Synopsis of Dendrophthora and Phoradendron (Santalaceae) in Brazil

Abstract

Dendrophthora and Phoradendron are neotropical genera of mistletoes belonging to the tribe Phoradendreae. The phylogenetic relationships between these two genera are still not entirely understood and, morphologically, Dendrophthora differs from Phoradendron solely by the presence of one, anther locule, as opposed to two in the latter. This study provides a synopsis of species of both genera for Brazil, where we revised all the names with Brazilian types or cited for the country. A total of 173 names were evaluated and the presence of 44 taxa in Brazil was confirmed: three species of Dendrophthora and 41 of Phoradendron. An identification key for the confirmed taxa is proposed and taxonomic comments are elaborated, along with an iconography, geographic distribution of the taxa, and original illustrations and photos of some species. Six new synonyms are proposed in Dendrophthora, and 12 in Phoradendron; 27 names are lectotypified.

Key words
mistletoes; parasitic plants; Phoradendreae; Santalales