Nooteboom (Leiden Bot. Series 1, 1975, 128) described Symplocos atjehensis on the basis of four specimens from Atjeh, Sumatra. However, one of the collections, van Steenis 9697, is different from the other specimens by having glandular calyx lobes and a hairy disc. This plant is also similar to S. columbuli Noot. which was described from Atjeh, but differs from the latter by a glabrous calyx tube and glandular calyx lobes.