1 INTRODUCTION
Siderasis Angiosperms (SDa), this present project, is a a work developed with the objective of presenting, in a brief way, the diversity of angiosperms in South America, raising several points of analysis and discussion, distributed throughout the following pages.
SDa is largely based on Synopsis of South American Angiosperms (SSAA), a checklist of all South American native genera of angiosperms, organized by order, family, genera, and eventually by subfamilies, tribes, subtribes, and the genera, in hundreds of cases, are enunciated by valid subdivisions. SSAA is based on Plants of the World Online (POWO), the most objective and clear list on the flora of the World and, consequently, of South America, according to the APG group (SEE) for orders and families. The platform allows searching by geographic region and taxonomic group in a dynamic and highly productive.
PHYLOGENY OF LIVING EMBRIOPHYTES
2 INDEX AND ADDITIONAL NOTES
INTRODUCTION TO SIDERASIS BLOGSPOT INTRODUCTION TO THIS BLOG, WITH GENERAL DATA ON THE DIVERSITY OF SOUTH AMERICAN ANGIOSPERMS BY ORDER, FAMILY, AND GENUS.
NOTES ON ANGIOSPERMS OF SOUTH AMERICA MORE THAN 20 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ON ANGIOSPERMS IN GENERAL, SOUTH AMERICA, AND BRAZIL.
RANKINGS OF SOUTH AMERICA FLORA VARIOUS RANKINGS OF GENERA, SPECIES, AND COUNTRIES ACROSS SOUTH AMERICA, PRESENTED IN TABLES.
ODD DISTRIBUTIONS IN BRAZIL A LIST OF UNDERREPRESENTED, GEOGRAPHICALLY CONCENTRATED, OR LOCALLY ENDEMIC GENERA IN BRAZIL
MORPHOLOGICAL/ECOLOGICAL NOTES A COMPILATION OF MORPHOLOGICAL, ECOLOGICAL, PHYSIOLOGICAL, GENETIC, AND MOLECULAR NOTES ON THE ANGIOSPERMS OF SOUTH AMERICA.
INFRAFAMILIAR AND INFRAGENERIC NOTES A SUMMARY OF FAMILIES AND GENERA WITH STABLE SUBDIVISIONS IN SOUTH AMERICA, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON BRAZILIAN DIVERSITY.
BRAZILIAN RESTRICTED STATE GENERA A LIST OF GENERA RESTRICTED IN BRAZIL TO A SINGLE STATE, WHETHER DUE TO ENDEMISM, GEOGRAPHIC POSITION, OR DISJUNCTION.
ENDEMIC GENERA BY COUNTRY A LIST OF ENDEMIC ANGIOSPERM GENERA BY COUNTRY OF SOUTH AMERICA.
Several notes available in Almanaque Z blogspot for South American members of Lycophytes (SEE), Monilophytes (SEE), Gymnosperms (SEE), and Brazilian native members of Brassicaceae (Almanaque Z) and Caryophyllaceae (Almanaque Z). For an informal review of some groups, see Fagales in New World (Almanaque Z), Brassicaceae in New World (Almanaque Z), South American Poaceae (Almanaque Z) and New World Orchidaceae (Almanaque Z).
3 HIGH CLASSIFICATION OF ANGIOSPERMS
APG circuscriptions of April 04, 2023 differs from APG IV, the last version published as article (Botanical Journal of Linnean Society, 2016, with 64 orders and 416 families) by fully recognition of Hydnoraceae, Taccaceae, Thismiaceae, Afrothismiaceae and Peltantheraceae, seven families spliteds for Boraginaceae, six families splited for Olacaceae, Tiganophtyaceae as a new family, Mystropetalaceae dismembered of Balanophoraceae, and Wightiaceae dismembered of Carlemmaniaceae, plus three new orders, namely Desfontainiales, Oncothecales and Cardiopteridales. With the changes, the APG now recognizes 67 orders and 437 families. Huipeng et al. (PRE-PRINT, 2023) suggests that the COM clade (Celastrales-Oxalidales-Malpighiales), currently considered part of Fabids, is actually independent of both Fabids and Malvids, being probably parallel to both.
Angios Bergianska Website, by Jan Thomas Johansson, privides a alternative Angiosperm classification, fantastic for the detailing, in plain text, of all the accepted genera in each family and its general distribution, sometimes even very detailed, and many easily accessible references.
