ANGIOSPERMS OF BRAZIL: A HABIT SYNOPSIS✅

UPDATE IN 29.09.2024

Brazil have around 33,379 spp. of described angiosperms, with over 18,000 endemics, showcasing an exceptional diversity of adaptation forms in soil, freshwater, coastal environments, and upon other plants. Here, we propose to classify the country's plant diversity into 50 categories of vegetative forms, based on extensive bibliographic research.

The vast majority of Brazil's angiosperm diversity fits into ordinary terrestrial forms of (1)tree, shrub, epiphytes, lianas, and herbs. Trees range from measly 2cm to 88m meters (Dinizia excelsa), exhibiting various patterns of branch architecture, leaves, barks, flowers (many cauliflorous, some flagelliflorous), and fruits; their leaves span from afilous species to Coccobola gigantifolia, with simple leaves reaching up to 3m in width. Similar patterns are observed with shrubs and herbs. Lianas, in turn, can be flexible, like in Cucurbitaceae and Convolvulaceae, and woody, like some Fabaceae. This category also includes a significant portion of terrestrial hemiparasites, as in Krameriaceae, Orobanchaceae, and Santalales.

Some variants of shrubs stand out: the (2)branching xilopodics, with underground organs, notable examples in Brazil like Anacardium, Jacaranda, and Stryphnodendron; the ultra rare (3)non-branching xilopodics, like Sinningia helioana, where leaves grow directly from the bulb; (4)caudiciforms, deriving from herbs but creating a woody base, like some Bulbostylis and many Cryptanthoids; (5)hyper-thorny, sometimes leafy, with extreme forms like Quiabentia, Colletia, and Discaria in Rhamnaceae; (6)cushions, sparsely represented in Brazil, with notable examples in Paepalanthus; (7)non-Cactaceae succulents, in Brazil represented by Portulaca, some Peperomia and Euphorbia; rare (8)spiny succulents non-Cactaceae, like Diosocorea basiclavicaulis; (9)ephedroid, sparsely represented in Brazil but identified in Polygonum, Orthosia, and some Spigelia; (10)dracenoid, with notable examples in Brazil being Vellozia and Cordyline; (11)ground rosettes, spiny or not, well represented in Brazil by many Bromeliaceae, Furcraea, Orectanthe, and Eryngium; (12)caulirosules, with the most notable example in Brazil being Prestelia and some Microlicia; and (13)phyllocladoids, like some Phyllanthus and Brasiliopuntia.

The most notable tree variants are the forms (14)cecropioids, well represented by Cecropia, and (15)mangrove species, which migrated to the partially saline environment on the coast, with representatives of Rhizophora, Conocarpus, Laguncularia, and Halairanthus in Brazil.

Some plants, between shrub and tree size, have assumed a (16)candelabriform non-cacti aspect, with leaves at the extreme branches, as seen in some Merianthera, Jatropha, some Caricaceae, Hyptis, Wunderlichia and Mimosa.

Among herbs, they can be as tiny as Lepuropetalum at 2cm in diameter to giants like Phenakospermum. Some creep in environments forming carpets, the (17)carpet-forming, like Raddiella, Micranthemum, Callisia, Elatine, and some Euphorbia and Pilea, some Convulvulaceae, Rubiaceae and Lycianthes. Others, in pre-marine environments, have assumed the (18)salicornioid habit, like Sarcocornia and Batis. Still near the sea, some have taken the (19)sesuvioid habit, like Sesuvium, Ammania, Rotala, Laurembergia, and some Gomphrena. Two other interesting categories of herbs are the (20)graminids, typical of Monocots like Tofieldiaceae, Juncaginaceae, Velloziaceae, Cyclanthaceae, Nartherciaceae, Typhaceae, Rapateaceae, Thurniaceae, Juncaceae, Cyperaceae, Poaceae, Eriocaulaceae, Xyridaceae, Commelinaceae, and Haemodoraceae; the (21)juncoid aphyllous, as seen in Glaziophyton mirabile; and the (22)bulb-bearing, like Amaryllidaceae, Asparagaceae, Orchidaceae, Iridaceae, and at least a single Pitcairnia.

(23)Giant herbs may include members of Araceae, Taccaceae, Orchidaceae, Worsleya, Eriocaulaceae, Heliconiaceae, Strelitziaceae, Maranthaceae, Cannaceae, Zingiberaceae, Costaceae, Gunneraceae, Alstroemeriaceae, and Caricaceae; whereas (24)sacciform-leaved herbs only include Saccifolium bandeirae from Mount Neblina.

Among epiphytes/lianescent, four myriad forms stand out: (24)aerial parasites, strongly represented in Loranthaceae and Santalaceae; (25)hoyoids, growing adherent to the substrate, where in Brazil some Peperomia, Constantia, Monstera, Acianthera, Marcgravia, and Codonanthe can be mentioned; (26)pendulous, like some Rhipsalidae, Dichaea and Isochilus; (27)electric-grid epiphytes, like Tillandsia recurvata; (28)negatively growing lithophytes, like Tillandsia reclinata; (29)cacti-epiphyllous, like Hatiora and many Rhipsalis; (30)strangulating, like some Ficus and Spirotheca; and (31)tank epiphytes, like many Bromeliaceae.

Some notable types include plants that encompass more than one major group, like the (32)bambusoids, which include herbaceous forms (in Orchidaceae and Marantaceae) and woody forms (like true bamboos), the (33)palmoids, including shrub-like forms like Cyclanthaceae and many Arecaceae, and tree-like forms, like most Arecaceae; and the (34)odd leaf forms forms, as ericoid, passerine, microphyllous, quandrangular or worled leaves at the stem, widely present in Brazilian savannas, found in members of Myrcia, Spermacoceae, Declueuxia, Mandevilla, Sauvagesia, Ruehssia, Minaria, Hyptis, Lychnophorinae, Lucilia, Baccharis, Agrianthus, Catolesia, Hypericum, Heteropterys, Turnera, some Linum, Moninna, Senega, Chamaecrista, Cuphea, Cambessedesia, Microlicia, Marcetia, Microtea, Caryophyllaceae, Xerosiphon, Froelichiella, Ledothamnus, Declieuxia, Deianira, Calolisianthus, and Barjonia.

All the above plants are essentially terrestrial and amphibious. Many forms are aquatic, notably the (35)floating, like Nympheaceae, Lemnoideae, Pistia, Alismataceae, Phyllanthus fluitans, Ludwigia sedoides, and Nymphoides; the (36)submerged/aerial, like Cabombaceae, freshwater Hydrocharitaceae, Potamogetonaceae, Mayacaceae, Eriocaulaceae, Pontederiaceae, Ceratophyllaceae, Ranunculus, Myriophyllum, Podostemaceae, Callitriche, Anamaria and Lilaeopsis; and the (37)sea grasses, in Hydrocharithaceae, Ruppiaceae, and Cymodoceaceae.

Cactaceae, with the exception of Pereskioideae, some forms in Opuntioideae, and epiphytic cacti, stand as separate types: (38)opuntioid, like Tacinga; (39)microglobular, like Frailea; (40)common cactoid, thin or thick, like Cereus and Facheroa; (41)macroglobular, like some Parodia, Melocactus, and Uebelmania; (42)branching, with very thin branches, like Harrisia and Arrojadoa; and (43)massive-diffuse, like some forms of Gymnocalycium.

Four carnivorous forms deserve mention as well: the (44)pitchers, like Heliamphora; the (45)droseroids, like Drosera; the (45)round subterranean-leaves, as in Philcoxia; and the (47)Lentibulariaceae, in the case of Utricularia and Genlisea.

All the above plants are photosynthetic. There are three types of non-photosynthetic: the (48)achlorophyllous terrestrials, like Prosopanche, many Burmaniaceae, Thismiaceae, Triuridaceae, Orchidaceae, Balanophoraceae, Voyria and Voyriella; the (49)aerial lianas, like Cassytha and Cuscuta; and the (50)isophasics, like Apodanthaceae.

O QUE O BRASIL PRECISA?

Não de muito: um período geológico e um elemento químico batizados em referência ao nosso país, armas nucleares e bases militares no exterior.

PERIODO GEOLÓGICO

Nenhum período geológico, até nível de series, tem nome dado em referência a Brasil ou um elemento seu.

Os nomes das eras geológicas têm origens variadas, muitas vezes derivadas de características geológicas significativas ou de locais onde foram inicialmente identificadas. Todos são nomes de radicais gregos exceto Pré-Cambriano, pois Cambria era um nome antigo para atual Gales. Dos 12 períodos dentro das eras, todos se baseiam em nomes de objetos ou termos genéricos, exceto os citados a seguir.

Cambriano: Este período foi nomeado após Cambria, o nome latino para Gales.

Ordoviciano: O nome vem da tribo Ordovices, uma tribo celta que habitava a região de Gales.

Siluriano: Nomeado após os Silures, uma antiga tribo celta que habitava a região central do País de Gales.

Devoniano: Derivado da região de Devonshire, na Inglaterra.

Permiano: Nomeado após a província de Perm, na Rússia.

