The Serra da Canastra National Park is located in southwestern Minas Gerais State, southeast Brazil. The floristic inventory was carried out from February 1994 to January 1998, covering 24 field trips, including all vegetational types. The Melastomataceae is one of the most important families in the Park with 95 species and 17 genera. Miconia (21) and Microlicia (19) are the genera with the largest number of species, followed by Tibouchina (13) and Leandra (12). Cambessedesia and Trembleya are made up of four species, and Siphanthera and Lavoisiera are represented by three species each and Chaetostoma and Ossaea by two. The genera Clidemia, Macairea, Marcetia, Microlepis, Pterolepis and Rhynchanthera are represented by a single species each. Only Svitramia with six species in the Park is endemic from the southwestern portion of Minas Gerais, occurring mainly in "campos rupestres". The comparative analysis of the Melastomataceae species from Serra da Canastra were done with other localities from Minas Gerais, Goiás and Bahia.