In this blog, angiosperms are treated as 20 major clades, following the classification of Bi Li et al (BMC Biology, 2021), namely AMBORELLANAE, NYMPHAEANAE, AUSTROBAILEYANAE, CHLORANTHANAE, MAGNOLIANAE, LILIANAE, CERATOPHYLLANAE, RANUNCULANAE, PROTEANAE, TROCHODENDRANAE, BUXANAE, MYROTHAMNANAE, DILLENIANAE, SAXIFRAGANAE, VITANAE, ROSANAE, SANTALANAE, BERBERIDOPSIDANAE, CARYOPHYLLANAE and ASTERANAE.
ANGIOSPERM PHYLOGENY TREE, BI LI ET AL (BMC BIOLOGY, 2021)
In addition to the information above, we also highlight Rankings, a set of information on the diversity of South American flora analyzed under different aspects. For data on restrictions on Brazilian states, see Brazilian Restricted State Genera. By general notes for morphology, see Morphological and Ecological Notes.
3 GLOBAL NUMBERS OF SPECIES
Christenhusz and Byng (Phytotaxa, 2016) lists of all families by APG IV with number of species each, with 308,312 are vascular plants, 295,383 in Angiosperms (74,273 monocots and 210,008 eudicots), also Algae (〜44,000), liverworts (〜9,000), hornworts (〜225), mosses (〜12,700), Lycophytes (〜1,290), Monilophytes (〜10,560) and Gymnosperma (〜1,079). According to the VPA, on September 22, 2022, Brazil had 34,780 spp. of vascular plants, being 1,206 of Monilophytes, 171 of Lycophytes, 24 in Gymnosperms and 33,379 of Angiosperma (SEE), followed, in last group, closely by China (29,716, SEE).
4 ORDERS
APG recognizes 67 orders worldwide. South America has 57 of these, 53 in Brazil and four absents namely Fagales, Desfontainiales, Berberidopsidales and Huertales. Together, these four orders has 10 families, 16 genera and 46 spp. in continent.
5 FAMILIES
There are 437 families by APG, 284 in South America (65.35 ⁒ of the world's families), 237 in Brazil (corresponding to 82.68 ⁒ of families in South America and 54.04 ⁒ of the world total). The table below presents the number of families worldwide, in South America, and in Brazil, categorized by major angiosperm taxonomic groups.
| GROUP | WORLD | SOUTH AMERICA | BRAZIL | EXXOFAMILIES | G/SPP IN SOUTH AMERICA |
| AMBORELLANAE NYMPHAEANAE AUSTROBAILEYANAE CHLORANTHANAE MAGNOLIANAE |
27 | 17 | 15 | ATHEROSPERMATACEAE GOMORTEGACEAE |
2/2 |
| LILIANAE |
80 | 51 | 44 | ZOSTERACEAE MELANTHIACEAE CORSIACEAE PHILESIACEAE ASTELIACEAE TECOPHILEACEAE RESTIONACEAE |
11/17 |
| CERATOPHYLLANAE RANUNCULANAE PROTEANAE TROCHODENDRANAE BUXANAE MYROTHAMNANAE |
16 | 11 | 8 | LARDIZABALACEAE PAPAVERACEAE NELUMBONACEAE |
5/12 |
| DILLENIANAE VITANAE SAXIFRAGANAE |
17 | 8 | 5 | GROSSULARIACEAE SAXIFRAGACEAE HAMAMELIDACEAE |
7/59 |
| ROSANAE: FABIDS |
75 | 58 | 52 | NOTHOFAGACEAE FAGACEAE MYRICACEAE JUGLANDACEAE BETULACEAE CORIARIACEAE |
11/28 |
| ROSANAE: MALVIDS |
60 | 34 | 27 | ALZATEACEAE TAPISCIACEAE DIPENTODONTACEAE CYTINACEAE DIPTEROCARPACEAE KOEBERLINIACEAE TOVARIACEAE |
7/19 |
| SANTALANAE BERBERIDOPSIDANAE CARYOPHYLLANAE |
54 | 35 | 28 | MISODENDRACEAE AEXTOXICACEAE BERBERIDOPSIDACEAE FRANKENIACEAE HALOPHYTACEAE MONTIACEAE ANACAMPSEROTACEAE |
14/120 |
| ASTERANAE | 108 | 70 | 58 | POLEMONIACEAE ACTINIDIACEAE MITRASTEMONACEAE HYDRANGEACEAE CORNACEAE TETRACHONDRACEAE PELTANTHERACEAE PHRYMACEAE NAMACEAE COLUMELIACEAE PHYLLONOMACEAE STYLIDIACEAE |
25/130 |
| 437 | 284 | 237 | 83/445 |
Brazil has more families than Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana, and less of them than Colombia (252), Venezuela (243) and Peru (242), and ties with Bolivia (237). Worldwide Mexico has 254 (Almanaque Z/Mexico ✕ Brazil Botany Comparations), but the largest amount being for China, with 257 families (SEE). The 'A - B' symbol used in table below represents the number of native families in country A that do not occur in country B.
