"Malvaceae Juss. Da Estrada Parque do Pantanal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil. "

Abstract

The Pantanal Park Road is located in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, and encompasses the municipalities of Corumbá and Ladário. It is a special area of tourist interest, and was created by the Government of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul through MS Decree No. 7.122 of 1993. It has a varied vegetation, between Seasonal Deciduous and Semideciduous Forests with a tropical climate of the winter dry season. Malvaceae comprises 250 genera and 4.200 species distributed mainly in tropical and subtropical regions and, more rarely, in temperate regions. Several taxa of Malvaceae are of economic interest as species exploited in the food, textile and ornamental industries, in addition to having ruderal and invasive plantation plants. In this work, we conducted a taxonomic study of the Malvaceae species of the Pantanal Park Road of Mato Grosso do Sul, which covers the stretches of MS-184 and MS-228. In the work, original samples obtained in collection expeditions carried out between 2018 and 2020 and from 2022 to 2023 and from the collections of the COR, CGMS and CPAP herbaria were studied. The rates were determined by consulting the specialized literature, the type specimens and the original works. The family is represented in the area by 6 subfamilies, 18 genera and 27 species: Apeiba Aubl. (1 sp.), Ceiba Mill. (1 sp.), Gaya Kunth (2 spp.), Guazuma Adans. (1 sp.), Helicteres L. (2 spp.), Herissantia Medik. (1 sp.), Hibiscus L. (1 sp.), Malvastrum A. Gray (1 sp.), Melochia L. (2 spp.), Pavonia Cav. (2 spp.), Peltaea (C.Presl) Standl. (1 sp.), Pseudobombax Dugand (1 sp.), Sida L. (3 spp.), Sidastrum Baker f. (1 sp.), Sterculia L. (1 sp.), Urena L. (1 sp.), Waltheria L. (1 sp.) and Wissadula Medik. (1 sp.). This study, in addition to data from the occurrence data of Malvaceae in the various phytophysiognomies, resulted in two new records of Malvaceae were detected: Hibiscus striatus Cav. and Pseudobombax grandiflorum (Cav.) A.Robyns for the Midwest region, and Sida acuta Burm.f. for the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. Identification keys, taxonomic comments, geographic distribution data, illustrations and conservation status of Malvaceae species occurring on the Pantanal Park Road are presented.