Background: Tropical high mountains present extreme daily temperature variations, frequent high air evaporative demands and seasonal differences in soil water availability. Plants have adapted to these conditions through different avoidance-tolerance mechanisms. This review focuses on plant-growth...

Plant species producing exudates of the University City "Antonio Borjas Romero", University of Zulia, Maracaibo, Venezuela, were inventoried. The research was conducted in secondary communities: relicts of xerophytic species, trees of Peltophorum pterocarpum (DC.) Baker ex K. Heyne, savannas with...

In tropical montane areas, water limitation is a common occurrence, and both pioneer and forests species experience water stress during the dry season. Adjustments of leaf area during periods of drought allow for the maintenance of the water supply and physiological functions of the remaining...

Plant sexual and breeding systems, temporal variations in sex expression, and herkogamy were investigated. Of the 294 plant species surveyed, 73.8% were hermaphroditic, 18.7% monoecious, and 7.5% dioecious. The frequency of adichogamy (71.7%) was higher than that of dichogamy (28.3%) in...

Radula pallens var. marginata and R. smithii (subg. Volutoradula) are newly described from montane forests of Venezuela and Peru, respectively. Both taxa stand out by the presence of bordered leaf lobes. The new variety differs from R. pallens var. pallens in its narrow leaf border of one row of...

Guapira fundacionensis from montane forests over the "Aguardiente" sandstone formation, "La Fundación" region, Andes of Táchira State, and Guapira guasarensis from "río Guasare", on foothills and montane forests located in eastern side of Sierra de Perijá, Zulia state, both in Venezuela, are...

We describe Croton calcareus Riina & Mateo-Ram. sp. nov., a new species in Croton section Cyclostigma (dragon's blood trees) from the state of Chiapas (Mexico). This species is a small tree growing in dry forest on calcareous substrates. Both morphological and molecular data support C....

The phylogenetic relationships within the beetle family Cucujidae were investigated for the first time. Fifty-seven morphological characters were used for maximum parsimony and Bayesian analyses. Mitochondrial genomes were generated from museum specimens through genome skimming and used for...

As a part of an ongoing review for the genus Ternstroemia in the Guayana Shield, in northern South America, T. tepuiensis J.R. Grande, sp. nov. is described as new to science. This species, characterized by its relatively large leaves, flowers and fruits, as well as by its circumscissile dehiscent...

Two new species of Piper are described and illustrated. Piper sotobosquense and P. calvarii, currently considered endemic to Venezuela, are found only on the slopes and montane forests of Guaramacal National Park, Portuguesa and Trujillo states, Venezuela. Taxonomic relationships also are discussed ...