Tovomita auriculata Cuello

5. Tovomita auriculata Cuello View in CoL in Novon 9: 150. 1999. – Holotype: Venezuela, Amazonas, Dep. Atures, bosque alto de terra firme en el sector “La Culebra” a 26 km al SE de Pto. Ayacucho   GoogleMaps , por La carretera Pto. Ayacucho- El Gavilán, 05°31'N, 67°24'W, 80–150 m, Jan 1989, N. Cuello & Y. Fernández 480 (PORT [ PORT46943 About PORT ] photo!; isotype: MO [ MO279715 ] photo!).

Description — Shrubs or trees up to 10(–25) m tall, prop roots inconspicuous; exudate yellow, abundant. Leaves sessile to subsessile, petioles <5 mm long when present, smooth, green to brownish, lenticels absent. Leaf blades 27–45 × 6.5–15.5 cm, greyish or ferruginous in sicco, black dots absent, coriaceous, obovate, base cuneate to decurrent with a pair of auricles, apex convex to acuminate; papillae, lenticels and fungal spots absent; exudate canals inconspicuous. Venation: secondary veins 19–22 pairs, 9–24 mm apart from each other, forming angle 35°–55° to midvein, prominent in both surfaces, arcuate near margin; intersecondary veins absent, <50 % of subjacent secondary length; tertiary veins percurrent sinuous; intramarginal vein absent. Inflorescences: ♂ congested cyme with 3–5 basal branches and up to c. 135 flowers, with terminal flower, ♀ dichasium, lenticels absent. Pedicels 8–13(–45) mm long, green, distal and proximal portion with same gauge, proximally articulated on lateral flowers of dichasia, calyptrae and lenticels absent. Floral buds 6–7.5(–15) mm long, oblong, apex apiculate, lenticels absent, not blackened in sicco. Sepals 2–4, 6.8–7.5 × 3–5 mm, ovate to oblong, apex apiculate, green; petals 5, 1.5–2.5 × 6–6.8 mm, oblong to linear, reflexed, apex rounded, green, inner ones strongly imprinted by stamens. Staminate flowers: stamens 40–60 stamens, 4.5–5.9 mm long, isodynamous; filaments dorsiventrally compressed, white; anthers 1.3–1.5 mm long, connective slightly exceeding thecae; pistillode not seen. Pistillate flowers: staminodes 40–60, 8–10 mm long, white; ovary c. 5 mm long, not costate, 5-locular, coloration not seen, styles free c. 5 mm long, stigmas 5, c. 5 mm in diam. Capsules fleshy, 3.5–4 × 3–3.5 cm, 5-septate, spheroid when closed, not costate, sublobed, rostrum absent, free styles 1–1.2 cm long, epicarp asperous, lenticels absent, brown to ferruginous when immature and mature, mesocarp coloration not seen; sepals, petals, staminodes and stigmas persistent. Aril coloration not seen. Fig. 21.

Distribution — Colombia (Amazonas), Peru (Loreto), Venezuela (Amazonas). Fig. 20.

Conservation status — Data Deficient (DD, Marinho & Beech 2019).

Recognition and discussion — Tovomita auriculata was treated as “ Tovomita sp. A ” in the Flora of Venezuelan Guayana ( Cuello 1998) and later described as a new species. This species can be recognized by the long (27–45 cm long) and subsessile leaves (petioles <5 mm long) ( Fig. 21A), auriculate leaf bases, congested inflorescences ( Fig. 21A, B), and fruits with asperous epicarp ( Fig. 21D). Tovomita auriculata shares with T. morii subsessile leaves and fruits with asperous epicarp, but T. morii has fewer secondary veins (12–14 vs 19–22 in T. auriculata ) and the floral buds are spheroid (vs oblong with apiculate apex in T. auriculata ).

Specimens examined — COLOMBIA: AMAZONAS: Chorrera, Comunidad de San Antonio, alto del Río Igaraparaná , 01°11'84"N, 72°54'51"W, 130 m, 9 Feb 2023, fr., N . Castaño-A. & U. Monayatofe 12985 ( COAH!) . — PERU: LORETO: Mishuyacu, near Iquitos , 100 m, 24–28 Sep 1929, bud, E. P . Killip & A. C . Smith 29971 ( NY!); Província Maynas, Mishana , Río Nanay , 180 m, 31 May 1978, sterile, A . Gentry & al. 22386 ( NY!) . — VENEZUELA: AMAZONAS: Atures, Serranía Batata , 2 km al NE de

Salto Colorado, Caño Colorado sobre corazas lateríticas, 05°33'N, 67°08'W, 550 m, Oct 1989, bud, E GoogleMaps . Sanoja- Angel & Y . Fernández 3265 ( NY!) .