Five new species of Vernonieae (Asteraceae) from Espírito Santo, Brazil

Abstract

Espírito Santo is a hotspot of diversity in the Atlantic Forest in Brazil, where five new species of Vernonieae from the genera Cololobus, Lepidaploa, Lessingianthus, Piptocarpha, and Vernonanthura were found, and four of them occur in the municipality of Santa Teresa. These discoveries show that current knowledge on biodiversity in Espírito Santo is incipient, even in sites with decades of biological inventories, such as Santa Teresa. Here, all five species are described with comments about distribution, conservations status, phenology and taxonomic affinities. We also provide illustrations and a distribution map of the new species. According to the criteria of IUCN red list, Cololobus argenteus and Vernonanthura spathulata must be included in endangered (EN) category.