Microlicia bahiensis (Melastomataceae: Microlicieae): lectotypification, redescription, and affinities

Abstract

Microlicia bahiensis, a rare species known only from the type that was collected over 100 years ago, is redescribed, illustrated, and lectotypified. It is compared to and mapped with three probable relatives, all of which are largely centered on the Chapada Diamantina in Bahia, Brazil, where they are mostly restricted to the mosaic of mountaintop “islands” dominated by campos rupestres (rocky grasslands). A diagnostic key is also included to help differentiate it from other glandular-pubescent Bahian species that appear to be its closest probable relatives.