Authority:

Barneby, Rupert C. & Krukoff, Boris A. 1971. Supplementary notes on American Menispermaceae. VIII. A generic survey of the American Tricilisisae and Anomospermeae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 22: 1-89.

Family:

Menispermaceae

Description:

Species Description - Inflorescence [female] 1-flowered (Pires et al. 50277), the fruit subsessile; drupe 3.7-4.2 cm long, 3-3.3 cm wide, 2.5-2.8 cm thick, the firm, mealy-coriaceous exocarp 2 mm thick, mesocarp almost 0; endocarp over 3.5 cm long, the woody testa 1-3 mm thick, externally incised-reticulate and sculptured with 4 rows of dimples running lengthwise around its long outer curve, the dimples corresponding with prongs intruded into the cavity, the interior dorsal suture inserted as a wing 1-1.2 mm wide (Froes 12413; Prance et al. 9826; Pires et al. 50277).

Distribution and Ecology - Distribution (5 collections): Venezuela (Bolivar), and Amazonian Brazil [Territory Amapa, Territory Roraima, and State of Amazonas (basin of Rio Negro)].

Discussion:

Fig. 3.

This species is well characterized by the combination of leaves almost smooth (lacking sharp elevated reticulation) above with a large, deeply sculptured, internally pronged endocarp. The endocarp resembles that of A. chloranthum subsp. chloranthum most closely, but this has leaves sharply net-veined on both faces. Other species of Anomospermum with smooth leaves lack prongs in the seed-cavity, and all others with such prongs have both reticulate foliage and much smaller drupes.

This is the first record of the species from Territory Roraima and Territory Amapa.