Jurássico: Nomeado após a região de Jura, nos Alpes franceses.

No estágio inferior - séries - há varias referências a regiões de vários países do mundo, com destaque para EUA (3), China (3), Rússia (1), entre outros. Não há referência a nenhum país da América Latina nem África. Para listagem completa destes períodos, veja Wikipedia/Geologic Time Scale.

QUADRO DOS PRINCIPAIS PERÍODOS GEOLÓCIGAS ATÉ NÍVEL DE ERA

ELEMENTO QUIMICO

Os nomes dos elementos químicos podem ser atribuídos de várias maneiras, mas geralmente seguem certas convenções e padrões estabelecidos pela União Internacional de Química Pura e Aplicada (IUPAC) e pela comunidade científica internacional. Aqui está uma lista dos elementos químicos batizados em referência a entes geográficos (Superinteressante, 2023) - nenhum faz referência ao Brasil.

Magnesio (Magnesia, Grécia)

Escândio (Escandinávia, Europe)

Manganês (também Magnesia, Grécia)

Cobre (Chipre)

Gálio (Gália, França)

Germânio (Alemanha)

Estrôncio (Vila de Strontian, na Escócia)

Ítrio (Cidade de Ytterby, na Suécia)

Rutênio (Ruthenia, antigo nome das terras da Rússia)

Samário (deriva do mineral samarskita, batizado em homenagem ao geólogo russo Vassili Samarsky-Bykhovets)

Európio (Europa)

Gadolínio (de gadolinita, batizado em homenagem ao cientista nórdico Johan Gadolin)

Térbio (Ytterby, na Suécia)

Holmio (Holmia, antigo nome da cidade de Estocolmo)

Érbio (Ytterby, na Suécia)

Túlio (Thule, antigo termo usado para se referir à Escandinávia)

Itérbio (Ytterby, na Suécia)

Lutécio (Lutetia, antigo nome romano da cidade de Paris)

Háfnio (Háfnia, o antigo nome da cidade de Copenhague)

Rênio (Rio Reno, que cruza a Alemanha)

Polônio (Polônia, terra natal de Marie Curie)

Frâncio (França)

Amerício (America)

Cúrio (Marie Curie (1867 – 1934) e Pierre Curie (1859 – 1906), químicos poloneses)

Berquélio (Berkeley, EUA)

Californio (Califórnia, EUA)

Einstênio (Albert Einstein, físico alemão)

Férmio (Enrico Fermi, físico italiano)

Mendelévio (Dmitri Mendeleev, físico russo)

Nobélio (Alfred Nobel, químico e engenheiro sueco)

Laurêncio (Ernest Lawrence, físico estadunidense)

Ruthefordio (Ernest Rutherford, físico neozelandes)

Dubnio (Dubna, Rússia)

Seabórgio (Glenn Theodore Seaborg, químico estadunidense)

Bohrio (Niels Bohr, físico dinamarquês)

Hássio (Hasse, na Alemanha)

Meitnério (Lise Meitner, física austríaca)

Damstádio (Darmstadt, na Alemanha)

Roentgenio (Wilhelm Röntgen, físico alemão)

Copernício (Nicolau Copérnico, estudioso polonês)

Nihonio (Japão)

Fleróvio (Georgy Flyorov, físico soviético/russo)

Moscóvio (Moscou, Rússia)

Livermório (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, laboratório da Califórnia)

Tenessino (Tennessee, EUA)

Oganessônio (Yuri Oganessian, físico soviético/russo)

De todos estes registros, os únicos que não fezem refewrência a países inteiramente europeus ou pesquisadores seus são 17: Cobre, Rutênio, Samário, Amerício, Berquélio, Califórnio, Mendelévio, Laurêncio, Rutherfordio, Dubnio, Seabórgio, Nihonio, Fleróvio, Moscóvio, Livermório, Tenessino e Oganessônio - destes, seis são referência aos EUA (2 estados, 1 cidade, 1 instituto, 2 pesquisadores), sete em referência a Rússia (1 nome genérico, 4 pesquisadores e 2 cidades), e Chipre, Nova Zealândia, Japão e América como um todo, uma referência cada.

ARMA NUCLEAR

Países com armas nucleares detêm um poder estratégico significativo no cenário global. Ter um arsenal nuclear confere a esses países uma posição de influência e dissuasão, principalmente em termos de segurança nacional e geopolítica. Aqui estão algumas razões para a importância das armas nucleares para um país:

1. Dissuasão de Agressão: As armas nucleares servem como um poderoso elemento dissuasório contra agressores potenciais. A ameaça de retaliação nuclear pode desencorajar outros países de lançar ataques contra um país nuclear.

2. Segurança Nacional: O arsenal nuclear fortalece a segurança nacional de um país, garantindo sua capacidade de resposta a qualquer ameaça existencial. Isso cria uma espécie de "guarda-chuva nuclear" para proteger o país contra ameaças externas.

3. Influência Global: Possuir armas nucleares confere prestígio e influência no cenário global. Isso pode ser utilizado como moeda de troca em negociações diplomáticas e como uma forma de afirmação de poder.

4. Equilíbrio de Poder: A posse de armas nucleares por vários países contribui para um equilíbrio de poder, desencorajando conflitos diretos entre grandes potências e promovendo a estabilidade global.

Atualmente, os principais países com arsenais nucleares são: Rússia (5889), Estados Unidos (5224), China (410), França (290), Reino Unido (225), Paquistão (170), Índia (164), Israel (unknown) e Coreia do Norte (embora não oficialmente reconhecida por todos os países).

PAÍSES QUE TEM ARMAS NUCLEARES, E PAÍSES QUE AS ABRIGAM EM SEU TERRITÓRIO (EM INGLÊS)

BASE MILITAR ESTRANGEIRA

A instalação de bases militares no exterior permite a um país projetar poder, por exemplo, para conduzir guerra expedicionária e, assim, influenciar eventos no exterior. Dependendo de seu tamanho e infraestrutura, elas podem ser usadas como áreas de preparação ou para suporte logístico, de comunicações e de inteligência. Muitos conflitos ao longo da história moderna resultaram na instalação de bases militares no exterior em grande número por parte das potências mundiais; e essas bases têm ajudado os países que as estabeleceram a alcançar objetivos políticos e militares.

Ao todo no mundo, 18 países projetam poder com presenças militares articuladas fora de seu território (Wikipedia). Todos os países que tem bases fora do seu território são da Eurásia exceto EUA e Austrália. Por outro lado, nas Américas, apenas os EUA posseum base fora do país, e os únicos que tem bases em seu território são Cuba (China e EUA um cada), Bahamas (EUA), Belize (Reino Unido), Honduras (EUA) e Antilhas Holandesas (EUA e Neterlands 1 cada).

TODAS AS RELAÇÕES ENTRE PAÍSES COM BASES EM OUTRO PAÍS, COM EXCEÇÃO DAS RELAÇÕES DAS BASES DOS EUA NA EUROPA E ORIENTE MÉDIO

CASIQUIARE CHANNEL

The Casiquiare river is a distributary of 326 km of the upper Orinoco flowing southward into the Rio Negro, entirely in Venezuela, South America. As such, it forms a unique natural canal between the Orinoco and Amazon river systems. It is the world's largest river of the kind that links two major river systems, a so-called bifurcation. The area forms a water divide, more dramatically at regional flood stage (W). For more informations, see Laraque, A. et al. (PRE-PRINT, 2019).

CASIQUIARE INFORGRAPHIC WITH MAP AND IMAGES OF THE TWO EXTREME POINTS

The origin of the Casiquiare, at the River Orinoco, is 14 km below the mission of La Esmeralda at 3°8′18.5″N 65°52′42.5″W, and about 123 m above sea level. Its mouth at the Rio Negro, an affluent of the Amazon River, is near the town of San Carlos and is 91 metres above sea level (W)

What is the plant that grows tallest in Brazil

An interesting question that can be asked about Brazilian biodiversity is: what is the plant that grows tallest in Brazil? The answer is simple: the plants that grow at the top of Mount Neblina. Since Brazil's maximum altitude is only 2,995m, the mountaintop is still in a zone fully occupied by angiosperms. Part of the answer can be deduced with a photo of the extreme top, where it is possible to see the immediate vegetation formation, and presume which of these plants could be mentioned. Let's deduce some possibilities, in three photos obtained from the Internet, which portray the mountaintop.

A. in this photo, it is possible to infer that the angiosperms in Brazil that grow at higher altitudes are low, herbaceous plants that do not even reach the size of a shrub. There's not much more to say.

HERBACEOUS VEGETATION

B. in this photo, it is possible to see small rosettes, which suggest they are members of Poales, possibly Bromeliaceae, Cyperaceae, or Xyridaceae, with a low probability of being Poaceae.

POSSIBLY POALES

C. this third photo reinforces the possibility that the highest altitude plants in Brazil are Bromeliaceae.

POSSIBLY BROMELIACEAE

Most likely, the plants that grow at the highest altitudes in Brazil are Cyperaceae or Bromeliaceae.

