Psychotria ipecacuanha is a medicinal plant of the Rubiaceae family. The roots are very important for the production of emetine. The species presents a disjunction in its geographical distribution. It occurs in Central America (from Nicaragua to Northwestern America do Sul) and in Brazil: in the Southern Amazonian Forest (Rondônia and Mato Grosso) and in the Atlantic Forest (Pernambuco to Paraná). Morphological data of populations from the three areas were used to establish the circunscription of the species and the possible infra-specific taxa. It was concluded, through the analysis of major components, that there are no significant differences among the individuals of the populations. The few individual differences observed are not related to the geographic distribution of the populations, so the "ipecacuanha" was considerated single species Psychotria ipecacuanha (Brot.) Stokes. In addition to the taxonomical analysis, some anatomical and chromosomal data are presented here.
Psychotria ipecacuanha; taxonomy; Rubiaceae
