Floristic survey of spontaneous vascular plants in anthropic environments on the campus of the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil

Abstract

This study presents a survey of spontaneous vascular plant species (herbs, subshrubs, and creepers) in anthropic environments on the campus of the Federal University of Santa Catarina, in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil. The survey found 271 species, grouped in 188 genera and 62 families. Of these species, 175 (64.58%) are native to Brazil, 93 (34.32%) are exotic and three (1.11%) are of undetermined origin. Angiosperms (260 species) were the most diverse group, and Asteraceae (48 species), Poaceae (38) and Cyperaceae (25) were the largest families. Additional information was collected for each species, such as geographical origin, habit, the environments where it occurs on the campus, and whether it is or has been cultivated in the area. The results were compared with other related floristic surveys, and the similarity indices obtained were higher with geographically closer regions; however, they were always low, indicating possible methodological differences between the studies. This study also discusses the origin of Rubus rosifolius, Phyllanthus tenellus and Ipomoea cairica. Youngia japonica, native to eastern Asia and recently introduced to Brazil, was the most common Asteraceae surveyed.

Keywords

• Floristics
• Ruderal plants
• Urban environments