Flora de Cyperaceae juss. no parque estadual do Utinga, Belém, Pará, Brasil.

Abstract

The Utinga State Park (USP), with its extension of 1,393,088 hectares, is located in the Metropolitan Region of Belém-Pará. Created in 1993 as the Environmental Park of Belém, with the intention of protecting the Bolonha and Água Preta lakes, which are water sources for the population of Belém. Being an urban park, it faces various external pressures. Floristic surveys and studies commonly focus on the tree and shrub layers, neglecting the herbaceous and sub-shrub layers, where Cyperaceae stand out. In the state of Pará, fully inserted in the Amazon, there are 199 species and 16 genera of Cyperaceae. The intensification of studies involving this family in the Amazon reveals its importance for understanding the composition of the biome, as well as more recent studies on the importance of conserving urban forest remnants. Therefore, for PEUT to fulfill its mission outlined in the management plan, this work aimed to survey and study the taxonomy of Cyperaceae genera and species in the Utinga State Park, Belém, Pará, Brazil. Specimens collected during various expeditions to PEUT and samples from the MG and IAN herbaria were examined, and taxa were determined through literature and specialized platform consultations, as well as original works and images of nomenclatural types. This work recorded 34 species distributed in 11 genera of Cyperaceae: Cyperus L. (7 spp.), Rhynchospora Vahl. (7 spp.), Eleocharis R. Br. and Scleria P.J. Bergius (5 spp. each), Fimbristylis Vahl. (3 spp. each), Calyptrocarya Nees. (2 spp.), Becquerelia Brongn, Bulbostylis Kunth., Diplacrum R. Brb., Fuirena Rottb., and Lagenocarpus Nees. (1 sp. each). Among these, one species represents a new occurrence for the country, and one is a new occurrence for the North region. Identification keys, descriptions, data on geographic distribution, habitat, and taxonomic comments are provided, as well as photographic plates of the species and genera of Cyperaceae occurring in PEUT, contributing to the knowledge of the flora in this important urban forest remnant, and consequently, the Brazilian Amazonian flora.