BLUMEA

JOURNAL OF PLANT TAXONOMY AND GEOGRAPHY

Supplement 17 (2004) Systematics of Aporosa (Euphorbiaceae) Anne Schot 382 pp. ISBN 90-71236-58-7 — Price: EUR 70.00 This booklet presents a full monograph of the Euphorbiaceous genus Aporosa. Aporosa consists of 82 species of small dioecious trees and is one of the more common genera in the tropical rain forests of Southeast Asia.

The study first treats general aspects of the genus, e.g., a description of the macromorphological characters, a summary of some micromorphological features, notes on the ecology of Aporosa, and a compilation of uses mentioned for the various species.

Hereafter phylogenetic relationships for the various taxa are proposed based on a consensus pattern, reconstructed using subanalyses, testing, and consensus techniques. In this it shows an excellent example of how a species-rich group with much homoplasy can be partitioned and combined to get useful patterns. With these patterns evolutionary processes on character transformation and speciation events are proposed for Aporosa. Also a new infrageneric classification is established in which five sections are recognized.

Especially the final part, with a full generic description, the new section classification, dichotomous keys to the species per area, a synoptical key to all species, descriptions for all 82 species including distribution maps, data on habitat and uses, is of indispensable aid to anyone who wishes to know more about this diverse and common genus of Southeast Asia.

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Last modified 02/22/08 by P. Hovenkamp.