Orchidaceae in Reserva São Geraldo Majela, Belém Endemism Center, Pará State, Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Brazilian Amazon encompasses about 29% of the orchid species in Brazil. With the aim of contributing to the knowledge of the Amazonian flora, a taxonomic study of Orchidaceae was carried out in a forest fragment in the municipality of Capitão Poço, located in the Belém Endemism Center, the most deforested area in the Amazon. The fragment is locally referred to as Reserva São Geraldo Majela (RSGM) and is entirely surrounded by agricultural lands. Specimens were collected from February 2020 to April 2022 and deposited in the HCP herbarium, the analysis being complemented by consulting the collections of relevant herbaria. We provide descriptions and an identification key for the eight species of Orchidaceae recorded in RSGM, all of them showing a wide geographic distribution. Seven of them are epiphytes: Campylocentrum fasciola, Campylocentrum micranthum, Catasetum macrocarpum, Erycina pusilla, Notylia lyrata, Polystachya concreta, Rodriguezia lanceolata; and one is terrestrial: Oeceoclades maculata. These findings represent 65% of the previously recorded orchid species for the municipality of Capitão Poço and reinforce the importance of conserving the forest remnants in the region.