Gouania velutina Reissek in Mart., Fl. Bras. 11(1): 105. 1861; Gouania colurnifolia Reissek.
Liana; young branches solid or hollow in the center, indumentum dense villous or velutinous, light red-brown or white-yellow. Leaf blades 4—10.5 x 3--8 cm, elliptic or wide-elliptic, membranaceous to subcoriaceous, adaxial surface drying dark green-brown or dark green-black, abaxial surface drying pale green or pale yellow-green, lateral veins 5--7 pairs, at 45--60º angle to midrib, adaxial surface dense to abundant pubescent, glabrescent, the trichomes 0.2—1 mm, straight to slightly curved, more or less appressed, ascending or spreading in all directions, white to light red-brown, abaxial surface dense pilose to tomentose, trichomes 0.2--1 mm, spreading and matted, white and light red-brown, base cordate or subcordate, margin crenate or crenulate (rarely serrulate), 1—3 teeth/cm, tooth glands cupular or less frequently pulvinate, apex obtuse-apiculate or rounded-apiculate to short-acuminate, less frequently acute to acuminate; stipules 2-lobed, at least some retained into young fruit, upper lobe 4.25--11 x 1--4 mm, curving upward, lanceolate, acuminate, often with long flexuous tip, lower lobe 3.5--10 x 4—11 mm, curving downward, margins recurved to stipule sharply folded in half to cuculate, orbicular to reniform, often with one or two extended tips; petioles 4—10 (15) mm. Inflorescence with longest racemiform part 7--17 cm, indumentum of rachis velutinous to villous light red-brown or white-yellow, bract of cyme 2.5—3.5 mm, lanceolate, acuminate, cyme appearing sessile. Mature flowers appearing sessile to pedicels 0.75 mm, hypanthium dense velutinous, the trichomes light red-brown or white-yellow. Sepals 0.6—1 mm, externally dense villous, pilose or sericeous, the trichomes light red-brown or white-yellow. Petals 0.6—0.8 mm; stamens with filaments 0.4--0.75 mm, narrowly triangular, anthers 0.2—0.3 mm; disc excluding lobes 1—1.6 mm diam., glabrous, disc lobes 0.4—0.6 mm, lanceolate-acuminate, not lobed, (1/2--) 2/3—3/4 (or sometimes, equal to) length of sepals; style pubescent at base. Young fruits indumentum dense velutinous, the trichomes light red-brown or light yellow; mature mericarp out-line butterfly shaped with emarginations at base only, apex truncate or nearly truncate (less frequently rounded to obtuse), the wings attached to apex and base of fruit body as well as sides, externally drying dark brown or dark red-brown, darker over fruit body, indumentum dense velutinous on fruit body to dense pilose on wings with trichomes 0.25—1.2 mm, light red-brown or white-yellow, internally drying yellow-white to pale brown on wings contrasting noticeably by not markedly with grayish red-brown fruit body with rays extending into wings, fruit body 4--6 mm high, wings 6--9 mm high, distance between highest points of two wings 0--2 mm, width of mericarp 8—10 (11) mm, 1.5--2 (--2.5) times height of fruit body, width of fruit body (2) 2.5—3 (3.5) mm, ¼--1/3 width of mericarp. Seeds 2.25—2.5 (3.3) x 1.6—2.25 mm, shiny brown.
Expected in southwest Nicaragua, zavannas and dry shrub land, Mexico to Panama, Venezuela, Guyana, Brazil, Trinidad.