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Rubiaceae of Brazil

Faramea nocturna, a distinctive new species, is considered Vulnerable according to IUCN © Jomar Jardim

Rubiaceae of Brazil is a long-term collaborative project working towards a series of floristic and phylogenetic monographs covering diversity and conservation of Rubiaceae, the fourth largest plant family worldwide. Monographic work focuses on the genera Rudgea, Faramea, Coussarea and Mitracarpus, describing, illustrating and mapping all recognised Brazilian species and subspecies of these genera. Where possible, IUCN Red List Conservation Assessments are included and recommendations for conservation action, protected areas and priorities for further study are made.

The project also addresses the need for floristic treatments and checklists of the family as a whole, such as the preliminary Repatriation Checklist of Northeastern Brazil (Zappi & Nunes 2002), contributions for Flora of Grão Mogol (Campos et al. in press), Flora of São Paulo (Zappi in press) and others.

The research is based on fieldwork and herbarium research that began in 1995 (Zappi & Stannard 1995). Capacity building within Brazil forms an important component of project activities, achieved by supervision or co-supervision of students from local universities, particularly the Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana. Research undertaken in the course of these studies contributes significantly to the project’s overall taxonomic and floristic outputs.

Four field expeditions have been carried out (1999, 2003, 2006), combined, whenever possible, with post-graduate courses and seminars on Rubiaceae and IUCN listing, as well as intensive herbarium visits throughout Brazil. The outputs include published revisions, masters and doctoral theses of several students (see Annex 1), as well as contributions to local florulas and Floras.

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