Uvariopsis Engl., Notizbl. Koenigl . Bot. Gart. Berlin 2: 298 (1899)

Dagallier, Leo-Paul M. J., Mbago, Frank M., Couderc, Marie, Gaudeul, Myriam, Grall, Aurelie, Loup, Caroline, Wieringa, Jan J., Sonke, Bonaventure & Couvreur, Thomas L. P., 2023, Phylogenomic inference of the African tribe Monodoreae (Annonaceae) and taxonomic revision of Dennettia, Uvariodendron and Uvariopsis, PhytoKeys 233, pp. 1-200 : 1

Uvariopsis Engl., Notizbl. Koenigl. Bot. Gart. Berlin 2: 298 (1899)

= Tetrastemma Diels, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 38(3): 241 (1906).

= Thonnera De Wild., Ann. Mus. Congo Belge, Bot. sér. 5, 3(1): 86 (1909).

Type species.

Uvariopsis zenkeri Engl.

Synoptic characters.

Shrubs to trees with flowers invariably exhibiting two sepals, in combination with at least one of the two following characters (and generally with both of them): flowers unisexual (plant monoecious) and flowers exhibiting one whorl of four free or basally fused petals.

Description.

Shrub to tree 1.5-30 m tall, D.B.H 1.5-39 cm; young branches pubescent to glabrous, old branches sparsely pubescent to glabrous. Petiole 1-9 mm long, 1-6 mm wide, pubescent to glabrous. Leaf lamina 73-615 mm long, 22-165 mm wide, length:width ratio 2.1-5, elliptic to oblong to obovate, papyraceous to coriaceous, base acute to decurrent to rounded to subcordate, apex acute to acuminate, acumen 0.5-30 mm long, surface above glabrous, surface below sparsely pubescent at base to glabrous when young, glabrous when old; midrib impressed above, raised below, glabrous above, sparsely pubescent to glabrous below; secondary veins 5-26 pairs, brochidodromous to weakly brochidodromous, impressed above, raised below; tertiary veins reticulate. Flowers unisexual or bisexual, male and female flowers similar or dimorphic, on same individuals (plant monoecious). Flower buds globose to long conical. Inflorescences borne in clumps of variable density on trunk, axillary or terminal, composed of 1 to 50 flowers. Peduncle inconspicuous to 2 mm long. Flower pedicel 0-430 mm long, 0.5-3 mm in diameter, pubescent to glabrous. Bracts 1 to 4, upper bract 0.5-4 mm long, 0.5-5 mm wide, triangular to broadly ovate, pubescent to sparsely pubescent outside, glabrous inside. Sepals 2, 0.7-18 mm long, 1-12 mm wide, triangular to broadly ovate, free to fused, pubescent to glabrous outside, glabrous inside, yellowish green to brown to dark red. Petals 3 to 4, 2.5-46 mm long, 1.5-22 mm wide, length:width ratio 0.9-5, elliptic to ovate, pubescent to glabrous outside, glabrous and soft to verrucose inside, cream to brown to dark red outside, cream to brown to dark red inside. Stamens 100 to 900, 0.1-2 mm long, 0.1-0.5 mm wide, anthers linear, connective prolongation truncate or absent. Carpels 3 to 280, 1-5 mm long, 0.5-3 mm wide, pubescent to glabrous, free; stigma 0.1-0.6 mm long, 0.2-1 mm wide, flat to coiled to globose, glabrous. Fruiting pedicel 2-400 mm long, 1-7 mm in diameter, pubescent to glabrous. Monocarps, 1-25, 10-85 mm long, 4.5-55 mm wide, length:width ratio 1.1-3.7, cylindrical, smooth to verrucose, straight to constricted between the seeds, pubescent to glabrous, dull olive green to red to brown, sessile to stipitate; stipe 0-14 mm long, 1-6 mm wide, pubescent to glabrous. Seeds 2-16 per monocarp, uniseriate to biseriate, 8-25 mm long, 5-15 mm wide, ellipsoid to semicircular.