ABSTRACT:

The Horto Botaˆnico of Universidade Cato´ lica de Brası´lia (HBUCB) has been a centre for studies on aroids ever since it was established in 2004. In little over eight years it has amassed a comprehensive living aroid collection that now holds 53 genera and 317 species, many of which are only rarely cultivated (e.g. Scaphispatha, Philonotion, Lorenzia, Bognera). The collection also includes an important assemblage of at least 30 accessions that are clones of type material. The access to live specimens in a controlled environment facilitated research on molecular biology, chemical ecology, horticulture and conservation. This article aims to briefly present the Horto Botaˆnico of Universidade Cato´- lica de Brası´lia as a successful case of an active living plant collection in a developing country.