A Taxonomic Treatment of Parinari (Chrysobalanaceae) in the Atlantic Forest, Brazil

Abstract — Parinari is a pantropical genus with 39 species of mostly emergent trees. Nineteen species are found in the Neotropical region, with a taxonomic history complicated by several species complexes and little morphological variation. In this paper, I conducted a taxonomic treatment of species of Parinari that occur in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, including an identification key, species descriptions, distribution maps, and preliminary conservation status for each taxon. Additionally, new floral characters not previously explored in the taxonomy of the genus are introduced. Four species of Parinari are recognized in the Atlantic Forest, while P. leonthopitheci is synonymized, and names incorrectly applied to the Parinari excelsa complex are investigated. Parinari pohlii , a taxon treated for 50 yr as a synonym of P. brasiliensis , is reestablished, and lectotypes are designated for both names. Preliminary conservation status assessments indicate that three species are likely Endangered (EN): P. alvimii , P. littoralis, and P. pohlii . Finally, I indicate the exclusion from the treatment of two taxa, Parinari excelsa and Parinari parvifolia that do not occur in the Atlantic Forest but were erroneously identified in herbarium collections and in the literature.