A survey was achieved in 1962 based on aerial photographs covering the whole area of the state of São Paulo and areas were separated, by photo-interpretation, according to the type of vegetation, as follows: the «cerrado» which is a type of Brazilian savanna, the «cerradão», a type of shrubbery, mostly tall and rather dense, and grasslands, a type of herbaceous vegetation. In the characterization of the latter were considered just those areas that had not been under cultivation as yet or with but a little interference by man, altering somewhat their texture. Photo-interpretation was performed on a basis of characterization of texture by field sampling. This paper shows the situation with regard to the various types of plants covering the areas: «cerrado» covered 724,900 ha, «cerradão» 2,668,000 and grasslands 458,600 ha, these figures representing 2.9, 10.8 and 1.8% of the total area of the state.