16. Guatteria atabapensis Aristeg. ex D.M.Johnson & N.A. Murray — Fig. 13c, 15; Map 5

Guatteria atabapensis Aristeg. ex D.M.Johnson & N.A.Murray (1990) 599; Steyerm. et al. (1995) 444; Murillo A. & Restrepo (2000) 92. —

Type: Wurdack & Adderley 42759 (holo NY; iso F, G, RB, US, VEN), Venezuela, Amazonas, Dep.Atabapo, Río Atabapo, margin of Sabana Cumare, right bank of Caño Cumare (20 km above San Fernando de Atabapo), 125–140 m, 3 June 1959.

Tree or shrub, 3–6(–28) m tall, to 23 cm diam; young twigs sparsely covered with appressed hairs, soon glabrous. Leaves: petiole 5–10 mm long, 1–3 mm diam; lamina elliptic to ovate or narrowly so, 8–16 by 4–6 cm (leaf index 1.8–2.8), coriaceous, not or less frequently verruculose, dark brown to greyish green above, brown to pale brown below, glabrous above, sparsely covered with appressed hairs to almost glabrous below, base obtuse, sometimes acute, apex acuminate (acumen 5–15 mm long), primary vein impressed above, secondary veins indistinct, 10–14 on either side of primary vein, raised above, smallest distance between loops and margin 4–7 mm, tertiary veins raised above, reticulate. Flowers in 1–2-flowered inflorescences in axils of leaves; flowering and fruiting pedicels 4–8 mm long, 1–2 mm diam, rather densely covered with appressed hairs, articulated at c. 0.3 from the base, bracts 4–6, soon falling, broadly ovate, 1–3 mm long; flower buds depressed ovoid; sepals free, broadly ovate-triangular, 4–5 by 4–5 mm, spreading, outer side densely covered with appressed hairs; petals greenish yellow or yellow in vivo, ovate to obovate, 8–23 by 4–12 mm, outer side densely to rather densely covered with appressed hairs; stamens c. 1 mm long, connective shield papillate. Monocarps 10– 25, green, maturing black in vivo, black to brownish in sicco, ellipsoid, 7–10 by 4–6 mm, sparsely covered with appressed hairs, soon glabrous, apex apiculate (apiculum 0.1–0.2 mm long), wall 0.2–0.3 mm thick, stipes 1–5 by 1 mm. Seed ellipsoid-fusiform, 7–9 by 4–5 mm, dark brown, pitted to transversely grooved, raphe impressed.

Distribution — Amazonian Colombia (Vaupés), Venezuela (Amazonas, Bolívar).

Habitat & Ecology — In shrub islands in savannas and in forest, on white sands.At elevations of 0–150(–560) m. Flowering: January to May; fruiting: January, May, July, September.

Vernacular names — Colombia: Carguero de hoja negra (M. Sánchez S. et al. 802, 879), Quïbojïdujecu (Muinane name) (M. Sánchez S. et al. 802, 879).

Notes — Guatteria atabapensis is well recognizable by its coriaceous, obscurely veined leaves, with submarginal loops quite far removed from the margins (4–7 mm), in combination with very short pedicels and short stipes. It looks quite similar to G. maguirei, which is also confined to savannas, but it differs from the latter by much shorter pedicels and larger leaves.

Some sterile Colombian collections identified by Murillo A. & Restrepo (2000) as G. atabapensis deserve further attention. They differ from the remainder by verruculose leaves, but are otherwise quite similar. It concerns the following:

COLOMBIA, Amazonas, Río Caquetá, Isla Mariñame, M. Sánchez S. et al. 802 (COAH, U); Río Caquetá, Isla Morocoy, M. Sánchez S. et al. 879 (COAH, U). Caquetá, Sierra de Chiribiquete, 560 m, P. A. Palacios et al. 2627 (U).