Tovomita atropurpurea Steyerm.

4. Tovomita atropurpurea Steyerm. View in CoL in Fieldiana , Bot. 28: 399. 1952. – Holotype: Venezuela, Bolívar, Ptaritepui, vicinity of “Misia Kathy Camp” southeast-facing slopes, 1585–1600 m, 10–11 Nov 1944, J. A. Steyermark 59973 (F [ F0054533 F] photo!; isotypes: US [ US 00114289] photo!, VEN [ VEN26400 About VEN ] photo!).

Description — Trees up to 8 m tall, prop roots and exudate not seen. Petioles 1–3.5 cm long, smooth, coloration not seen, lenticels absent. Leaf blades 6–21 × 1.5–9.5 cm, brown in sicco, coriaceous, black dots absent, oblong to obovate, base convex to rounded, apex convex to acuminate; papillae, lenticels and fungal spots absent; exudate canals inconspicuous. Venation: secondary veins 7–13 pairs, 11–27 mm apart from each other, forming angle 65°–70° to midvein, strongly prominent abaxially, immersed adaxially, strongly arcuate near margin; intersecondary veins present, one or two per intercostal area, much thinner than secondary veins, distal course reticulating, c. 50 % of subjacent secondary length; tertiary veins percurrent sinuous; intramarginal vein absent. Inflorescences: ♂ not seen, ♀ single flower or a congested dichasium, lenticels absent. Pedicels 5–8 mm long, coloration not seen, distal and proximal portion with same gauge, proximally articulated in all flowers of dichasia, calyptrae and lenticels absent. Floral buds 7–9 mm long, spheroid, apex rounded, lenticels absent, not blackened in sicco. Sepals 4, 7–9 × 6.5–8 mm, circular to ovate, apex rounded, pale green with rosed margins; petals 7–8, 8–9 × 3–4 mm, oblong, position not seen, apex rounded, greenish becoming purplish-red when senescent. Staminate flowers not seen. Pistillate flowers: staminodes terete, greenish becoming purplish-red when senescent, quantity not seen; ovary size not seen, 4-locular, pale green, stigmas 4, sessile, red. Capsules fleshy, 2–2.2 × 1.4–1.5 cm, 4-septate, pyriform to oblong when closed, not costate or lobed, rostrum absent, epicarp smooth, lenticels present, coloration not seen; sepals, petals and stigmas persistent, staminodes caducous. Aril coloration not seen.

Iconography — Illustration available in Cuello (1998: fig. 225).

Distribution — Venezuela (Bolívar). Fig. 20.

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

Recognition and discussion — Tovomita atropurpurea is known only from the type collection. The species has been usually compared to T. gazelii due to the presence of purplish-red petals in both species. Unfortunately, T. atropurpurea was not seen in vivo and this information could not be confirmed. However, the presence of purplish-red petals in T. gazelii has been clarified. Petals become darker when senescent (see discussion in T. gazelii , Fig. 8F, G) and this probably also occurs in T. atropurpurea . When sterile, T. atropurpurea may be confused with T. albiflora due to the coloration and texture of the leaves in sicco. These two species can be distinguished by the fruits with lenticels and rostrum in T. albiflora (vs lenticels and rostrum absent in T. atropurpurea ).