RUSHMORE BRASILEIRO

Abaixo uma montagem bastante primitiva e 'tosca' do que poderia ser o 'Rushmore brasileiro'. Ela foi feita pondo o rosto de seis dos mais importantes bandeirantes brasileiros no maciço do Itatiaia, usando imagens disponíveis na Net e os softwares PhotoScape e PhotoFiltre Studio X.

EM ORDEM: MANUEL PRETO (?-1630), RAPOSO TAVARES (1598-1659), FERNÃO DIAS (1608-1681), MANUEL BORBA GATO (1649-1718), DOMINGOS JORGE VELHO (1641-1709) E ANHANGUERA (1672-1740)

O Monte Rushmore localiza-se em Keystone, no estado do Dakota do Sul, Estados Unidos, onde estão esculpidos os rostos de quatro Presidentes dos Estados Unidos: George Washington, o primeiro presidente dos EUA, Thomas Jefferson, autor da declaração da independência, Theodore Roosevelt, que conquistou maior conhecimento e liberdade de expressão, e Abraham Lincoln, que lutou pela paz do país durante toda a Guerra Civil. Ideia do pintor e escultor Gutzon Borglum, inicialmente era para ser feito apenas um busto, mas houve muita indecisão em relação a qual deveria ser construído; sua construção durou de 1927 a 1941 (Wikipedia).

ROTAS BIOCEANICAS: DO BRASIL AO PACÍFICO

Rodovia Bioceanica

Ferrovia Bioceanica

PORTUGAL: THE 27th BRAZILIAN STATE

Brazilians represent approximately 25% of the foreign population in Portugal. Their legal status varies according to several and complex elements such as date of arrival and effective legalization processes available to them (1992, 1996, 2001, 2003), whether they are married to a national or they have Portuguese (or other European) ancestors, what their level of education and work experience is, etc.

1nd AND 2nd LARGEST SOURCE OF IMMIGRANTS TO PORTUGAL BY DISTRICT IN 2018 (REDDIT).

Therefore, many are legal residents, others have authorization to stay (autorizações de permanência), others, fewer, were able to legalized through the 2003 exceptional process and have working permits, and many others are still undocumented.

BOUGAINVILLEA: THE BRAZILIAN QUEENS

Bougainvillea Comm. ex. Juss. (Nyctaginaceae) comprises 11 spp., 9 from Ecuador to S Agentina and Paraguay (5 of them up to Brazil), and two endemics to Brazil (SSAA). This genus is very important within the horticultural trade where the species B. glabra, B. spectabilis and many hybrids and cultivated varieties are widely commercialized as ornamentals for their long-lasting, colourful flower bracts. Although flower bracts of purple, pink or red colour are commonly seen, cultivars are now available in apricot, white, blue, yellow and orange (Cabi Digital Library).

DIFFERENT PATTERNS OF FLOWER SHADES OF CULTURED FORMS OF BOUGAINVILLEA SPECTABILIS WILLD.

Currently, both wild and cultivated forms of B. spectabilis Willd. are commercialized and have probably been introduced repeatedly across tropical and warm temperate regions of the world. Apparently, the main difference between these two forms is that in the wild form flowers have simple bracts and produce reproductive structures while cultivars have flowers with multi-whorl bracts but are sterile. In this species, the cultivated varieties have been selected to have multi-whorl flowers, a type of floral abnormality in which some or all of the stamens in a flower are replaced by petals, and the carpel is replaced by sepals or petals. These cultivars with multi-whorl bracts have great ornamental and commercial value, but are sexually sterile (do not develop sexual organs) and must be propagated through cuttings (Cabi Digital Library).

SOME VARIEGATED PATTERNS ON LEAVES OF BOUGAINVILLEA SPECTABILIS WILLD.

FUNGI REALM

Impossible to accurately describe the fungi. A ubiquitous being in living creatures on the planet, with about 140,000 spp. described, but estimates of 2.2 to 3.8M (Wikipedia). In archaic publications and even in modern magazines, they are associated with plants, although they are much closer to animals. But in the modern web of life, fungi are a unique lineage among the 78 already listed of prokaryotes.

Yes, modern fungi, animals and plants are just three of the 78 lineages of eukaryotic life forms. The other 75 were formerly part of the Protista, with some formerly thought to be fungi, now thought to be independent.

PHYLOGENETIC TREE OF FUNGI; CLICK FOR FULL SIZE

In this post, we will not talk about fungi as a whole. For those who want to know super details of the evolution of this group, we recommend Ortiz & Gabaldón (PMC/2019). Here we discreetly list three types of fungi interesting from the perspective of Almanaque Z: the truffles (Tuber), the aquatic basidiomycota and the bioluminescent fungi.

PHYLOGENETIC POSITION OF THE FUNGI THAT WILL BE DISCUSSED HERE

TUBER, TUBERACEAE, PEZIZIALES

Tuber P.Micheli ex F.H.Wigg., true 'truffles', is a genus in the Tuberaceae family of fungi, with estimated molecular dating to the end of the Jurassic period (156 Mya). It includes several species of truffles that are highly valued as delicacies. According to the Dictionary of the Fungi (2008), this widespread genus contains 86 spp. In 2015 a new species T. petrophilum Milenković, P. Jovan., Grebenc, Ivančević & Marković, in Milenković, Grebenc, Marković & Ivančević was discovered in the Dinaric Alps (Southeastern Europe, Serbia). In 2016, two new species were discovered in introduced trees of pecans cultivated in Brazil but putatively native from North America, T. floridanum A. Grupe, Sulzbacher & M.E. Smith and T. brennemanii A. Grupe, Healy & M.E. Smith. (Wikipedia).

AGARICALES

Agaricales includes about 13,000 described mushrooms, and it includes all the mushrooms that we want to highlight here: the bioluminescent mushrooms and the aquatic mushrooms.

BIOLUMINESCENT

Worldwide, among the luminescent species, 125 species of mushroom-forming fungi have been recorded to date. These fungi represent five distinct lineages

Armillaria ‣ Armillaria species at Physalacriaceae (12 spp.), absents in South America.

Mycenoid ‣ 4-8 genera with bioluminescents, Mycena, Filoboletus (manipularis group), Panellus (Panellus/Dictyopanus species), Roridomyces, and Resinomycena (a single bioluminescent, exclusive from SE Brazil), all anchored in the family Mycenaceae. 17 luminescent species in Brazil (Soares, C.B. et al, Phytotaxa, 2024), three in Amazonia Complex.

Omphalotus ‣ (4/)12 bioluminescent spp. (Wikipedia), Neonothopanus (2) and Omphalotus (10, California to Texas and NW & N Mexico,  E U.S.A., SW South Africa, S China to Japan in E Asia, S Australia to Tasmania) plus Nothopanus eugrammus (Japan to Malaysia) and Pleurotus decipiens, only the former in N & NE Brazil (Neonothopanus gardneri), mainly in palms.

Lucentipes ‣ two species: Gerronema viridilucens, described in 2005 based on material collected from the bark of living Eugenia fluminensis O.Berg. trees in S São Paulo State in SE Brazil; and Mycena lucentipes Desjardin, Capelari & Stevani, knwoon from SE Brazil and Puerto Rico (Desjardin et al., Mycologia, 2005); both form an independent lineage of bioluminescent fungi with uncertain phylogenetic position at the family level.

Eoscyphella ‣ a single species, exclusive from Brazil, Eoscyphella luciurceolata Silva-Filho, Stevani & Desjardin, known from a bark of Solanum swartzianum in the Atlantic Rainforest, southern Brazil. Known only from the type locality (Silva-Filho et al., Journal of Fungi, 2023).

By IPBio (VER) there are 105 spp. in the world, 17 described 12 not yet described in Brazil, mostly in the Atlantic Forest, making the forest a global hotspot for this unique type of fungus.

SOME LIGHT MUSHROOMS FROM ATALNTIC FOREST OF BRAZIL

UNDERWATER

Basidiomycota that fruit in water include only Psathyrella aquatica J.L.Frank, Coffan, & Southworth, 2010 (Wikipedia), in family Psathyrellaceae, found only in the Rogue River in Oregon, USA. It was found by Southern Oregon University professor Robert Coffan in the Rogue River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Coffan and his colleagues, Darlene Southworth and Jonathan Frank, found the mushroom in 2005. The biology department at Southern Oregon University confirmed that the mushroom was a unique discovery. Once their research was published, it was named one of the most significant species discovered in 2010. They have so far been discovered in a 1 kilometer stretch of the river, and have an observed fruiting season of mid-June to late September. Many scientists were skeptical about describing this mushroom as a new species because of the hundreds of similar looking species in the Psathyrella family.

Psathyrella aquatica J.L.Frank, Coffan, & Southworth in situ, Oregon, U.S.A.

