. Tehrefore making the studies necessary, with the objective of investigate taxonomically Lythraceaepresent in the central hills of the Alto Rio Grande uplands, with the goal of generating an updated floral list of the family and to provide sources to identify táxons, aswel elucidate about floral connections between the area and its surroundings. There have been found a total of 16 species of Lythraceae recorded for the central hills of Planalto do Alto Rio Grande, belonging to the genders Cuphea (10), Diplusodon (4) and Lafoensia (2). Among the species found there are the occurrences of two restrict distributions and present in the book Vermelho da Flora do Brasil: Diplusodonvillosissimusand D. capitatus; three species in disturbed areas and invasive behaviour: Cuphea carthagenesis, C. calophylla and C. polymorpha; one specie of aquatic habit: C. polymorpha and two new occurrences for the state of Minas Gerais: Cuphea flava and Lafoensiaglyptocarpa.