Publisher's Synopsis
Ficus section Pharmacosycea (Moraceae) are neotropical, terrestrial trees (rarely hemiepiphytes), distributed from northern Mexico to northern Argentina, characterized by a pair of glands in the axil of the basal secondary vein, bitter latex, monoecious, axillary, solitary inflorescences (rarely in pairs), with three epibracts and staminate flowers with two stamens. It is divided into three subsections: Carautaea, hemiepiphytic plants when young and petiole with non-decaying periderm; Petenenses, terrestrial and petiole with decaying periderm; and Bergianae terrestrial and petiole with non-decaying periderm. To review the taxa, all the protologues and types were analyzed, more than seven thousand materials from South American, North American and European herbaria were studied to compare morphological characters, and collections were made in the areas where natural populations occur. The work resulted in 35 species of Ficus sect. Pharmacosycea, all described and with materials examined. A taxonomic key was drawn up to determine the taxa.
