STATUS OF KNOWLEDGE AND PROSPECTS OF
STUDY OF THE SENECIONEAE IN SOUTH
AMERICA
Prof. Dr. Aristônio M. Teles
Universidade Federal de Goiás, Brazil
[email protected]
But... Who are Senecioneae?
How can we recognize a Senecioneae?
Common features with other tribes
Asteroideae, but Senecioneae differs by:
of
 Involucre commonly uniseriate (rarely bi or
multiseriate), with or without calyculus.
Curio rowleyanus
(involucre uniseriate)
Senecio vulgaris
(involucre uniseriate)
Dolichoglottis sp.
(involucre biseriate)
Lepidospartum squamatum
(involucre multiseriate)
Pleased to meet you, Senecioneae
How can we recognize a Senecioneae?
Common features with other tribes of Asteroideae, but
Senecioneae differs by:
 Filament collar straight and uniform or basally
dilated with large cells.
Filament collar straight and uniform
Pleased to meet you, Senecioneae
How can we recognize a Senecioneae?
Common features with other tribes of Asteroideae, but
Senecioneae differs by:
 Filament collar straight and uniform or basally
dilated with large cells.
Filament collar basally dilated with large cells.
Pleased to meet you, Senecioneae
How can we recognize a Senecioneae?
Common features with other tribes of Asteroideae, but
Senecioneae differs by:
 Anthers with endothecial tissue radial or polarized.
Radial
Polarized
Pleased to meet you, Senecioneae
How can we recognize a Senecioneae?
Common features with other tribes of Asteroideae, but
Senecioneae differs by:
 Style apically truncate or convex, rounded or conical,
sometimes with elongate appendage.
How can we recognize a Senecioneae?
Common features with other tribes of Asteroideae, but
Senecioneae differs by:
 Pyrrolizidine alkaloids and sesquiterpenes lactones.
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids
Senecio brasiliensis – a poisonous species
The numbers in Senecioneae
One of the largest tribes of Asteraceae:
 150 genera presently recognized, and
approximately 3,500 species
al., 2009)
(Nordenstam et
 In South America
 Ca. 32 genera (Nordenstam, 2007) and approximately 700 (?) species
 In Brazil
 8 genera and approximately 96 species (Nokajima et al., 2010)
Where can we find Senecioneae species?
 They are worldwide, abundant in Central America, South
America, Tropical Africa and South Africa.
What’s the relationship between Senecioneae and the others Asteraceae?
(Funk et al. 2009)
What has been done with Senecioneae in
South America?
 The work can be divided into two categories:
I.
II.
Flora (national and / or regional)
Systematic (taxonomic reviews and novelties)
What has been done with Senecioneae in
South America?
 Floras
What has been done with Senecioneae in
South America?
 Floras
Cabrera, A.L. 1957. El genero Senecio
(Compositae) en Brasil, Paraguay y Uruguay.
Arquivos do Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro
15: 163-264.
______. 1974. Compositae. In: Burkart, A.,
Flora Ilustrada de Entre Rios (Argentina).
Buenos Aires, Colección Científica del I.N.T.A.,
6: 106-540.
______. 1978. Compositae. In: Cabrera, A. L.,
Flora de la Provincia de Jujuy – Republica
Argentina. Buenos Aires, Collección Científica
del I.N.T.A. 10: 1-726.
Ángel Lulio Cabrera
19/10/1908 – 08/07/1999
______. 1985. El genero Senecio (Compositae)
en Bolivia. Darwiniana 26(1-4): 79-217.
______ & Klein, R. M. 1975. Compostas - Tribo:
Senecioneae. In: Reitz, R., Flora Ilustrada
Catarinense.
Itajaí,
Herbário
Barbosa
Rodrigues, 2: 126–222.
What has been done with Senecioneae in
South America?
 Floras
David John Nicholas Hind
D.J.N. Hind. 1993. Notes on the
Compositae of Bahia, Brazil: I. Kew
Bulletin 48: 245-277.
______.
1995.
Compositae.
In:
Stannard, B. L., Flora of the Pico das
Almas, Chapada Diamantina, Bahia,
Brasil. Kew, The Royal Botanic Gardens,
175-278.
______. 1999. The tribe Senecioneae
(Compositae) in Bahia, Brazil, with
descriptions of a new section and
species in Senecio. Kew Bulletin 54:
897-904.
______. 2003. Flora of Grão-Mogol,
Minas
Gerais:
Compositae
(Asteraceae). Boletim Botânico da
Universidade de São Paulo 21(1): 179234.
What has been done with Senecioneae in
South America?
 Floras – in Brazil
Nelson Ivo Matzenbacher
What has been done with Senecioneae in
South America?
 Floras – in Brazil
Aristônio Teles
What has been done with Senecioneae in
South America?
 Floras – in Brazil
Aristônio Teles
What has been done with Senecioneae in
South America?
 Systematic (taxonomic novelties and taxonomic reviews)
Harold Robinson
1932 Bertil Nordenstam
1936 -
What has been done with Senecioneae in
South America?
 Systematic (taxonomic novelties and taxonomic reviews)
Bertil Nordenstam
What has been done with Senecioneae in
South America?
 Systematic (taxonomic novelties and taxonomic reviews)
Bertil Nordenstam
What has been done with Senecioneae in
South America?
 Other taxonomic novelties to Senecioneae from South America
What has been done with Senecioneae in
South America?
 Other taxonomic novelties to Senecioneae from South America
What has been done with Senecioneae in
South America?
 Taxonomic reviews to Senecioneae from South America
What has been done with Senecioneae in
South America?
 Papers about taxonomy of Brazilian Senecioneae
What has been done with Senecioneae in
South America?
 Papers about taxonomy of Brazilian Senecioneae
Currently, what is known about the Senecioneae
phylogeny in South America ?
Pieter Pelser
Currently, what is known about the Senecioneae
phylogeny in South America ?
“The big challenge is the delimitation of
Senecio s.s., as some problematic South
American sections of the genus.”
(Pelser et al. 2007)
What is necessary to knowledge improvement about
Senecioneae in South America?
 Promote talented students encouragement to
study Asteraceae;
 Investments in collections and
Floras;
papers about
 Investments in taxonomic reviews;
 Increase cooperation between Latin American researchers;
 Based in a large number of terminals, join the forces and make a
more robust phylogeny.
REFLORA Project: an example to be followed
REFLORA Project: repatriation of the Brazilian Asteraceae
Coordinator: Dr. Jimi Nakajima (Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Brazil)
Sub-coordinators: Dr. Aristônio Teles (Universidade Federal de Goiás, Brazil)
Dr. Nádia Roque (Universidade Federal da Bahia, Brazil)
Basic goal: repatriation of herbarium data for
Brazilian Asteraceae
(Astereae, Eupatorieae,
Senecioneae, Vernonieae and basal groups) from P and K
herbaria.
Thanks for your attention!
First Meeting of Brazilian Synanterologists
52º Brazilian Botanical Congress, July 22-28,2001, João Pessoa, Paraíba,Brazil