Antecedentes: Lamiaceae es una de las familias con mayor riqueza de especies en México. Sin embargo, aún se carece de un estudio detallado sobre su diversidad en el país y de una revisión taxonómica global y actualizada. Como resultado, el aprovechamiento y conservación de los integrantes de esta familia es limitado. Preguntas: ¿Qué avances se han logrado en el estudio y entendimiento de la riqueza, endemismo y distribución de las Lamiaceae mexicanas? ¿Qué estrategias deben ejecutarse para consolidar el conocimiento de la familia en el país? Taxon: Lamiaceae Sitio de estudio: México Métodos: Se hizo una revisión exhaustiva de las Lamiaceae mexicanas en la literatura, bases de datos y herbarios. Se sintetizó el estado de su conocimiento. Se aplicaron análisis cuantitativos para evaluar su riqueza, endemismo y distribución geográfica. Resultados: México cuenta con 33 géneros y 598 especies, de las cuales el 66.2 % son endémicas. El género más diverso es Salvia , con 306 especies. El estado más diverso es Oaxaca, mientras que Jalisco alberga el mayor número de especies endémicas. Conclusiones: En México, Lamiaceae es la octava familia más diversa y el número de sus especies representa el 5.5 % de la familia a nivel mundial, por lo que el país puede considerarse uno de los centros de diversificación más importante. Debido a lo anterior, y al endemismo elevado que presenta, México es crucial para la conservación in situ de la familia. Si bien se ha logrado un avance considerable de su conocimiento y en la actualidad hay un repunte en su estudio, es necesario diversificar los campos de investigación.

Géneros de Lamiaceae de México, diversidad y endemismo

Salvia is the most diverse genus within the mint family (Lamiaceae), many of its species are well-known due to their medicinal and culinary uses. Most of the ethnopharmacological and phytochemical studies on Salvia are centred on species from the European and Asian clades. However, studies about the most diverse clade, the Neotropical sages (Salvia subgenus Calosphace; 587 spp.), are relatively scarce. This review aims to compile the information on the traditional medicinal uses, pharmacological and phytochemistry properties of the Neotropical sages. To do so, we carried out a comprehensive review of the articles available in different online databases published from the past to 2022 (i.e., PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, among others) and summarized the information in tables. To uncover phylogenetic patterns in the distribution of four different groups of metabolites (mono-, sesqui-, di-, and triterpenes), we generated presence-absence matrices and plotted the tip states over a dated phylogeny of Salvia. We found several studies involving Mexican species of Salvia, but only a few about taxa from other diversity centres. The main traditional uses of the Mexican species of Calosphace are medicinal and ceremonial. In traditional medicine 56 species are used to treat diseases from 17 categories according to the WHO, plus cultural-bound syndromes. Pharmacological studies reveal a wide range of biological properties (e.g., antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory, anxiolytic, cytotoxic, and antidiabetic, etc.) found in extracts and isolated compounds of 38 Neotropical sages. From extracts of these species, at least 109 compounds have been isolated, identified and evaluated pharmacologically; 73 of these compounds are clerodanes, 21 abietanes, six flavonoids, five sesquiterpenoids, and four triterpenoids. The most characteristic metabolites found in the Neotropical sages are the diterpenes, particularly clerodanes (e.g., Amarisolide A, Tilifodiolide), that are found almost exclusively in this group. The Neotropical sages are a promising resource in the production of herbal medication, but studies that corroborate the properties that have been attributed to them in traditional medicine are scarce. Research of these metabolites guided by the phylogenies is recommended, since closely related species tend to share the presence of similar compounds and thus similar medicinal properties.

The Neotropical genus Tillandsia (Bromeliaceae) is an excellent model system for macroevolutionary and biogeographic studies owing to its remarkable species diversity (ca. 650 spp.) and varied morphological and ecological adaptations to epiphytic and saxicolous habitats. Recent phylogenetic studies have greatly improved our knowledge about generic limits and infrageneric classification of Tillandsia. These studies have identified two clades of Tillandsia characterized by a distinct geographic distribution: (i) a North and Central American clade that includes species from subgenus Tillandsia; and (ii) a central South American clade containing species from subgenera Aerobia, Anoplophytum, Diaphoranthema, and Phytarrhiza. Our study aimed to determine the size, composition, and potential geographic structure of these two clades within the context of a global phylogeny of Tillandsioideae. With the addition of 100 newly sequenced species to previous studies to cover the now ca. 30% of the known species diversity of Tillandsia, our analyses found both clades to be strongly supported, and revealed that their species richness is much greater than previously known. Ancestral area estimation suggests that most of the diversification of the first of these clades took place in North and Central America, whereas within the second, most of the migratory events occurred from the Andes to the Brazilian shield.