Expansion of the geographic distribution of Faramea nitida Benth . in the restinga of Maranhão state , northeastern Brazil

In this study, we present new records of Faramea nitida that extend the range of this species in Maranhão state, Brazil. The new data were the result of fieldwork by us in restinga areas of São José de Ribamar and Alcântara districts. This report highlights the rediscovery of a species after many years (30 to 70 years) and shows the necessity for more floristic and taxonomic studies on extreme northeastern Brazil.

The genus Faramea Aubl.(tribe Coussareeae) has a Neotropical distribution and comprises 150 species distributed from Mexico to Argentina (Delprete 2004).In Brazil, there is approximately 90 species of Faramea (Müller 1881), mostly abundant in the Atlantic and Amazon Forests but with reports from Cerrado areas and regions of transition between Caatinga and Cerrado (Jardim and Gomes 2014).
Floristic knowledge of Maranhão state is restricted to just a few studies in Cerrado areas (Muniz et al. 1994;Medeiros et al. 2008;Silva et al. 2008;Conceição and Castro 2009;Reis and Conceição 2010).There is only one study on the restinga of Maranhão state (Cabral-Freire and Monteiro 1993), which is an important contribution to the understanding of coastal vegetation.
We report here Faramea nitida Benth.from restinga areas of Maranhão.Ours are the first records for this species from restinga of Maranhão state.Our rediscovery of this species exemplifies restinga the urgent need of more floristic studies on the coastal vegetation of Maranhão, which is fragmented and facing an accelerated Collections of F. nitida were recently collected by us at two sites having restinga vegetation: São José de Ribamar (Sítio Aguahy, 02°39′4ʺ S, 44°08′29ʺ W) and Alcântara (Itatinga beach, 02°31ʹ51.6ʺS, 044°16ʹ45.8ʺW) restinga (Figure 1).Individuals were sampled, photos were taken, and a comparison with exsiccates from the database of speciesLink (CRIA 2014) was performed.
Faramea nitida is recognized by its thin and rigid stipules; rigid, acute and slightly mucronate apex; round and cordate basis; well-defined margin with a line that contrasts with color of leaf blade; reduced petiole; corymb inflorescence; tetramerous flowers; with green and purple fruits when mature (Figure 2).
Previous records of F. nitida from Maranhão do not have habitat descriptions or details and data includes From the Island of Maranhão, which encompasses the cities of São Luís, Paço do Lumiar, Raposa and São José de Ribamar (Araújo et al. 2009), there is only one record (R. Froes 11648), described as originating from "Island of Sao Luiz" in 1939 (MOBOT_BR 3121112).The precise locality for this record is unknown because the Island of São Luís, or the Island of Maranhão (Araújo et al. 2009), is composed of four cities.It is of interest that Cabral-Freire and Monteiro (1993) made a floristic study in the Island of Maranhão and did not list F. nitida.
The occurrence of this species in restinga might be, among other factors, due to a transition of the coastal zone with Cerrado, mostly where sand lines penetrates inland (Goodland 1971).This also demonstrates the importance of the neighboring ecosystems (Scarano 2002) as sources of species dispersal and colonization in areas of Restinga.Almeida Jr. et al. (2012) emphasized the need to protect coastal ecosystems, including resting, that are still forested, because they might harbor endangered species.Our study ratifies the lack of information for coastal vegetation in Maranhão and reports an extension to the known distribution of F. nitida in the state.There are likely other species that have not been widely reported due to the lack of systematic surveys (Almeida Jr. et al. 2011;Almeida Jr. et al. 2012;Santos et al. unpublished data).Although species such as Dioclea violacea Mart.ex Benth., Dichorisandra hexandra (Aubl.)Kuntze ex Hand.-Mazz., Duguetia surinamensis R.E.Fr., Melochia parvifolia Kunth, Myrcia splendens (Sw.)DC., Ouratea fieldingiana Engl.and Utricularia fimbriata Kunth are found along the northeast coast (Lima and Almeida Jr. unpublished data; Serra et al. unpublished data), they are not recorded from restinga vegetation of Maranhão; we believe that this is due to the low sampling effort.Therefore, more attention should be directed to survey the flora of restinga areas, which are undergoing accelerated destruction, before they are lost forever.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Details of the structures of Faramea nitida Benth collected in restinga vegetation in Maranhão state.A: Branches.B: Fruits.C: Detail of apex in the leaf.D: Detail of stipules.