Abstract
Copaifera L. is a pantropical genus with great diversity in the Cerrado. Fieldwork in western São Paulo revealed the first record of C. malmei Harms in this state, and this is only the second time that this species has been found in the Southeast Region of Brazil. Additional analyses of a related species, C. marginata Benth. revealed the same rare pattern of distribution in the region. We provide morphological descriptions, comments on geographical distribution, assessment of conservation status, phenology, and an identification key to the species of Copaifera in the Cerrado in southeastern Brazil.
Highlights
Copaifera L. (Detarioideae, Leguminosae) is a pantropical genus comprising 38 species, most of them widespread in the neotropics (Bentham 1870; Lewis et al 2005; Costa 2007, 2009; LPWG 2017)
Copaifera malmei and C. marginata are morphologically very similar, which leads to frequent misidentifications in herbarium specimens
They can be distinguished from the remaining taxa of Copaifera by the shrubby habit and white aril covering the seeds, and some of the diagnostic features between the two species often overlap, the presence of glandular trichomes on the leaves of C. malmei is unique within the genus
Summary
Copaifera L. (Detarioideae, Leguminosae) is a pantropical genus comprising 38 species, most of them widespread in the neotropics (Bentham 1870; Lewis et al 2005; Costa 2007, 2009; LPWG 2017). 26 species are recorded for the Brazilian flora, with greatest diversity in the Cerrado domain, where half of them occur (Costa 2020). The Cerrado is the second largest phytogeographic domain in Brazil, and it is characterized by a rich vegetation mosaic ranging from grasslands and savannas to forest environments (Eiten 1972; Ribeiro and Walter 1998). The Cerrado, one of most species-rich domains for plants in the world, with 12,383 species (Ribeiro and Walter 1998; Klink and Machado 2005), is considered as one of the most threatened, with about 366 plant species at risk of extinction (Martinelli et al 2014). Large areas of the Brazilian Cerrado have been converted to pasture and monocultures of soy (Fernandes et al 2016; Balbinot Junior 2017), eucalyptus, and pine plantations (Maquere et al 2008; Araújo et al 2010; Gonçalves et al 2016). Despite its great biodiversity and uniqueness, only a quarter of the domain is protected in conservation units (Strassburg et al 2017)
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