Four woody species of cerrado and five woody species of seasonal semideciduous forest were analysed concerning the contents of epicuticular waxes and their parafinic profiles. The cerrado species showed a tendency to higher contents of epicuticular waxes and lower proportion of hydrocarbons than the forest species. The C29 and C31 alkanes were dominant in all species and the average lenght of the hydrocarbon chains were around 30,5 in the forest species and from 28,5 to 31,3 in the cerrado species. The ecological and taxonomic aspects of this characteristics are discussed.
epicuticular waxes; cerrado and semideciduous forest; alcanes; ecology