ECTOMYCORRHIZA

An ectomycorrhiza (ECM) is a form of symbiotic relationship that occurs between a fungal symbiont, or mycobiont, and the roots of various plant species. The mycobiont is often from the phyla Basidiomycota and Ascomycota, and more rarely from the Zygomycota, among 78-82 fungal lineages that comprise 251-256 genera (Tedersoo & Smith, Fungal Biology Reviews, 2013). Ectomycorrhizas form on the roots of around 2% of plant species,[1] usually woody plants, including species from the birch, dipterocarp, myrtle, beech, willow, pine and rose families (Wikipedia). Pseudotulostoma volvatum OK Mill. & TW Henkel has the first occurrence of an ectomycorrhizal Ascomycota fungus in a native host plant in Brazil, in white-sand forest composed of the canopy tree Aldina heterophylla Spruce ex Benth. (Fabaceae) in NE Amazonas state (Komura et al., Plant Systematics and Evolution, 2021).

O que é a Oscilação Antártica?

ORIGINAL EM TEMPO.COM/17-12-2019

Oscilação Antártica (ou Modo Anular Sul) é um importante modo de variabilidade climática do Hemisfério Sul. Esse fenômeno domina a circulação extratropical numa escala temporal que pode ser de semanas a meses, e está relacionado com mudanças na posição da corrente de jato, sistemas frontais, ciclones e anticiclones (sistemas transientes).

O índice que mede a oscilação é calculado pela diferença de pressão zonal (oeste-leste) entre as latitudes de 40°S e 65°S. As fases do índice (negativa ou positiva) informa aos meteorologistas o padrão de circulação extratropical presente no Hemisfério Sul.

Quando o índice assume valores positivos, os ventos ocidentais ao longo da troposfera encontram-se mais fortes do que a média em cerca de 55°S, diminuindo as trocas de calor com o trópico e aumentando o isolamento do ar Antártico. Portanto, o resfriamento do ar é potencializado no polo sul e mares adjacentes, fator que agrava a diferença de temperatura entre as latitudes médias e altas. Nestas condições, o fluxo do jato é mais zonal (de oeste para leste) e intensificado nas proximidades da Antártica. Isso mantém o cinturão de baixas pressões associados as frentes frias confinados nas latitudes polares. Logo, não influenciam o tempo no Brasil.

Para um índice negativo, o padrão se inverte, os ventos ocidentais se enfraquecem e a corrente de jato se mostra numa configuração meridional (norte-sul), sendo que suas cristas e vales determinam o deslocamento das massas de ar sobre vastas áreas do planeta. Enquanto as cristas direcionam o ar quente do norte para o sul, os vales transportam o ar frio do sul para o norte. O deslocamento das massas de ar é responsável pela formação das frentes meteorológicas.

Em resumo, podemos relacionar o índice positivo com a redução da passagem dos transientes pelo sudeste da América do Sul (regiões que compreendem parte da Argentina, Uruguai e Sul do Brasil) e Atlântico Sudoeste. Já um índice negativo, significa o contrário, os transientes conseguem migrar para latitudes menores, e então, alteram as condições do tempo no Brasil.

Durante o inverno austral, a Oscilação Antártica é modulada pelo vórtice polar estratosférico, uma extensa circulação ciclônica centrada no polo sul que pode atingir velocidades na ordem de 400 km/h na baixa estratosfera. A força do vórtice e suas configurações afetam tanto a posição como a intensidade dos ventos ocidentais e da corrente de jato. Já para o verão (ausência do vórtice polar), é provável que as fases da oscilação sejam forçadas a partir de variabilidades intrínsecas a própria troposfera.

MATEMÁTICA? MATH? МАТЕМАТИКА?

BY S.A.M.

Matemática é o corpo de conhecimentos, com funcionalidade de linguagem e objetivando descrever parte da realidade, que convenciona e correlaciona quantidades, padrões, estruturas, lógicas, métricas, espaços, relações e variações, usando em suas interconexões o raciocínio lógico-dedutivo e, em sua forma acadêmica, a premissa axiomática e uma nomenclatura própria e universalista. 

In English:

Mathematics is a body of knowledge, with language functionality and the aim of describing part of reality, which conventionally correlates quantities, patterns, structures, logic, metrics, spaces, relationships, and variations, using logical-deductive reasoning in their interconnections, and in its academic form, an axiomatic premise and a universalist nomenclature.

На русском:

Математика - это тело знаний, обладающее языковой функциональностью и имеющее цель описать часть реальности, которое согласовывает и коррелирует количество, образцы, структуры, логику, метрики, пространства, отношения и изменения, используя логически-дедуктивное мышление в их взаимосвязях и, в своей академической форме, аксиоматическое предположение и собственную универсалистскую номенклатуру.

UBERINA, POCOYÓ E SOCRATÉSIA: SILOGISMOS

Uberina, Pocoyó e Socratésia: silogismos. 

yyyyyyyy FLORA OF THE WORLD

ASPHODELACEAE

Some spp. of Aloe (7, in Somalia, SW Arabian Peninsula, Mozambique to South Africa) and Kniphofia (71, Cameroon, Sudan to S. Africa, Madagascar, Yemen) are pachycaul shrubs or trees (Angios Bergianska). 

 

Aloidendron in natural habitat, Africa.

AMARYLLIDACEAE
ASPARAGACEAE 
 
ARECALES 
 

DASYPOGONACEAE

ARECACEAE

Nypa fruticans Wurmb. is a mangrove, unique among Monocot lineage (Angios Bergianska). 

 

Nypa fruticans

Hyphaene Gaertn. are unusual among palms in having regular naturally branched trunks; most other palms are single-stemmed from the ground (Angios Bergianska); this genus includes 7 spp. and it's native to over Africa (except NW and S extremes), Madagascar, Jordania to Yemen, India and Sri Lanka. 

 

Branched Hyphaene

Lodoicea maldivica (J.F.Gmelin) Persoon, endemic to Seychelles, holds nine botanical records: 

 

▪ it produces the largest wild fruit so far recorded, weighing up to 36 kg, and perhaps as much as 45 kg; although domesticated pumpkins and watermelons can be much heavier. 

 

▪ the mature seeds weighing up to 17.6 kg are the world's heaviest. 

 

▪ the seed upon germinating, produces the longest known cotyledon, up to four meters, and on occasion as long as ten meters (33 feet). 

 

▪ it is the slowest growing of all large trees, although some small to medium-sized desert trees are slower. At the Peradenaya Royal Botanic Gardens, it grew an average of 33 mm per year over a period of 140 years. 

 

▪ the female flowers are the largest of any palm, up to four inches (ten centimeters) in diameter. 

 

▪ the male catkins, up to 2m in length, are the longest known. 

 

▪ the sepals, which grow with the fruit, are the largest known; up to 23 centimeters long by six inches (15 centimeters) wide. 

 

▪ the leaves of Lodoicea have the longest lifespan of any monocot, nine years to develop in the terminal spike, and then nine more years as a fully functioning leaf. However adult Lodoicea can have as many as twenty leaves with a potential lifespan of 24 years. 

 

▪ finally, Lodoicea is the most efficient plant known at recovering nutrients from moribund leaves.

POALES 
 

TYPHACEAE

BROMELIACEAE

RAPATEACEAE

MAYACACEAE

ERIOCAULACEAE

XYRIDACEAE

THURNIACEAE

JUNCACEAE

CYPERACEAE

Phenotypic diversity in Cyperaceae is represented among others by a wide range of growth forms, from tiny ephemerals less than 3 cm high such as Isolepis inconspicua (Levyns) J.Raynal (Cape Province, South Africa) to climbing herbs that may measure tomore than 12 m long such as Scleria boivinii Steud. (Senegal to Angola and Tanzania). There are even species with a tendency for epiphytism, such as Coleochloa domensis Muasya & D.A.Simpson (W Cameroom) - Larridon et al. (JSE, 2021). 

 

Carex moorcroftii Falc. ex Boott, native from N India to NE China, has been found up to elevations of 5,700 m. (Larridon et al., JSE, 2021).  

 

Microdracoides squamosa Hua, from Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Cameroon, is perhaps the unique subarborescent and semiscandent member of Cyperaceae; similar looking species are the New Caledonian endemic genus Chamaedendron (Kük.) Larridon (Larridon et al., JSE, 2021). 

 

COSTACEAE

Costaceae has stem usually simple, but branched in Tapeinochilos Miq. (16, Maluku to N Queensland), with lateral branches penetrating leaf sheaths (Angios Bergianska).

MENISPERMACEAE

Menispermaceae are usually evergreen lianas, or scrambling and climbing perennial herbs, rarely shrubs or trees such as Burasaia Thouars (4, Madagascar), Penianthus Miers (3, Sierra Leona to Congo), Sphenocentrum Pierre (1, Cote de Ivoire to Cameroom) and some Abuta Aubl. (34, S Mexico to S Brazil); one species of Stephania and a few species such as Cissampelos ovalifolia DC. are herbaceous (Angios Bergianska).

BERBERIDACEAE
RANUNCULACEAE 
 
PROTEALES 
 

SABIACEAE

NELUMBONACEAE

PLATANACEAE
PROTEACEAE 
 
TROCHODENDRALES 
 
TROCHODENDRACEAE 
 
BUXALES 
 
BUXACEA 
 
GUNNERALES 
 

GUNNERACEAE
MYROTHAMNACEAE 
 

DILLENIALES 
 
DILLENIACEAE

Acrotrema costatum Jack from Arunachal Pradesh to Peninsula Malaysia is possibly the single herb in Dilleniaceae (Angios Bergianska). 

