Tovomita gazelii Poncy & Offroy

Marinho, Lucas Cardoso, Fiaschi, Pedro & Amorim, André Márcio, 2025, Taxonomic revision of the neotropical genus Tovomita (Clusiaceae), Willdenowia 55 (1), pp. 145-258 : 189

22. Tovomita gazelii Poncy & Offroy in Adansonia, ser. 3, 28: 114. 2006 . – Holotype: French Guiana, Réserve naturelle des Montagnes de la Trinité, plateau tabulaire, 04°35'N, 53°21'W, 350 m, 10 Jul 2001, O. Poncy & al. 1454 (P [ P00266068 ]!; isotype: P [ P00266067 ]!).

Description — Trees up to 18 m tall, prop roots conspicuous; exudate yellow, abundant. Petioles 1.2–5.3 cm long, green, smooth, lenticels absent. Leaf blades 20–25 × 5–13.8 cm, brown-greenish abaxially in sicco, dark brown adaxially in sicco, black dots absent, coriaceous, obovate, base concave to decurrent, apex convex to rounded; papillae, lenticels and fungal spots absent; exudate canals inconspicuous. Venation: secondary veins 6–8 pairs, 10–30 mm apart from each other, forming angle 50°–60° to midvein, prominent in both surfaces, arcuate near margin; intersecondary veins usually absent, rarely one per intercostal area, thinner than secondary veins, <50 % of subjacent secondary length; tertiary veins percurrent sinuous; intramarginal vein absent. Inflorescences: ♂ congested cyme with 3 dichasia and up to 9 flowers, ♀ single flower, sometimes covered by a broad calyptra c. 2 cm long, lenticels absent. Pedicels 27–30 mm long, green, distal and proximal portion with same gauge, not articulated or proximally articulated on lateral flowers of dichasia, lenticels absent. Floral buds 7–18 mm long, ovoid, apex apiculate, slightly woody, blackened in sicco. Sepals 4, 15–20 × 9–25 mm, obdeltate to oblong, outer ones slightly woody, apex rounded, greenish; petals 6, 16–20 × 7–25 mm, oblong, deflexed, apex rounded, greenish-white becoming purplish-red when senescent. Staminate flowers: stamens c. 100, 3–5 mm long, heterodynamous; filaments terete, yellow; anthers c. 0.8 mm long, connective not exceeding thecae; pistillode not seen. Pistillate flowers: staminodes 60–75, 3–3.5 mm long, yellow; ovary 8–10 mm long, not costate or lobed, rugulate, 5–6(–7)-locular, coloration not seen, stigmas 5–6(–7), sessile, 6.5–11 mm in diam. Capsules fleshy, 6–10 × 4.6 cm, 5–6(–7)-septate, spheroid when closed, not costate or lobed, rostrum absent, epicarp with woody protuberances, projections 11(–18) mm, transversely striate, conic, base quadrangular, woody when immature and mature, mesocarp pink to reddish; sepals, petals, and staminodes caducous, stigmas persistent. Aril orange. Fig. 39, 40.

Distribution — French Guiana (Montsinéry-Tonnegran- de, Saint-Élie, Saül, Sinnamary), Guyana (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), Suriname (Sipaliwini). Fig. 34.

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

Recognition and discussion — Tovomita gazelii is undoubtedly the most unique species of the genus, and its placement in Tovomita was confirmed by Marinho & al. (2019a). It can be distinguished from all other species of the genus by the epicarp with woody protuberances up to 18 mm long ( Fig. 39I). When sterile, T. gazelii can be recognized by the leaves with few pairs of secondary veins (6–8) and percurrent tertiary veins ( Fig. 39A, 40B).

Poncy & Offroy (2006) described the petals of Tovomita gazelii as “dark red”; however, the NY specimen Sabatier 3576 reports that sepals are green, while petals are greenish-white, and the stamens (staminodes) and stigmas are pale yellow. This information was confirmed from field photographs of specimens with newly opened ( Fig. 40E) and senescent ( Fig. 40H) flowers in the same individual. However, it is common that senescent petals of Tovomita darken brownish (see Fig. 37F, G, for T. fructipendula ) and, in some cases, purplish-red.

Selected specimens examined — FRENCH GUIANA: MONTSINÉRY-TONNEGRANDE: Commune de Montsinéry , piste de Risquetout, 10 Apr 1980, fl. ♂, Granville 3433 ( NY!) . SAINT-ÉLIE: Interfluve Sinnamary / Counanama, près du camp Orstom , 05°20'N, 53°00'W, 24 May 1991, fr., D. Sabatier 3576 ( B!, NY!) . SAÜL: Monts La Fumée , 03°37'N, 53°12'W, 200–400 m, 7 Oct 1982, sterile, B . Boom & S . Mori 1893 (NY!). SINNAMARY: piste de St Elie, pk 16, 26 Jan 1978, fl. ♀ fr., Granville 2823 ( NY!). — GUYANA : CUYUNI-MAZARUNI: N bank, W branch of Eping river , 05°58'N, 60°13'W, 396 m, 7 Feb 1991, fr., T . McDowell & A . Stobey 3946 ( INPA!, K!). — SURINAME : SIPALIWINI: Central Suriname Nature Reserve, summit of first peak in Eilerts de Haan Mountain range , 03°09'49"N, 56°27'41"W, 740 m, 24 Jun 2003, fr., R. J . Evans & al. 3534 ( MO photo!) .