The “sapucaia” group of Lecythis (Lecythidaceae)

Four previously much confused species of Lecythis, which form a coherent group of species collectively known in Brazil as “sapucaias,” are described and differentiated in a key. A summary of their pollination and dispersal is presented as well as of their present-day distributions in relation to past geological and climatological events. Fruit variability, the cause of name proliferation in this group, is described and related to the problem of species concepts in the Lecythidaceae.