 

SAXIFRAGALES 
 

PERIDISCACEAE

PAEONIACEAE

ALTINGIACEAE

HAMAMELIDACEAE

CERCIDIPHYLLACEAE

DAPHNIPHYLLACEAE

CRASSULACEAE

Crassula aquatica (L.) Schönland native from Artic to Costa Rica, northern Europe to Kola peninsula, and from center Asia to Japan and SE China, is one of the few aquatic species in the family (Angios Bergianska). 

 

The highest base chromosome number known for any dicot (n = 270) belongs to Sedum suaveolens Kimnach, 1978 (SEE), endemic to Mexico. 

 

Crassula aphylla Schönland & Baker f. from South Africa forms leafless, globular shoots reaching maturity at about 3mm; it may represent the smallest succulent plant (lack source). 

APHANOPETALACEAE

TETRACARPAEACEAE

PENTHORACEAE

HALORAGACEAE

Haloragaceae consistes for mainly by perennial or annual herbs, suffrutices or evergreen small shrubs, however Glischrocaryon Endl. from Australia consists of shrubs and small trees (Angios Bergianska).

ITEACEAE

GROSSULARIACEAE

SAXIFRAGACEAE
CYNOMORIACEAE 
 
VITALES 
 

VITACEAE

Unlike other Vitaceae, Leea D.Royen (45, Senegal to Sudan and Madagascar, Pakistan to China, up to NE Australia) consists of evergreen trees, shrubs or perennial herbs without tendrils (Angios Bergianska).

 
ZYGOPHYLLALES 
 

KRAMERIACEAE
ZYGOPHYLLACEAE 
 
OXALIDALES 
 

HUACEAE

CONNARACEAE

OXALIDACEAE

CUNONIACEAE

CEPHALOTACEAE

ELAEOCARPACEAE
BRUNELLIACEAE 
 
CELASTRALES
 

LEPIDOBOTRYACEAE

CELASTRACEAE

Unlike other Celastraceae, Stackhousia Sm. (17, Sumatra to Philippines, up to New Zealand, absent in Borneo) are usually annual or perennial herbs, sometimes succulent (Angios Bergianska). 

 
MALPIGHIALES 
 

CTENOLOPHONACEAE

ERYTHROXYLACEAE

RHIZOPHORACEAE

IRVINGIACEAE

PANDACEAE

OCHNACEAE

BONNETIACEAE

CLUSIACEAE

CALOPHYLLACEAE

HYPERICACEAE

PODOSTEMACEAE

LOPHOPYXIDACEAE

PUTRANJIVACEAE

CARYOCARACEAE

CENTROPLACACEAE

ELATINACEAE

Bergia suffruticosa (Delile) Fenzl from Senegal to Egypt, Algeria, Congo, Kenya and Yemen, disjunct in Pakistan and India, is the unique no herb in Elatinaceae (Angios Bergianska).

MALPIGHIACEAE

BALANOPACEAE

TRIGONIACEAE

DICHAPETALACEAE

CHRYSOBALANACEAE

EUPHRONIACEAE

HUMIRIACEAE

ACHARIACEAE

Acharia (1, South Africa), Ceratiosicyos (1, Namibia, South Africa) and Guthriea (1, South Africa, Lesotho) are the unique herbs in Achariaceae (Angios Bergianska).

GOUPIACEAE

VIOLACEAE

PASSIFLORACEAE

Passiflora L. (Passifloraceae) is one of the most charismatic genera of angiosperms, famous due to the extreme diversity of flower shapes. It has 582 spp. in 5 subgenera, the absolute majority in the New World, more than 150 in Brazil, being strongly represented by lianas and lianesent herbs. However, the genus has arboreal species that have completely lost their lineascent habit. However, after a rigorous search on the Internet, Almanaque Z did not find an express list of trees of the genus. Here, based on some references, we seek to list all trees of the genus.

Considering Hilgenhof (Sibbaldia, 2012), who restricts arboreal forms of passionflower to section Astrophea; Wikipedia/Passiflora subg. Astrophea, who lists all the species in the group; Ocampo et al (Biota Colombiana, 2007), who discusses the arboreal forms of Colombia in a precise manner, adding P. grandis Killip to the list of trees in the genus (sect. Pseudoastrophea); however, is a smaller species, up to only 1.5m tall), Hilgenhof (Sibbaldia, 2012) again for the inclusion of P. lindeniana Planch. ex Triana & Planch as tree, despite Ocampo et al (Biota Colombiana, 2007), and Killip (Field Museum of Natural History, 1938), which describes all the Passifloraceae of the New World until then, only nine Passiflora has a true tree habit, namely:

Passiflora lindeniana Planch. ex Triana & Planch (W Venezuela to NE Colombia, up to 20m tall, SEE). 

 

Passiflora arborea Spreng., 1826 (Panama to W Colombia, sometimes P. magnoliifolia F.Dietr., 6-10m, SEE).

Passiflora tica Gomez Laur. & L.D. Gómez, 1981 (Costa Rica to W Colombia, up to 7m tall., SEE). 

 

Passiflora emarginata Humb. & Bonpl., 1813 (W Colombia, 3-5m, SEE).

Passiflora engleriana Harms, 1894 (NW Colombia, up to 5m, SEE).

 

Passiflora frutescens Ruiz & Pav. ex Killip (Peru, unknown high, SEE).

 

Passiflora macrophylla Spruce ex Mast., 1883 (Colombia to Ecuador, shrubby? 3-4m, SEE).

Passiflora sphaerocarpa Triana & Planch., 1873 (Colombia, 2-4m, SEE).

Passiflora grandis Killip, 1938 (NW Colombia, 1.5m high, SEE).

Outside of the Astrophea section, only P. quelchii N.E.Br. and P. spicata Mast. are not scandent (Killip, pg. 555, 1938).

LACISTEMATACEAE

SALICACEAE
PERACEAE 

RAFFLESIACEAE

Rafflesia from Philippines

EUPHORBIACEAE

Of the 246 spp. of Euphorbia from Mexico cited on February 30, 2024 in the VPA, 237 are found in the four subgenera review works, 5 were described later (E. cerrocalva, E. vizcainensis, E. zamudioi, E. breedlovei, E. cryptorubra), and 4 are unplaced.

subg. Chamaescyse ‣ 556-574 spp., 15 sections, 4 in New World, three in Mexico: sect. Alectoroctonum (115, 3 in Brazil) and Poinsettia (26, two in Brazil) from North to South America and Caribbean, and sect. Anisophyllum (368, 30 in Brazil) cosmopolitan. 199 spp. in Mexico. 

 

sect. Anisophyllum/Acutae ‣  106 spp. in Mexico.

 

sect. Anisophyllum/Hypericifoliea ‣ 3 spp., all in Mexico.

 

sect. Alectoroctonum  ‣ 70 spp. in Mexico.

 

sect. Poinsettia  ‣ 20 spp. in Mexico.

 

xxx

subg. Esula ‣ 457 spp. in 21 sections: 13 sections exclusive from Europe to China, Thailand and Japan, India and northern Africa (149; Arvales, Biumbellatae, Calyptratae, Chylogala, Guyonianae, Herpetorrhizae, Holophyllum, Lagascae, Myrsiniteae, Pachycladae, Patellares, Sclerocyathium, Szovitsiae); sect. Aphyllis and Exiguae extends up to Africa, Madagascar and Mauritius; the monotypic sect. Lathyris is found mostly in cultivation or near human settlements, widely distributed by humans and found in temperate or subtropical regions worldwide; sect. Esula ranges up to Africa, Madagascar, Réunion, Indonesia (Java), New Zealand, and Samoa. The three New World sections all also occur in Old World. 

 

▪ sect. Helioscopia - 26 spp. in New World, inc. three in America Latina: E. alta Norton from SW U.S.A. to NW Mexico,; E. philippiana (Klotzsch & Garcke) Boiss. from Chile; and E. spathulata Lam. disjunct from Canada to Mexico, and southern Brazil, NE Argentina and Uruguay. 

 

▪ sect. Paralias - one sp. in New World, E. trichotoma Kunth as outlier in S Florida, SE Mexico to Belize, Bahamas, Cuba and Cayman Islands. 

 

▪ sect. Tithymalus has with 35 spp., 7 native to and restricted to the Old World from the eastern Mediterranean region to Iran and the Arabian Peninsula, E. peplus L. presumably native to the Mediterranean region but is now widespread worldwide; the remaining species are native to the New World from United States, Canada, Mexico (18), Central America and Hispaniola.

subg. Euphorbia ‣ 661 spp. in 21 sections, 11 occur in New World, 5 in Mexico (21 spp.), two endemics and one near endemic. 15 spp. in Brazil.

sect. Tanquahuete ‣ contains two tree species that are by far the largest members of Euphorbia in the New World (up to 25m), and among the largest in the genus. E. lundelliana is poorly known,  but  is  placed here because of its arborescent habit, leaves similar to E. tanquahuete. 