| COLOMBIA | 252 ✕ 237 | BRAZIL | ||
|
CL - BR = 27 (Fagaceae, Betulaceae, Juglandaceae, Myricaceae, Collumeliaceae, Dipentodontaceae, Tapisciaceae, Polemoniaceae, Montiaceae, Actinidiaceae, Grossulariaceae, Dipterocarpaceae, Cytinaceae, Hydrangeaceae, Phyllonomaceae, Papaveraceae, Nelumbonaceae, Hamamelidaceae, Mitrastemonaceae, Alzateaceae, Phrymaceae, Peltantheraceae, Namaceae, Cornaceae, Tovariaceae, Coriariaceae and Tetrachondraceae). BR - CL = 12 (Hydnoraceae, Calyceraceae, Canellaceae, Quillajaceae, Nartherciaceae, Francoaceae, Cistaceae, Sarraceniaceae, Gelsemiaceae, Hydrophyllaceae, Goodeniaceae and Griseliniaceae). |
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| VENEZUELA | 243 ✕ 237 | BRAZIL | ||
|
VZ - BR = 18: (Betulaceae, Juglandaceae, Myricaceae, Collumeliaceae, Dipentodontaceae, Tapisciaceae, Polemoniaceae, Montiaceae, Actinidiaceae, Grossulariaceae, Papaveraceae, Melanthiaceae, Namaceae, Phrymaceae, Cornaceae, Tovariaceae, Coriariaceae and Tetrachondraceae). BR - VZ = 12: (Hydnoraceae, Calyceraceae, Lepidobotryceae, Francoaceae, Rhabdodendraceae, Strombosiaceae, Juncaginaceae, Griseliniaceae, Anisophylleaceae, Quillajaceae, Hydrophyllaceae and Gelsemiaceae). |
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| PERU | 242 ✕ 237 | BRAZIL | ||
|
PR - BR = 22 (Tecophileaceae, Corsiaceae, Betulaceae, Juglandaceae, Myricaceae, Collumeliaceae, Dipentodontaceae, Tapisciaceae, Polemoniaceae, Montiaceae, Actinidiaceae, Grossulariaceae, Hydrangeaceae, Phyllonomaceae, Papaveraceae, Saxifragaceae, Alzateaceae, Peltantheraceae, Namaceae, Phrymaceae, Cornaceae, Tovariaceae, Coriariaceae and Frankeniaceae). BR - PR = 17 (Thurniaceae, Quillajaceae, Tetrameristaceae, Cannellaceae, Cyrillaceae, Nartherciaceae, Griseliniaceae, Rhabdodendraceae, Peridiscaceae, Sarraceniaceae, Cymodoceaceae, Surianaceae, Cistaceae, Ixonanthaceae, Gelsemiaceae, Goodeniaceae and Euphroniaceae). |
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| BOLIVIA | 237 ✕ 237 | BRAZIL | ||
|
BL - BR = 22 (Betulaceae, Juglandaceae, Myricaceae, Collumeliaceae, Dipentodontaceae, Polemoniaceae, Montiaceae, Actinidiaceae, Grossulariaceae, Hydrangeaceae, Phyllonomaceae, Papaveraceae, Saxifragaceae, Koeberliniaceae, Alzateaceae, Phrymaceae, Peltantheraceae, Namaceae, Cornaceae, Tovariaceae, Frankeniaceae and Anacampserotaceae). BR - BL = 22 (Cymodoceaceae, Thurniaceae, Taccaceae, Griseliniaceae, Lepidobotryceae, Nartherciaceae, Anisophylleaceae, Cannellaceae, Bonnetiaceae, Peridiscaceae, Euphroniaceae, Strombosiaceae, Sarraceniaceae, Quillajaceae, Goodeniaceae, Surianaceae, Cistaceae, Gelsemiaceae, Cyrillaceae, Rhabdodendraceae, Bataceae and Tetrameristaceae). |
