Notes
:
This name is applied provisionally to the Madagascar plants, as to both identity and circumscription. Gynochthodes umbellata is currently considered to a widespread, morphologically somewhat variable species found widely through tropical Asia and the Pacific Islands; the Madagascar plants generally agree morphologically with these other plants. All the Madagascar plants with generally elliptic, acute or acuminate, smaller leaves, inflorescences composed of usually 5-8 relatively small heads, and relatively small calyx limbs, corollas, and fruits are here all included under this name, and no morphological sub-groups are superficially evident. However further study is likely to find that there are several distinct species within this group in Madagascar. These plants are quite often collected in littoral forest and/or on sandy substrates.
|