Tovomita colombiana L. Marinho

13. Tovomita colombiana L. Marinho View in CoL in Brittonia 70: 406. 2018. – Holotype: Colombia, Vaupés, Comisária del Vaupés, Mitú , in forest, 2 Sep 1956, A. S. Barclay & R. E. Schultes 500 (GH!; isotype: COL [ COL000118519 About COL ] photo!).

Description — Shrubs or trees up to 15 m tall, prop roots conspicuous; exudate yellow, abundant. Petioles 0.8– 1.6 cm long, smooth, green, lenticels absent. Leaf blades 5.3–10 × 2.1–4.6 cm, brown in sicco, subcoriaceous to coriaceous, black dots absent, elliptic to oblong, base convex to decurrent, sometimes asymmetric, apex acuminate; papillae, lenticels and fungal spots absent; exudate canals slightly prominent to immersed adaxially, strongly prominent abaxially, as interrupted blackish lines, parallel to secondary veins. Venation: secondary veins 11–15 pairs, 4–8 mm apart from each other, forming angle 60°–75° to midvein, immersed abaxially, slightly prominent adaxially, slightly arcuate near margin; intersecondary veins one or two, rarely three, per intercostal area, similar to secondary veins, parallel to major secondary, similar to exudate canals,> 50 % of subjacent secondary length; tertiary veins inconspicuous; intramarginal vein present. Inflorescences: ♂ lax cyme with 3 basal branches and up to 9 flowers, lacking terminal flower, ♀ single flower or dichasium, lenticels absent. Pedicels 8–11 mm long, green, distal and proximal portion with same gauge, proximally or in middle articulated on lateral flowers of dichasia; calyptrae and lenticels absent. Floral buds 5–6 mm long, oblong, apex rounded, lenticels absent. Sepals 4, 6.5–6.8 × 3–5 mm, oblong, apex rounded, green; petals 4, 6.2–7.2 × 2.5–5 mm, oblong, apex rounded, white, position not seen. Staminate flowers: stamens c. 45, 4.5–5.3 mm long, isodynamous; filaments terete, white; anthers 0.3–0.4 mm long, connective not exceeding thecae; pistillode c. 1 mm long, conic. Pistillate flowers not seen. Capsules fleshy, 2.7–3 × 1.2–2.2 cm, 4-septate, napiform to turbinate when closed, frequently falcate, not costate, slightly 4-lobed, rostrum present, 4–6 mm long, free portion of styles 3–3.5 mm long, epicarp smooth, lenticels absent, green when immature, mature not seen, mesocarp purplish-red; sepals, petals and staminodes caducous, styles and stigmas persistent. Aril red.

Iconography — Illustration available in Marinho (2018: 408).

Distribution — Colombia (Caquetá, Vaupés). Fig. 27.

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

Recognition and discussion — Tomovita colombiana is similar to other species of Tovomita with small leaves, such as T. amazonica and T. fructipendula , from which it can be differentiated, even when sterile, by the exudate canals strongly visible on the abaxial leaf surface as interrupted blackish lines parallel to the secondary veins ( Fig. 12M vs exudate canals as blackish lines on abaxial surface crossing the secondary veins in both species) and the smooth epicarp (vs rugose in T. amazonica and asperous in T. fructipendula ). Marinho (2018) also compared T. colombiana with T. calophyllophylla due to their sharing a large number of secondary and intersecondary veins, but while T. colombiana has smooth petioles, oblong floral buds, and 4-carpellate ovaries, T. calophyllophylla has transversely striate petioles, spheroid floral buds, and 5-carpellate ovaries.