Malagasy Endemic Plant Families:
Revised Taxonomic Frameworks
                                        #      Newly          Newly       Placed Into
            Species   Recognized    Described   Synonymy
Asteropeiaceae     8          3   2         -
Didymelaceae                    2 (-3)         (1)               (1)         -              
Kaliphoraceae     1          -                  -         -
Melanophyllaceae     6                1                 1                 4
Physenaceae     2                -                  -                  -
Sarcolaenaceae ca. 65         27 (-2)       24 (-2)          -
Sphaerosepalaceae    18          2   -                  -
Total ca.103         36 (35%) 30 (29%)     4
Since 1998, we have been reevaluating the taxonomic frameworks of the species in the families of flowering plants endemic to Madagascar – in essence, “the most endemic of the endemic.”   The available taxonomy for these genera prior to our review dated on average to 1952.  As a striking illustration of the need to update taxonomic frameworks prior to conservation assessments, over 1/3 of the ca. 103 species now delimited in the seven families are newly recognized as a result of our review of all existing primary data.  New collections, i.e., those that have accrued since the last taxonomic revision, played an especially important role in our revised taxonomic frameworks.