Flora of the Usina São José, Igarassu, Pernambuco State, Brazil: Asteraceae

ABSTRACT Asteraceae is one of the largest families among angiosperms, concentrated mainly in open vegetation. This study aims to survey the floristic inventory of Asteraceae in fragments of Atlantic Forest of Usina São José (USJ), Igarassu, Pernambuco State, providing subsidies for an updated taxonomic recognition of species in the region. In total, 32 species from 27 genera and 10 tribes were identifield. The tribes with the greatest number of species are Eupatorieae (8 spp.), Vernonieae (7 spp.) and Heliantheae (6 spp.). The most representative genera were Mikania (3 spp.), Acanthospermum, Elephantopus and Emilia (2 spp. each). Gamochaeta pensylvanica presents here the first occurrence for the State of Pernambuco. Identification key is presented, followed by taxonomic comments and geographic distribution for each taxon, and illustrations are presented.