| Resumo: |
The variability of Ostodes paniculata var. paniculata, the only representative of the genus in Malesia, is described. The variety and the species have a disjunct distribution as they are found in India to Southern China and the Southeast Asian mainland, Sumatra and Java. The variability in leaf glands, domatia, sepals, and seeds shows geoclines. Depending on one’s view the genus has two more varieties or species, both more hairy and occurring from N Thailand to China or in China only. Their nomenclature is provided, as is the nomenclature of the many excluded species, once part of a larger generic concept of Ostodes, but now mainly part of Dimorphocalyx and Paracroton. Typical for Ostodes are the red latex, the ovate, rather large serrate leaf blades with basally two raised glands, the paniculate inflorescences with relatively large flowers with petals and many (nearly) free stamens, and the large woody fruits.
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