Abstract

DIAZ-JIMENEZ, Pedro; GUADARRAMA-OLIVERA, María de los Ángeles  and  CROAT, Thomas B.. Floristic diversity of Araceae in the state of Tabasco, Mexico. Bot. sci [online]. 2015, vol.93, n.1, pp.131-142. ISSN 2007-4476.  https://doi.org/10.17129/botsci.238.

We studied the floristic diversity of Araceae in the state of Tabasco, Mexico. We found 44 native taxa (30 species and 14 infraspecific taxa) in nine genera, corresponding to 40% of the 110 species recorded for Mexico. Nine species are recorded for the first time for Tabasco, and seven are endemic to Mexico. The largest genera were Philodendron (17 species), and Anthurium (11), which together accounted for 63.6% of the species. The hemi- and holoepiphytic aroids represented the 75% of all species. Anthurium schlechtendalii subsp. schlechtendalii, Philodendron radiatum var. radiatum, Syngonium angustatum and Syngonium podophyllum var. podophyllum were widely distributed in different vegetation types of Tabasco. Anthurium pedatoradiatum subsp. helleborifolium was found growing until 720 m, which is a relatively higher elevation compared to the altitudinal range of this species reported for the Neotropics. Monstera tuberculata var. tuberculata is the only species in our study listed in NOM059-SEMARNAT-2010 as threatened in Mexico. The high number of new aroid records reported in this study demonstrates the importance of herbarium revisions, which allowed to correct many misidentified species recorded in different floristic studies, and the need of further intensive exploration in the field, particularly in vegetation types where the family is well represented, such as the tropical rain forest and semievergreen forest of Tabasco, where 59% of the species were found.

Keywords : aroids; endemism; geographical distribution; identification key; species richness.

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