Flora of Pernambuco (Brazil): Lythraceae J. St.-Hil.

ABSTRACT (Flora of Pernambuco (Brazil): Lythraceae J. St.-Hil.). Lythraceae comprises about 620 species distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of the globe, many of them of ecological and medicinal importance. This work aimed to perform the floristic study of Lythraceae species occurring in Pernambuco (Brazil), in addition to providing an identification key, morphological descriptions, geographical distribution, taxonomic notes, phenophases, photographs and illustrations. Materials obtained from field expeditions and from 10 herbaria were analyzed. Seventeen species and five genera (Ammannia, Cuphea, Lafoensia, Pleurophora and Rotala) were recognized. New records are: C. anagalloidea for Pernambuco, C. mimuloides and P. anomala for the Atlantic Forest and L. glyptocarpa and R. ramosior for the Caatinga. Seven species are endemic from Brazil, two are endemic from the Northeast and one is endemic from Pernambuco. The most frequent species were P. anomala, C. flava and C. racemosa. The species predominate in Caatinga of the State and 15 (88,23%) of them occur in conservation units.