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Notes
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This species was characterized by Bremekamp by its glabrescent habit; its somewhat small elliptic leaves that do not have domatia; its short stipules with two linear lobes; its shortly pedunculate, several-flowered, corymbiform inflorescences; and its subsessile small flowers with small yellow corollas. Bremekamp described this species based on one specimen and classified it in his circumscription of Mapouria, which was diagnosed by its pyrenes that are plane adaxially and its endosperm that is ruminate but otherwise not furrowed, even though he did not see the fruits of Psycohtria manongarivoensis. Several modern specimens from northern Madagscar match the type collection, except they are in fruit and some of their leaves are larger. These collections however have the diagnostic fruit characters of Bremekamp's related but separate genus Apomuria, with the pyrenes plane adaxially and the endosperm entire except for one T-shaped adaxial furrow, rather than Mapouria (except for one specimen, Taylor & Madaka 12944, which has diseased fruits with endosperm that is variously densely ruminate without a T-shaped furrow, or densely ruminate and with a T-shaped furrow; these fruits are assumed to be malformed due to the disease). Ongoing morphological and molecular studies of Psychotria have demonstrated extensive variation within monophyletic groups in various features, including pyrene and endosperm form, and that several of the Madagascar genera that Bremekamp separated from Psychotria are most likely heterogenous groups of species that are better included in Psychotria, and there seems to reason to separate Psychotria manongarivoensis into any of those. The plants of the type collection have sparse pubescence on the vegetative structures and hirtellous stipules while the plants from the eastern part of the range are glabrous; boht populations have rather distinctive stipules, which are coherent along their intrapetiolar sides and often remain so even after they have detached from their basal attachment to the stem.
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