A synopsis of the genus Blakea (Melastomataceae) in Mexico and central America

A regional synopsis of the genus Blakea is presented that recognizes 33 species in Mexico and Central America. This summary includes a key, distributional and phenological information, notes on morphological variation, and discussions that provide rationale for relegating six binomials to synonymy. Descriptions and diagnoses are presented for four new species of Blakea (B. coloradensis, B. darcyana, and B. perforata, from Panama; and B. wilsoniorum from southern Costa Rica and Panama). Analysis of the type specimens and recently collected flowering material of Topobea storkii necessitates its transfer to Blakea. Three other species (B. cuatrecasii, B. repens, and B. subconnata var. obtusa), all of which were previously known from Andean South America, are reported from Panama for the first time.