Floral diversity, ecology and biogeography of Sinningia aggregata (Gesneriaceae)

Abstract

The Sinningia genus has a wide geographical distribution, with the occurrence of more than 75 species recorded in Brazil, concentrated in different phytogeographic domains such as the Atlantic Forest (70 species) and the Cerrado (10 species), typically in open vegetation. Sinningia aggregata is distributed from eastern Paraguay and occurs in Brazil in the North, Midwest, South, and Southeast regions. In terms of its morphology, there is diversity in petal coloration, ranging from red to orange; its corolla exhibits zygomorphic symmetry, and it can be identified by its glandular and aromatic indumentum. The significant morphological, ecological variation, and wide distribution of S. aggregata may indicate that it represents more than one taxon. Therefore, the objective of this study is to describe the morphological variation of S. aggregata flowers and identify the possibility of a correlation between variations in floral morphology and environmental variables or the phytogeographic domain in which populations of this species occur. To collect data, herbarium materials will be used, which will be requested on loan and stored in the SORO herbarium. Visits will be made to some populations of S. aggregata in the state of São Paulo, and cultivated specimens will also be observed. Approximately 15 floral characteristics will be measured from the herbarium specimens, and environmental variables will be extracted from the geographical coordinates of collection. Descriptive statistics, Analysis of Variance, Ordination Analyses, Similarity Analysis, pairwise correlation analysis between floral traits, and multiple regression between environmental characteristics and each floral variation measure will be employed for the description of species morphological variation and the establishment of correlations with environmental and phytogeographic domain factors.