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6 SOUTH AMERICA FAMILIES ABSENTS IN BRAZIL (EXXOFAMILIES; UNBRAZILIAN FAMILIES)
South America has 47 families non native in Brazil, joined 82 genera and 387 spp. in continent, of which Conanthera, Zephyra (Tecophileaceae), Lapageria (Philesiaceae), Gomortega (Gomortegaceae), Pseudomonotes (Dipterocarpaceae), Schreiteria (Montiaceae), Halophytum (Halophytaceae), and Grahamia (Anacampserotaceae) are national endemisms. 10 of the these families have genera restricted to South America (Atherospermataceae, Gomortegaceae, Philesiaceae, Tecophylleaceae, Lardizabalaceae, Saxifragaceae, Nothofagaceae, Dipterocarpaceae, Corsiaceae, and Collumeliaceae). All exxofamilies has 3 or fewer genera in South America except Polemoniaceae (12), Montiaceae (7) and Saxifragaceae (5). 28 has only a single genus, 12 only two genera, three only three genera.
The largest speciose families in continent are Montiaceae (98), Grossulariaceae (51), Actinidiaceae (49), Polemoniaceae (37), Hydrangeaceae (14), Phrymaceae (13), Nothofagaceae (10), Frankeniaceae (9), Dipentodontaceae (9), Tecophileaceae (9), Myricaceae (8), Misodendraceae (8), Saxifragaceae (7), Juglandaceae (6), Papaveraceae (5) and Collumeliaceae (5). Zosteraceae and Berberidopsidaceae on the continent are restricted to Chile; Koeberliniaceae to Bolivia; Melanthiaceae to Venezuela; Nelumbonaceae, Dipterocarpaceae, Hamamelidaceae, Fagaceae, Cytinaceae and Mitrastemonaceae to Colombia. Gomortegaceae is endemic to Chile and Halophytaceae is endemic to Argentina.
NATIONAL ENDEMIC GENERA IN EXXOFAMILIES, SINGLE COUNTRY-CONTINENTALLY EXXOFAMILIES, AND ENDEMIC EXXOFAMILIES
7 GENERA
In 11.09.21 The Plant List - a united work including sources as Kew and MOBOT - showed 14,044 valid genera of Angiosperms worldwide (SEE). In July 30, 2026, there are 4,151 genera of Angiosperms in South America (SSAA). In Brazil occurs 2,746 (355 endemics), and the other 1,405 are those that occur in South America but not in Brazil (which this site reports under the names 'unbrazilian' and their synonime neologism 'exxogenera', SEE). Among genera of Angiosperms, Brazil has the second amount in World, after China (3,003, SEE).
96 Brazilian genera are underrepresented in country - with high representation in South America but very low in Brazil; 59 genera are hypercentered in the country; 81 genera are semiendemic - not endemic to Brazil but in our country they have only endemic species — for a complete and detailed list, see Odd Distributions in Brazil. Brazilian largest genera are, via POWO (FEV 09, 2024, except Paepalanthus): Miconia (588), Eugenia (453), Myrcia (450), Mimosa (384), Croton (345), Piper (296), Solanum (281), Chamaecrista (278), Begonia (251), Paepalanthus (242), Paspalum (207) and Mikania (207).
