Brazilian botanists came together at a series of workshops held at the Brazilian 64th Congresso Nacional de Botânica in Belo Horizonte (Minas Gerais) to map out the ambitious project of describing the extraordinary plant diversity of the country by 2020, as a contribution to meeting the first target of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. Brazil holds almost 10% of the world’s plant diversity – understanding Brazil is really important for understanding global plant diversity! Solanaceae was selected as one of the pilot families for kick-starting the project – in part because of the highly collaborative community working on nightshades and the taxonomic knowledge available. Our first effort will be to compile the information that already exists, and to use this to fill gaps, both in taxonomy and in collecting. Many new Solanaceae species are being discovered in Brazil – this new project will certainly result in many more.
For more information on the Solanaceae for Flora do Brasil please contact João Renato Stehmann (stehmann@gmail.com) or Leandro L. Giacomin (giacomin.leandro@gmail.com) at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais – and watch Solanaceae Source!