Untangling the taxonomy and geographic distribution of Quararibea floribunda (Malvaceae: Malvoideae)

Quararibea floribunda, a species endemic to Brazil, is poorly studied taxonomically, and little is known about its ecology and conservation status. Since its publication in 1842, only a few studies have reported on its morphological circumscription, thus remaining as a complex in the taxonomy of Quararibea. In addition, little is known about its geographic distribution, which, according to most authors, is restricted to the Cerrado Biome, a phytogeographic biome of dry forests. Therefore, we herein review and clarify the morphological circumscription and distribution of Q. floribunda in different vegetation types, designate a lectotype, and recognize its conservation status as Vulnerable (VU). The present study is based on analysis of protologues and further pertinent literature. Several herbaria were consulted, both in person and online. Fieldwork was done between 2017 and 2020 in different locations of midwestern and southeastern Brazil, mainly in dry forests of the Cerrado Biome. We ..., The study involved a bibliographic search and examination of specimens placed at the following herbaria: ALCB, B*, BAK*, BHCB, BRNU*, C*, CEPEC, CVRD, ESA, F*, G*, GZU*, HAL*, HB, HST*, HUEFS, HVASF*, IPA, K*, LD*, LW*, LZ*, MAC, MBML, NY*, P*, PEUFR*, R, RB, RBR, RFFP, SI*, SP, SPF, U*, UEC, UFP*, UFRN*, US*, VIC, VIES, W*, and WU* (acronyms according to Thiers, continuously updated; * digital images). We also carried out field expeditions from 2019 to 2020 to update data on distribution, morphology, and habitat. The collected specimens were deposited in the herbarium RB. Morphological characters were described following Radford et al. (1974); the terminology for domatia was based on O'Dowd & Wilson (1989), and for trichomes, we referred to Payne (1978), Theobald et al. (1979) and Ferreira et al. (2018).
We used leaf samples taken from the specimen C.D.M. Ferreira et al. 533 (RB) to analyze the domatia microscopically, following the method of Ferreira et al. (2018) and Ferreira &am..., , # An update on Quararibea floribunda (Malvaceae: Malvoideae): untangling the taxonomy and geographic distribution

Autor information

1. Carlos D. M. Ferreira
Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Diretoria de Pesquisas, Rua Pacheco Leão, 915, Rio de Janeiro, 2246-030, Brazil.

Corresponding autor

2. José Fernando A. Baumgratz
Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Diretoria de Pesquisas, Rua Pacheco Leão, 915, Rio de Janeiro, 2246-030, Brazil.

3. Massimo G. Bovini
Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Diretoria de Pesquisas, Rua Pacheco Leão, 915, Rio de Janeiro, 2246-030, Brazil.

Quararibea floribunda, a species endemic to Brazil, is poorly studied taxonomically, and little is known about its ecology and conservation status. Since its publication in 1842, only a few studies have reported on its morphological circumscription, thus remaining as a complex in the taxonomy of Qua...