 

sect. Calyculatae ‣ two spp., E. calyculata Kunth and E. xylopoda, trees up to 12m high, endemic to Mexico. 

 

sect. Crepidaria ‣ 15 spp., 12 restricted to Mexico; mexican species vary in their geographical range from E. lomelii V.W.Steinm., estimated to occupy some 300 000 km² in the deserts around the Gulf of California, to the microendemic E. conzattii V.W.Steinm. with a range of 0.2 km² on a single mountaintop. Of the three species with distributions extending beyond Mexico's borders, the southernmost populations of E. calcarata (Schltdl.) V.W.Steinm. occur in northern Guatemala, whereas E. personata (Croizat) V.W.Steinm. has disjunct populations as far south as Costa Rica. Finally, E. tithymaloides L., by far the most widespread species of the clade, has a range that includes Mexico, Florida, northern South America, Central America, and most islands in the Caribbean. In addition to an unusually broad distribution, E. tithymaloides is also notable in the group for the degree of infraspecific differentiation, with eight subspecies recognized. 

 

sects. Mesophyllae ‣ a single spp., from Mexico (Chiapas), Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil (Acre), Bolivia. 

 

sect. Euphorbiastrum ‣ 6 spp., Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru to S Mexico (only E. pteroneura) and Caribbean.

PHYLLANTHACEAE

PICRODENDRACEAE

LINACEAE
IXONANTHACEAE 
 
FABALES 
 

QUILLAJACEAE

FABACEAE

POLYGALACEAE

In Polygalaceae, Salomonia Lour (5, India to Japan, south up to NE Australia) comprises achlorophyllous root holoparasites and Epirixanthes (7, India to China, south up to New Guinea) comprises holomycotrophs (Angios Bergianska).

SURIANACEAE 
 
ROSALES 
 

ROSACEAE

RHAMNACEAE

ELAEAGNACEAE

BARBEYACEAE

DIRACHMACEAE

ULMACEAE

CANNABACEAE

MORACEAE

Fatoua Gaudich. (3, Madagascar, Japan to Jawa and New Caledonia) are annual herbs (Angios Bergianska).

URTICACEAE

For cave plants, a remarkable work via Konno et al (Plos One, 2018) deals with their diversity in caves in southern China; the Yangzi Cave is the type locality for 8 plants! Pilea cavernicola A.K. Monro, C.J. Chen & Y.G. Wei (Urticaceae) grows in almost complete darkness, receiving less than 3% of full sunlight (Alex K. Monro et al., PhytoKeys, 2012), being the most shaddy plant worldwide.

 

 
CUCURBITALES 
 

ANISOPHYLLEACEAE

CORYNOCARPACEAE

CORIARIACEAE

CUCURBITACEAE

Dendrosicyos socotranus Balf.f., endemic to the island of Socotra in Yemen, is the only species in the Cucurbitaceae to grow in a tree form.

Dendrosicyos socotranus Balf.f., endemic to Socotra

TETRAMELACEAE

DATISCACEAE

BEGONIACEAE
APODANTHACEAE 
 
FAGALES 
 

NOTHOFAGACEAE

FAGACEAE

MYRICACEAE

JUGLANDACEAE

CASUARINACEAE

TICODENDRACEAE
BETULACEAE 
 
GERANIALES 
 

GERANIACEAE

Geraniaceae are usually perennial or annual herbs, sometimes suffrutices or shrubs; in Geranium section Neurophyllodes (4) from Hawaii are trees (Angios Bergianska).

FRANCOACEAE 
 
MYRTALES 
 

COMBRETACEAE

ONAGRACEAE

LYTHRACEAE

VOCHYSIACEAE

MYRTACEAE

MELASTOMATACEAE

CRYPTERONIACEAE

ALZATEACEAE
PENAEACEAE 
 
CROSSOSOMATALES 
 

STAPHYLEACEAE

GUAMATELACEAE

CROSSOSOMATACEAE

STACHYURACEAE

APHLOIACEAE

GEISSOLOMATACEAE
STRASBURGERIACEAE 
 
PICRAMNIALES 
 
PICRAMNIACEAE 
 
SAPINDALES 
 

BIEBERSTEINIACEAE

NITRARIACEAE

KIRKIACEAE

ANACARDIACEAE

BURSERACEAE

SAPINDACEAE

Herbs in Sapindaceae occur only in Cardiospermum L. (9, cosmopolitan), mainly in New World (Angios Bergianska).

MELIACEAE

Unlike the predominat trees and shrubs in Meliaceae, Munronia (8, India to E China, up to peninsular Malaysia, Philippines, and from Java to Timor) are suffrutices, and Naregamia (1, India) are perennial herbs (Angios Bergianska).

SIMAROUBACEAE
RUTACEAE 
 
HUERTEALES 
 

GERRARDINACEAE

PETENAEACEAE

TAPISCIACEAE
DIPENTODONTACEAE 
 
MALVALES 
 

NEURADACEAE

THYMELAEACEAE

SPHAEROSEPALACEAE

BIXACEAE

CISTACEAE

SARCOLAENACEAE

DIPTEROCARPACEAE

CYTINACEAE

MUNTINGIACEAE
MALVACEAE 
 
BRASSICALES 
 

AKANIACEAE

TROPAEOLACEAE

MORINGACEAE

CARICACEAE

Jarilla

Horovitzia

SETCHELLANTHACEAE

LIMNANTHACEAE

KOEBERLINIACEAE

BATACEAE

TIGANOPHTYACEAE

SALVADORACEAE

EMBLINGIACEAE

PENTADIPLANDRACEAE

GYROSTEMONACEAE

RESEDACEAETOVARIACEAE

CAPPARACEAE

CLEOMACEAE

BRASSICACEAE 
 

Heliophila (96 spp.), and Chamira are endemic to the Cape region of South Africa, where they are the dominant genera of Brassicaceae. They may be regarded as the most diversified Brassicaceae lineage in every aspect of habit, leaf, flower, and fruit morphology. It has flowers with enormous diversity in size ranging from the largest in the family (petals to 25 mm long in Brachycarpaea juncea and Cycloptychis virgata) to nearly the smallest (petals ca. 1.2 mm long in Heliophila pectinata). Heliophila has a wide range of flower color, including blue, a color otherwise known in Brassicaceae only in the unrelated Himalayan Solms-laubachia Muschl. (Al-Shehbaz & Yang, 2001). Furthermore, the flowers usually have appendages on the basal portions of petals and/or staminal filaments. Several species (e.g., H. africana) produce beaked fruits similar to those of the tribe Brassiceae, whereas others have siliques more than 12 cm long (e.g., H. scoparia) or minute silicles only about 2 mm in diameter (e.g., H. patens). Fruit shape is quite variable (linear, lanceolate, oblong, elliptic, ovoid, or globose), whereas fruit compression in Heliophila varies from latiseptate (flattened parallel to the septum) to terete, and in Brachycarpaea it is angustiseptate (fruit flattened at a right angle to the septum) (Figs. 1, 2). Fruits may be dehiscent (Heliophila), indehiscent and woody (Silicularia), samaroid (Thlaspeocarpa), or even schizocarpic and with a distinct (Cycloptychis) or rudimentary carpophore (Brachycarpaea). These fruit characters (e.g., silique versus silicle, dehiscent vs. indehiscent, latiseptate vs. angustiseptate), which are used in the separation of species and genera within Heliophileae, have been used extensively in the delimitation of tribes (see Al-Shehbaz, 1984). Within Heliophila one finds ephemeral to perennial herbs, shrubs, and lianas to 3 m tall (H. scandens). Apart from previous controversial classification systems discussed by Appel and Al-Shehbaz (1997), nothing is known about the phylogenetic relationships within the Heliophileae (Mummenhoff, Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, 2005).

SANTALALES 

Isophasic parasitis is very rare, a feature that, in Santalales, is only known for in several species of Arceuthobium (North American A. americanum Nutt. ex Engelm., A. douglasii Engelm., and A. pusillum Peck, and the Himalayan A. minutissimum Hook.), but only on their most common hosts trees, in Phoradendron perredactum Rzedowski & Calderón, from Mexico (Kuijt, Acta Botanica Mexicana, 2011), and in Tristerix aphyllus in South America.

ERYTHROPALACEAE

STROMBOSIACEAE

COULACEAE

XIMENIACEAE

APTANDRACEAE

OLACACEAE
OCTOKNEMACEAE 

BALANOPHORACEAE

MYSTROPETALACEAE

LORANTHACEAE

Atkinsonia F.Muell. (1, SE Australia), Gaiadendron (2, Nicaragua to Bolivia and Brazil) and Nuytsia (1, W Australia) are the unique root parasitic trees in Loranthaceae (Angios Bergianska).

MISODENDRACEAE

SCHOEPFIACEAE

Quinchamalium Molina (1, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina) is the unique herb in Schoepfiaceae (Angios Bergianska).

