FERN GAZ. 18(5):230-263. 2009 230 CHECKLIST OF THE FERNS AND LYCOPHYTES OF ACRE STATE, BRAZIL J. PRADO1 & R. C. MORAN2 1Instituto de Botânica, Seção de Curadoria do Herbário, C.P. 3005, CEP 01061-970, São Paulo, SP, Brazil E -mail:
[email protected] 2The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY 10456-5126, U.S.A. Key words: checklist, Brazil, Acre State, Amazonian forest, ferns, lycophytes ABSTRACT One hundred and seventy eight species and five varieties in 24 families and 60 genera of ferns and lycophytes are recorded for state of Acre, Brazil. Data about habit, habitat, material examined, and distribution of each taxon are also presented. Acre contains about one-third of the species of ferns and lycophytes estimated to occur in the Brazilian Amazon region. INTRODUCTION The Project of the Flora of Acre State, Brazil, is a collaborative endeavour between the Federal University of Acre (UFAC) and The New York Botanical Garden (NY). For some groups of plants, specialists were invited to contribute, such as for ferns and lycophytes. This checklist is a result of the collaborative project. The first expeditions to Acre and the Brazilian Amazon took place in 1900-1901 when Ernest Heinrich Georg Ule collected along the rivers Tejo and Juruá-Mirim. Locally, this area is called “Região do Alto Rio Juruá.” In 1911-1912, a second expedition was conducted by Ule in the region of the Acre River. The first Brazilian botanist to explore the state was João Geraldo Kuhlmann, who travelled with Marechal Rondon through Amazonia in 1923. Later, in 1933, Boris Alexander Krukoff collected in the region, especially around the Macauã River, in the Basin of Purus River.