COMPOSIÇÃO FLORÍSTICA DO SUB-BOSQUE DE UMA FLORESTA OMBRÓFILA DENSA MONTANA, MORRETES, PR, BRASIL

The floristic composition of the understorey of a Dense Ombrophilous Montane Forest located on a slope of the Morro Facaozinho, Pico do Marumbi State Park, municipality of Morretes, Parana State, was investigated. The aims of this work were to list of the herbaceous and subshrub species of angiosperms and pteridophytes, and to characterize the physiognomy of the understorey regarding to the life-forms present and the main environments where the different species occur. To achieve this, sampling collections were made twice a month employing usual techniques for collecting and herborizing. Plant identification was carried out using available taxonomic literature. Furthermore, experts were consulted, as well as specimens were compared with exsicattae from some herbaria. One hundred and eight species, 68 genera and 41 families were registered, of which Dryopteridaceae (with 11 species), Araceae (seven), Blechnaceae, Piperaceae, and Rubiaceae (six each) were the richest families. Five out of 108 species were observed as lithophytes, eight as lithophytes or terrestrial plants, and 95 as terrestrial. The flowering plants are represented by seven life-forms, and the pteridophytes by four. The number of species registered is high when compared to that in floristic works carried out on the canopy at the same vegetation type, showing the importance of the understorey in the diversity of areas with dense ombrophilous forest