 
AIZOACEAE

The radiation of the Aizoaceae (144/c. 1,680 spp.), specifically the subfamily Ruschioideae, was one of the most recent among the angiosperms, occurring 1.13-6.49 Mya. It is also one of the fastest radiations ever described in the angiosperms, with a diversification rate of about 4.4 species per million years; this diversification was roughly contemporaneous with major radiations in two other succulent lineages, Cactaceae and Agave. 

 

The two basal groups, Sesuvioideae and Aizooideae, includes (11/)163 spp. widely worldwide. Acrosanthoideae, Mesembryanthemoideae and Ruschioideae subfamilies includes (11/)1,511-1,531 spp., all confined to Africa except Disphyma N.E.Br. (4, Western and Eastern Cape, southern Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand), Delosperma N.E.Br. (170, South Africa to eastern Africa and Arabian Peninsula, Madagascar, Réunion), and Carpobrotus N.E.Br. (13; S Africa, Australia, South America). 

 

GISEKIACEAE

SARCOBATACEAE

PHYTOLACCACEAE

PETIVERIACEAE

NYCTAGINACEAE

MOLLUGINACEAE

MONTIACEAE

HALOPHYTACEAE

DIDIEREACEAE

BASELLACEAE
TALINACEAE 

PORTULACACEAE

Portulaca suffrutescens Engelm. from Arizona to C Mexico somewhat has lignified at stem base, unique among this genus (Angios Bergianska).

ANACAMPSEROTACEAE

CACTACEAE

Cochemiea dioica (K.Brandegee) Doweld (= Mammillaria dioica, California to Mexico) and × Aporberocereus innesii (Kimnach) Doweld (= Selenicereus innesii, only cultivation) are the unique functionally dioecious among all Cactaceae (Angios Bergianska). 

 
CORNALES 
 

CORNACEAE

Besides the main habit in Cornaceae as trees or shrubs, Cornus suecica L. (Canada, Alaska, N Europe to W Siberia, NE Asia) and C. canadensis L. (Artic to Arizona, NE Asia, Myanmar) are stoloniferous perennial herbs or suffrutices (Angios Bergianska).

GRUBBIACEAE

CURTISIACEAE

NYSSACEAE

HYDROSTACHYACEAE

HYDRANGEACEAE
LOASACEAE 
 
ERICALES 
 

BALSAMINACEAE

MARCGRAVIACEAE

TETRAMERISTACEAE

POLEMONIACEAE

Cantua Juss. ex. Lam. (16, Ecuador to Bolivia) is the most proeminet member of Polemoniacae in habit, being small trees in some species (Angios Bergianska).

FOUQUIERIACEAE

LECYTHIDACEAE

The unique Lecythidaceae apart tree ou shrubyy habit are some Napoleonaea (17, Guinea to Zambia), with suffrutex or vine habit (Prance & Jongkind, Kew Bulletin, 2015).

SLADENIACEAE

PENTAPHYLACACEAE

SAPOTACEAE

EBENACEAE

PRIMULACEAE

MITRASTEMONACEAE

THEACEAE

SYMPLOCACEAE

STYRACACEAE

DIAPENSIACEAE

SARRACENIACEAE

RORIDULACEAE

ACTINIDIACEAE

CLETHRACEAE

CYRILLACEAE
ERICACEAE 
 
ONCOTHECALES 
 
ONCOTHECACEAE 
 
AQUIFOLIALES 
 

AQUIFOLIACEAE

HELWINGIACEAE
PHYLLONOMACEAE 
 
ICACINALES 
 
ICACINACEAE 
 
METTENIUSALES 
 
METTENIUSACEAE 
 
GARRYALES 
 

GARRYACEAE
EUCOMMIACEAE 
 
GENTIANALES 
 

RUBIACEAE

Hydnophytum Jack (54, Myanmar to NE Australia), Myrmecodia Jack (26, Vietnan to NE Australia), Myrmeconauclea Merr. (4, Borneo to Philippines), Myrmephytum Becc. (5, Philippines, Sulawesi, New Guinea), etc. are epiphytic or (Myrmeconauclea) rheophytic myrmecophytes (ant plants), in the hollow swollen stems and branches – hypocotylar bases – of which ant colonies live (Angios Bergianska).

LOGANIACEAE

GELSEMIACEAE

GENTIANACEAE

Lysianthus nigrescens 

 

Lagenanthus

APOCYNACEAE

Dischidia major (Vahl) Merr. (Bangladesh to Philippines, up to NE Australia) are myrmecotrophic with ant colonies present in leaves (Angios Bergianska).

SUCCULENT STAPELIOID RADIATION ‣ besides many lienages of succulents in Apocynaceae outside Stepliids, this groups is the very charismaticous and emblematic; recent phylogenetic reconstructions in the Ceropegieae show that the 357 species of highly succulent stapeliads and four lineages of the 141 species of Brachystelma R.Br. ex Sims are nested within the 219 species of Ceropegia L.; thus, Ceropegia has 717 spp. in Macaronesia, widespread in Africa, S Europe, Arabian Peninsula, S Iran, Afghanistan to SE Asia, Himalaya to China to N Australia, Madagascar, found as slender climbers in forest-margins, in semi-arid places under or climbing on protective shrubs or in the open in semi-arid to arid habitats (Bruys et al., South African Journal of Botany, 2017). 

Stapeliids s.s. occur Tanzania and Kenya to southern Arabian Peninsula (and Socotra), east up to Sahel, and up South Africa in southernn region, with sect. Apteranthes also in Macaronesia, in the Mediterranean region of Africa and southern Europe to the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan; sect. Caudanthera up to Pakistan; sect. Boucerosia up to India, western Nepal and Myanmar; sect. Frerea endemic to India; and sect. Stapelianthus endemic to Madagascar. Clade B has 201 spp. from South Africa to W and NE Africa, two species are found in the southern Arabian Peninsula, with two species that occur both on Madagascar and in Africa (C. ampliata E. Mey. and C. carnosa E. Mey.). No species are known from SE Asia in Clade B.

VAHLIALES ‣ absent in New World. One family, Vahliaceae. 
 
SOLANALES 
 

MONTINIACEAE

SPHENOCLEACEAE

HYDROLEACEAE

CONVOLVULACEAE

By consulting Wood et al. (PhytoKeys, 2020), it was possible to define, as a preliminary, a list of forms of Ipomoea that are tree-like.

Ipomoea arborescens (Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.) G. Don - up to 15m tall, dry forest and scrub, mostly below 1000 m in western and central Mexico. 

 

Ipomoea murucoides Roem. & Schult. - up to 13m tall., dry scrub and open deciduous woodland from 600 to 2400 m from central Mexico south to Guatemala. 

 

Ipomoea wolcottiana Rose, Gard. & Forest - up to 13 m, dry, deciduous forest in scattered disjunct locations from Peru through Central America to southern Mexico at relatively low altitudes of 50–900 m. 

 

Ipomoea intrapilosa Rose, Gard. & Forest - up to 10m, endemic to dry scrub in central Mexico, mostly found in Jalisco but also reported from Zacatecas, Nayarit and Michoacán. 

 

Ipomoea pauciflora M. Martens & Galeotti - up to 7m tall., seasonally dry deciduous woodland mostly between 1000 and 2600 m from S Mexico to S Peru. 

 

Ipomoea teotitlanica McPherson - up to 5m tall., endemic to Oaxaca and neighbouring Puebla in Mexico, recorded as growing on steep sandstone slopes.

SOLANACEAE
 
BORAGINALES
 

CODONACEAE

WELLSTEDIACEAE

BORAGINACEAE

HYDROPHYLLACEAE

NAMACEAE

HELIOTROPIACEAE

CORDIACEAE

Coldenia procubens L, the single member of their genus, widely from Mauritania to Australia, Pakistan to South Africa, is the unique herb in Cordiaceae (Angios Bergianska).

EHRETIACEA 
 
LAMIALES 
 

PLOCOSPERMATACEAE

CARLEMANNIACEAE

OLEACEAE

TETRACHONDRACEAE

PELTANTHERACEAE

CALCEOLARIACEAE

GESNERIACEAE

Besleria macropoda 

 

It is quite interesting that the two dominant lineages of Gesneriaceae are so concentrated in one hemisphere, yet each has an outlier in the opposite hemisphere.

PLANTAGINACEAE

SCROPHULARIACEAE

STILBACEAE
BYBLIDACEAE 
 
LINDERNIACEAE ‣ no relevant exxotaxa. 
 

Lindernia intrepida (Dinter ex Heil) Oberm. (= Chamaegigas intrepidus Dinter) from Namibia is poikilohydric aquatic resurrection plant (Angios Bergianska). 

 

Possibly one carnivorous species in Mozambique, Crepidorhopalon droseroides. 

THOMANDERSIACEAE

VERBENACEAE

PEDALIACEAE

SCHLEGELIACEAE

MARTYNIACEAE

BIGNONIACEAE

Despite the trees, shrubs or lianas habit of Bignoniaceae, Argylia D. Don. (13, Argentina, Chile, one up to Peru), Incarvillea (18, Kazakhsthan to China, Pakistan to SE Russia, inc. Niedzwedzkia) are perennial herbs, and Tourrettia Foug. (1, Mexico to Bolivia, east up to Venezuela, and Argentina) consists of twining perennial herbs (Angios Bergianska).

