Abstract
This study presents a floristic survey of the pteridophytes occurring in the forest fragment of Engenho Água Azul, municipality of Timbaúba, State of Pernambuco, Brazil. The area has about 600 ha Atlantic forest with 304-451m altitude, and geographical coordinates 35º22'42,9"W-07º36'31,5"S. The study indicated the occurrence of 16 families, 42 genera, and 85 species. The most representative families in number of species were Pteridaceae with 18, Polypodiaceae and Dryopteridaceae both with 10 and Thelypteridaceae with eight, and in number of genera were Dryopteridaceae and Polypodiaceae both with seven and Pteridaceae with six. The genera with the highest number of species were Adiantum (12 spp.) and Thelypteris (7 spp.). The Pteridophytic flora is represented by 53 species with geographical distribution restricted to America, nine species Pantropical, 13 species for the South America and eight species restricted to Brazil. Most species are terrestrial and hemicriptophitic, occurring in the interior of the forest fragment in cliffs along courses of creeks and rocky.
Key words:
Pteridophytes; Floristic; Ecology; Atlantic Forest; Northeast