Contribuições para o conhecimento de alguns táxons pertencentes à Lippia seção Dioicolippia

Abstract

The genus Lippia is one of the most representative of the Verbenaceae family, comprising ca. 150-200 species. Due to the high number of species and different morphological groups, the genus was segregated into sections, and currently comprising five sections. The section Dioicolippia comprises dioecious species, with the presence of woody xylopodium and an inflorescence composed of yellow or orange-yellow flowers. Currently, this section has a total of 15 taxa and one variety, distributed mainly in Argentina, southern Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay. After reviewing the species belonging to the section, it was possible to analyze the excess of borderline characters among the species Lippia asperrima, L. coarctata, L. turnerifolia and L. villafloridana. The aim of this study is to delimit morphologically some taxa that are difficult to identify belonging to the Lippia section Dioicolippia. Furthermore, with regard to specific objectives, we seek to determine the morphological limits of Lippia coarctata from the analysis of populations in loco to segregate the taxon of close species. In addition to checking populations in loco of L. asperrima to delimit its morphological variations and see if they cover its wide list of synonyms. After reviews of materials deposited in herbaria, investigation of the species studied in loco, as well as literary reviews It was possible to verify that the taxa that form the complex of L. asperrima L. coarctata, L. turnerifolia and L. villafloridana are difficult to identify, besides being morphologically close. The lack of morphological information makes it difficult to determine species. Occurring in Campos de Areia (Alegrete and Manoel Viana) it was found that the taxon initially identified as L. coarctata, in fact it was a species not yet described, named L. crucifera and treated in chapter 1 of this study. In the second chapter, the rescue of L. rodriguezii from the synonymy of L. asperrima is addressed, considering that both are quite distinct species. With the obtained data it is possible to affirm that there are six species that make up the group (L. asperrima, L. coarctata, L. crucifera unpublished, L. turnerifolia (varieties polytricha and turnerifolia), L. rodriguezii and L. villafloridana.