ACANTHACEAE

LENTIBULARIACEAE

LAMIACEAE

Clerodendrum Madagascar

MAZACEAE

PHRYMACEAE

PAULOWNIACEAE

WIGHTIACEAE
OROBANCHACEAE 
 
CARDIOPTERIDALES 
 

CARDIOPTERIDACEAE
STEMONURACEAE
 
ESCALLONIALES
 
ESCALLONIACEAE

Escalloniaceae are usually evergreen trees and shrubs, however Valdivia gayana J. Rémy (Chile) is a small shrub, Tribeles australis Phil. (Argentina and Chile) is a low procumbent and creeping shrub, and Eremosyne pectinata Endl. (Australia) is an annual herb (Angios Bergianska). 

 
ASTERALES 
 

ASTERACEAE

XX

Dendrosenecio (Hauman ex Hedberg) B.Nord., 12 spp., from R.D.Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda. 

 

XX 

 

CAPRIFOLIACEAE

valeriana epiphyta

FAIXAKS

NOTORIOUS DISJUNCTIONS

Rapateaceae

Fabaceae and Bromeliaceae were classically divided into three groups, and phylogenetic advances have shown that exactly one of each, Caesalpinioideae and Pitcairnioideae, were polyphyletic, with the remaining two clades in each embedded in a polytomy.

THE MOST COMMON PLANT ARCHITETURES: leafy trees (huge branched, pandaniformes, dracaeniformes), succulent trees (cactiformes), bambusoids, sucullent herbs (rhomboid cacti, discoid cacti, crassuloids, anacampserotoids), shrubs (comoon, spiny xeric, lax sprawling, paramic caulirosulas), herbs (grasses, juncoids, soil/rocky foresty herbs, alpine nanoherbs, prostrate gnaphalioids, incrustrants, submerged latifolious, agavoids closed, agavoid lax, xeric lax, delicate mycoheterotrophics, balanophoroids and alies, massive bloom desert and fynbos formation), palmoids (tiny cyclantoid, monopodial, rattan, branched), epiphtyic/lithophytes (pendulous, delicate rosettes in barks, tank bromeliids, rosette agavoids, cliff branched litophytes, cliff tillandsioids), lianes (woody, delicate, bauhinioids), cushions (lax, dense, rosettes), tall monopodious herbs (marantoid, zingiberoid, cannoid, musoid, huge aroids), aquatic plants (floating leaves, capilloides, podostemoids, herbal traditional).

some succulent status

Old World is the centre of diversity of geocarpic ones, rheophytic Araceae, dissecation family-lineages, rattans (Arecaceae), mangroves and colorful nectaries. In mangroves, 54 spp. are true members, 8 in New World and 47 in Old World; 11 families has mangroves only in Old World (Wikipedia); geocarpy occur in 34 families, only 5 in New World (SAa); of 70 spp. with color nectar in World, only 16 occur in New World (SAa).

Odd plants in New World after South America includes Psittacanthus nuda from Honduras;

PANTROPICAL PLANTS

Ipomoea violacea L. (MAP)

HOLOMYCOTROPHS

In Monocots except Orchidaceae, mycothophs genera outside South America includes Petrosavia (3, Petrosaviaceae, E Asia), Afrothismia (), Haplothismia (), Oxygine (), Kihansia (), Kupea (), Seychellaria (), Hyalisma (), Andruris (), Corsia (), Corsiopsis (), and Geosiris (2, Australia and Madagascar) 

In Orchidaceae, after South America, all holomycotroph Vanilloid members occur in 5 genera of mycotrophs occur in E Asia to Japan and Australia (44 spp., Cyrtosia, Eryhtroches, Galeola, Lecanorchis, Pseudovanilla), some into Madagascar; in Orchidioideae + Epidendroideae, members with locally distribution occur from E Asia to Australia (22/75), Africa to Madagascar (2/5), plus Cephalanthera (6 holomycotrophs, 1 in North America, 5 in E Asia), Corallorhiza (5 holomycotrophs, from North to Cental America), Didymoplexis (12, Africa to Asia), Epipogonium (3, Eurasia and Africa to Pacific), Eulophia (17, Africa to Pacific), Gastrodia (22, widely in Old World), Hexalectris (6, U.S.A. to Mexico), Limodorum (3, Mediterranean Basin), and Neottia (14, northern Hemisphere). Only three occur in New World (Corallorhiza, Cephalanthera, Hexalectris).

Among Eudicots, mycotrophs occur Epirixanthes (6, Polygalaceae, tropical Asia, including India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, China, and the Solomon Islands), 10 genera of Ericaceae: Cheilotheca (3, Asia), Hemitomes (1, W North America), Hypopitys (1, widely in northern Hemisphere up to Central America), Monotropastrum (2, E Asia), Monotropsis (2, E Asia), Pityopus (1, W North America), Pleuricospora (1, W North America), Pterospora (1, U.S.A. to Mexico), Pyrola (only P. aphylla, Canada to Mexico) and Sarcodes (1, W North America); Exacum (4, Himalayas throughout Southeast Asia to New Guinea) and Exochaenium (1, tropical Africa).

Begonia giganticaulis D.K.Tian & W.G.Wang from Tibet region in China is the largest Begonia worldwide (PhytoKeys, 2021).

.

Euphorbia high diversity ‣ c

Epipytes Euphorbiaceae worldwide ‣ c

Parasitics after South America ‣ c

GIANTS TREES WORLDWIDE

Dense woody trees worldwide

Older trees worldwide

Giant caulirosulas Africa

Outsier cushions

Mimicry

sea grasses

Deep roots

Gypsophyllous-

Euphorbia subg. Chamaescyce (Euphorbiaceae) is the only taxonomic group at the lower level than the genus with photosynthesis C³, C², C4 and CAM, with C2 in this group occurring only in E. acuta Engelm. (USA) and E. johnstoni Mayfield (Mexico); for both, see Sage et al. (Journal of Experimental Botany, 2011).

Paris japonica

CARNIVOROUS ‣ considering the genera of carnivorous plants that do not occur in South America, all are geographically disjoint except Darlingtonia ✕ Triantha in W U.S.A., Dionaea ✕ Sarracenia in E U.S.A., Triphyophyllum ✕ Aldrovanda in W Africa, Nepenthes ✕ Byblis and Aldrovanda ✕ Byblis in N Australia and southern New Guinea, and Cephalotus ✕ Byblis ✕ Aldrovanda in SW Australia.

Parasitaxus ustus

Bulbophyllum nocnortum

Colobanthus quitensis

Deschampsia atlantica

Adansonia digitata

A group of researchers has been carrying out expeditions since August 2019 in search of the giant trees of the Amazon. The research project is funded by the Iratapuru Fund and the UEAP Fund, under the coordination of the Federal Institute of Amapá, Campus Laranjal do Jari ().

Prior to 2009 reports of giant trees in the Amazon were sparse and fragmented; consistent surveys based on this one were able to detect for the first time documented trees above 70m. (Gorgens, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 2019). Analysis of 594 airborne laser transects (375 ha each) obtained from airborne laser scanning (ALS) surveys conducted within the Amazon basin led to the discovery of a tree with a height of 88.5 m. It is surrounded by seven other trees taller than 80 m and many more above 75 m.

In the first expedition, which took place in August 2019, Brazilian and British researchers located the largest tree in the Amazon, 88 meters high. The specimen, located in the Paru State Forest, located in the state of Pará, in the Calha Norte of the Amazon River, is of the species Dinizia excelsa, popularly known as red angelim, and is 5.5 meters in circumference.

In the second expedition, which took place in January 2021, the largest chestnut tree (Berthollhetia excelsa) ever recorded in the Amazon was found, with 66.66 meters in height, also located on the RDS of the Iratapuru River. Another red angelim measuring 79.19 meters in height and 6.8 meters in diameter was also found at the time.

The third expedition took place in September 2021 in the municipality of Porto Grande, in the region of the Cupixi River, on the limits of the State Forest of Amapá. The researchers found another red angelim 85.44 meters tall and with a circumference of 9.45 meters. This tree found is considered the second largest in the Amazon region visited in loco and the largest tree ever recorded in the state of Amapá.

The project intends to map a total of 7 trees larger than 80 meters. The next expedition will take place from the 5th to the 7th of November, in the Agroextractive Settlement on the Maracá River, and intends to map a tree 83.44 meters high.

Trees exceeded 50 m in height across many parts of the Brazilian Amazon, but trees over 80 m were only observed in the eastern Amazon (micro-region III, Roraima Province/(Gorgens et al., Global Change Biology/Pre-print, 2021)).

Maps of the Brazilian Amazon showing the location of trees > 50 m, > 60 m, > 70 m, and > 80 m in height (Gorgens et al., Global Change Biology/Pre-print, 2021).

X

Maximum tree height distribution when FAPAR values under 80% were excluded from analysis (Gorgens et al., Global Change Biology/Pre-print, 2021)

x