new records, Ouratea, Sauvagesia, taxonomic treament.

The state of Maranhão has a unique vegetation structure. As the state is an ecotone region, it tends to present species from both Amazon and Cerrado domains. Although Maranhão has many published floristic surveys, the region still lacks more in-depth taxonomic treatments on specific taxa, such as Ochnaceae. Ochnaceae belongs to the order Malpighiales and has around 550 species allocated into 34 genera. Among the 207 species that occur in Brazil, 16 are ,recorded in Maranhão. The records indicate two genera: Ouratea Aubl., with 13 representatives, and Sauvagesia L. with three. Aiming to confirm the occurrence of these species and gather new data on the taxonomy of the family in the state, the aim of this study is to provide a complete taxonomic treatment of the Ochnaceae in the state of Maranhão. To achieve this objective, to date, field expeditions have been carried out on the São Luís Island and campinaranas in the west of state, and analysis of collections from the MAR, SLUI (in Maranhão), IAN and MG herbaria (in Pará), in addition of specimens available in virtual herbaria. As preliminary results, six new records were identified: two from the genus Ouratea — O. decagyna Maguire and O. salicifolia (A.St.-Hil. & Tul.) Engl. — and four of Sauvagesia — S. amoena Ule, S. deflexifolia Gardner, S. sprengelii A.St.-Hil. and S. tenella Lam. The new records demonstrate the relevance of taxonomic studies even in locations with good sampling, especially when involving field activities. This work is relevant for recognizing the local flora, updating species distribution data and for providing information that can support future biogeographic, molecular and ecological research.