Brazil's 355 endemic genera correspond to 12.87 ⁒ of the country's genera and 8.564 ⁒ of the continental total; the 13 countries together on the continent totaled 633 national endemic genera (SEE), 56.082 ⁒ of them Brazilian and together corresponding to 15.271 ⁒ of the continental amount. Suriname and Uruguay do not have endemic genera. 59 families has endemic genera in Brazil (including Ehretiaceae, Eriocaulaceae and Sapotaceae, excluding Ximeniaceae and Anisophylleaceae), being the only country in the world with an endemic genera in Martyniaceae and Humiriaceae. Among South American families, Achariaceae, Annonaceae, Capparaceae, Cleomaceae, Commelinaceae, Connaraceae, Convolvulaceae, Eriocaulaceae, Iridaceae, Lauraceae, Ochnaceae, Orobanchaceae, Linderniaceae, Lythraceae, Salicaceae, Polygalaceae, Menispermaceae and Celastraceae has endemic genera only in Brazil
25 famlies has endemic genera in a single country in South America but no has endemic genera in Brazil:
| 10 | CHILE | ARISTOLOCHIACEAE CAMPANULAC CARYOPHYLLAC ESCALLON FRANCOAC LARDIZAB GOMORTEG PHILESIAC PHYTOLACAC TECOPHILEACEAE | ||||
| 5 | ARGENTINA | ANACAMPSEROTACEAE MONTIACEAE HALOPHYTACEAE HELIOTROPIACEAE CALYCERACEAE | ||||
| 3 | PERU | COSTACEAE MUNTIGIACEAE ASPARAGACEAE | ||||
| 3 | GUYANA | PERIDISCACEAE PASSIFLORACEAE ERYTHROPALACEAE | ||||
| 2 | COLOMBIA | DIPTEROCARPACEAE VOCHYSIACEAE | ||||
| 2 | VENEZUELA | HAEMODORACEAE XYRIDACEAE | ||||
Six families have endemic genera in more than one country in South America excluding Brazil. Argentina has the largest number of genera in country context, and Brassicaceae has the largest in family context - almost a fifth these genera are Brassicaceae genera endemics to Argentina.
| ZYGOPHYLLACEAE | 2 | 1 | |||||
| ERICACEAE | 2 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| BRASSICACEAE | 4 | 3 | 8 | ||||
| LOASACEAE | 2 | ||||||
| RAPATEACEAE | 2 | 4 | |||||
| VERBENACEAE | 2 | 1 | |||||
| 8 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
Important groups without endemic genera in Brazil is Brassicaceae, Cyperaceae and Ericaceae. Brazil no has hyperendemic family (family that in the country is composed only of endemic genera), such as Dipterocarpaceae in Colombia.
NATIONAL HYPERENDEMIC FAMILIES IN SOUTH AMERICA
8 ENDEMISM IN SPECIES
In 46 native families, Brazil has no endemic species (〜1/5 of national families). Consequently, Brazil has endemic species in 191 families. In at least three, Rhabdodendraceae, Microteaceae and Cabombaceae, is the only country in the world with such.
| GROUP | NUMBER | FAMILIES |
| MAGNOLIANAE | 1 | CHLORANTHACEAE |
| LILIANAE | 11 | RUPPIACEAE Juncaginaceae, Xanthorrhoeaceae, Nartherciaceae, Taccaceae, Haemodoraceae, Typhaceae, Mayacaceae, Thurniaceae, Strelitziaceae CANNACEAE |
| CERATOPHYLLANAE | 2 | CERATOPHYLLACEAE |
| BUXANAE | 2 | BUXACEAE |
| SAXIFRAGANAE | 2 | PERIDISCACEAE, CRASSULACEAE |
| ROSANAE | 13 | ZYGOPHYLLACEAE Quillajaceae, Surianaceae, Brunelliaceae, Euphroniaceae, Goupiaceae, Ixonanhthaceae, Apodanthaceae, Lepidobotryaceae, Muntigiaceae, Cistaceae, Bataceae STAPHYLLEACEAE |
| SANTALANAE | 1 | COULACEAE |
| CARYOPHYLLANAE | 6 | BASELLACEAE Aizoaceae, Talinaceae, Phytolaccaceae, Plumbaginaceae ACHATOCARPACEAE |
| ASTERANAE | 10 | CYRILLACEAE Tetrameristaceae, Hydroleaceae, Hydrophyllaceae, Calceolariaceae, Stemonuraceae, Menyanthaceae, Goodeniaceae, Adoxaceae GRISELINIACEAE |
UPDATES
08⋅11⋅2024 ‣ adjustment to the new position of Apodanthaceae in Malpighiales, rather than in Cucurbitales, by Alzate, J.F. et al. (Mol. Phyl. and Evolution, 2024).
07⋅11⋅2024 ‣ small corrections.
PIAUÍ, BRAZIL