Novelties and notes on Plantago sect. Virginica (Plantaginaceae), including the description of a new species and a revised identification key

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this contribution I present novelties and notes on Plantago sect. Virginica. Specifically, I newly describe P. veadeirensis, a critically endangered, narrowly endemic species from northern Goiás state, central Brazil. The new species is remarkable for being the northernmost native Plantago species occurring in South America outside the Andes. The affinities with the morphologically closest allied species, P. hatschbachiana and P. pyrophila, are discussed, and its conservation status is assessed. I also present updates to the distribution of P. napiformis and P. pretoana, discuss nomenclatural aspects for the names P. australis, P. hirtella and P. myosuros, and provide an identification key to the genus Plantago in Brazil, Paraguay and Santa Cruz department, Bolivia.