Flora of a Nation: Digitizing Brazil’s Botanical Treasure

Brazil has 53,196 species of plants, including native, naturalized, and cultivated ones, corresponding to more than 10% of the plant diversity in the world. This number includes the country among the top 10 megadiverse nations, such as Australia, China, and India. However, surveying this floristic diversity is not a simple task. The program REFLORA is responsible for this achievement through digitizing herbaria in Brazil, Europe, and the US and collaborating with more than 900 researchers worldwide. Now the REFLORA website includes a complete survey of the plant diversity in Brazil and the Virtual Herbarium to support political decisions for conserving the Brazilian Flora.

Speaker: Jenifer de Carvalho Lopes, PhD (Research Associate; HUH Fellow; Harvard University Herbaria).

Sponsors: RCCHU; Harvard University.