In the first chapter, a floristic study of the species of Ficus in Brasilian Amazon is presented. Based on the revision of floristic and taxonomic literature, herbarium specimens deposited in BHCB, IAN, INPA, GUA, MG and P, and field explorations, we recognized 31 species. Five belong to section Pharmacosycea and 26 belong to section Americana. In the second chapter, was used sequences of intern and extern
transcribed spacers (ITS and ETS) of nuclear ribosomal DNA, and five chloroplast regions (atpB-rbcL, FcB, FcJ, FcL and trnL-F) aiming to investigate the phylogenetic relationship within and between neotropical sections of the genus Ficus. The present study included 81 specimens which represent 41 species of the sections Pharmacosycea and Americana and ten species representing other sections of the genus as a sister group. Results of the phylogenetic analyses did not confirm previous taxonomic proposals that subdivide section Pharmacosycea into two subsections (Bergianae and Petenensis). In relation to the subdivision of the section Americana, five principal clades were formed, and they correspond to the complexes proposed in the traditional classification, but some of the morphological characters used to delimitate the complexes were homoplasic. Data of chloroplast provided insufficient informative characters and thus the five intern clades within section Americana did not reflect the true phylogenetic relationship of the group.
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