Flora of Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil: new occurrences, overlooked species, conservation status assessments, and the conservation of Cerrado in the state

The state of Pernambuco harbors the second richest flora in northeastern Brazil and has been historically impacted by fragmentation of vegetation covering and habitat loss. Ongoing efforts on the flora of Pernambuco, based on fieldwork and analysis of herbarium collections, have revealed new occurrence records and neglected species. The fern Anemia rosulata is reported for the first time for Pernambuco whereas the angiosperms Aspidosperma araracanga and Eriosema rigidum are reported for the first time for northeastern Brazil. Additional twelve species have been overlooked by taxonomic monographs, including rare species in the state and species characteristic of Cerrado, which has been historically understudied in the state and neglected by governmental public policies. All fifteen species are threatened with extinction in Pernambuco based on IUCN criteria, including five species known from just one municipality each. We provide comments on morphology, ecology, and distribution for each species and discuss conservation of Cerrado in Pernambuco as well as importance of complete digitization of herbarium collections in the state. The results should assist in the preparation of a Red List of the flora of Pernambuco