Beilschmiedia Nees

Typus: Beilschmiedia roxburghiana Nees

Diagnostic characters. – Flowers trimerous with nine bilocular stamens (rarely with dimerous flowers; see notes) and fruits seated on the pedicel, the tepals deciduous or persisting as small bracts at the base of the fruits.

Distribution. – Pantropical.

Number of species in Madagascar. – 9 (all endemic).

Recent literature. – VAN DER WERFF (2003).

Notes. – The Beilschmiedia species in Madagascar can be divided in three groups on vegetative and floral characters. The first group has alternate leaves and small flowers with erect tepals; the second one has alternate leaves and larger flowers with spreading tepals and the third group has opposite leaves and flowers with erect tepals. Some specimens have the vegetative characters of the third group but dimerous flowers (with 4 tepals and 6 stamens instead of 6 tepals and 9 stamens) characteristic of Potameia and thus combine characters of Beilschmiedia and Potameia . An analysis of cuticular features (NISHIDA & VAN DER WERFF, 2007) has shown that these specimens all have cuticles characteristic of the third group of Beilschmiedia and therefore they are placed in Beilschmiedia .