Biogeography of Philodendron section Calostigma (Schott) Pfeiffer (Araceae) in Brazil

Abstract

Philodendron is an exclusively neotropical genus with about 500 species distributed in three subgenera: Philodendron, Meconostigma e Pteromischum. The section Calostigma belongs to the subgenus Philodendron, the largest and most diverse group among the three. The section is represented in Brazil by 26 species distributed throughout the country. The study of the geographic distribution was based on herbaria material and field work reports. Three patterns of geographic distribution were found: wide distributed species, restrictly distributed species and endemic species. Forty-eight percent of the studied species belonged to the latter pattern. Two centers of diversity were recognised for the group: one in the Atlantic Coastal Forest, Eastern Brazil and the another in the Amazon Basin