Three new species of Piptolepis (Vernonieae, Asteraceae) from the Diamantina Plateau, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Piptolepis is an endemic genus of the Brazilian Central Plateau. It comprises 13 species, almost all of them microendemic and poorly collected. They are shrubs, subshrubs, or treelets, with leaves displayed in a typical pad-like sheath, the heads are solitary or organized in a pseudoglomerule, or rarely a syncephalium (second-order inflorescence), with weakly imbricate phyllaries. As a preliminary result of an ongoing taxonomic revision of Piptolepis, we hereby report three new species. P. corymbosa is similar to P. leptospermoides, while P. pilosa resembles P. ericoides, and Piptolepis procumbens is similar to P. campestris. These new species are described and illustrated, their taxonomic affinities are discussed, and the informal conservation status for each is assessed.