A revision of the Malagasy endemic genus Aspidostemon Rohwer & Richter (Lauraceae)

A revision is presented of the genus Aspidostemon, endemic to Madagascar. The genus is characterized by its opposite leaves, flowers with three or six two-locular stamens and a fruit which is completely enclosed in the enlarged hypanthium with persistent floral parts attached to the top of the fruit. The genus was described by Rohwer & Richter in 1987; they recognized 11 species. In this treatment 28 species are accepted, of which 18 are newly described, one species is transferred from Cryptocarya to Aspidostemon, one is excluded from Aspidostemon and one is listed as incompletely known because the type specimen is sterile.