Ochna maguirei K.Balkwill (Balkwill 2020: 299)

Shah, Toral, Mashimba, Fandey H., Suleiman, Haji. O., Mbailwa, Yahya S., Savolainen, Vincent, Larridon, Isabel & Darbyshire, Iain, 2023, A taxonomic revision of the ecologically important Ochna holstii (Ochnaceae) complex using molecular and morphological data, Plant Ecology and Evolution 156 (2), pp. 174-200 : 174

4. Ochna maguirei K.Balkwill (Balkwill 2020: 299)

Figs 3A , 9

Type.

SOUTH AFRICA • Limpopo Province, 2329 (Pietersburg): Lajuma Research Centre, between Lajuma Peak and the farmhouse; Balkwill et al. 13658; holotype: J; isotypes: BM, K, MO, PRE .

Description.

(adapted from Balkwill 2020) Small tree 2-3.4(-7) m tall, usually single-stemmed from the base with branches forming a crowded canopy. Bark grey-brown, deeply fissured, corky, not peeling; young new growth olive green with brown-orange hairs. Stipules spathulate, sharply acute (3.5-)5.3-7.5(-8.0) mm long. Leaves bright green when young, becoming darker with age, drying dark green or blue-black, slightly leathery, glabrous, narrowly obovate to obovate, (23-)37-56(-63) mm long, (8-)15-24(-28) mm wide; leaf base narrowly rounded to round, broadly acute to rounded at apex, margins coarsely serrate along entire length; lateral veins (19-)21-28(-36), tertiary vernation raised above and below on dried specimens of mature leaves; petiole (1.0-)1.20-2.0(-2.4) mm long, u-shaped in cross-section, with a ridge or wing down each side. Flowers in condensed racemes often produced amongst the leaves, (1-)2-4(-6) on short axillary shoots; pedicels (7.0-)8.7-13.8(-18.0) mm long, articulated at or near the base or up to 1 mm from the base, red-brown, glabrous to puberulous. Sepals brown to yellow-brown, narrowly to broadly elliptic with rounded tip (6.5-)7.3-9.0(-9.5) mm long, (3.0-)3.7-5.3(-6.0) mm wide in flower, turning red-brown in fruit, (8.0-)8.8-10.0(-10.5) mm long, (4.5-)4.8-6.8(-8.5) mm wide. Petals pale yellow, spathulate, (9.0-)9.2-10.8(-11.0) mm long, (5.0-)5.1-6.2 mm wide. Anthers dehiscing by longitudinal slits, (1.2-)1.25-1.5(-1.7) mm; filaments 3.0-3.8(-4.5) mm long. Carpels unknown; styles fused. Drupelets black, slightly oblate and slightly laterally compressed, (5.5-)5.6-6.6(-7.5) mm long, attached at the base.

Distribution.

NE South Africa, known from three mountain ranges (the Soutpansberg, Waterberg, and Magaliesberg) and from a mountain near Loskop Dam (Fig. 9 ).

Habitat.

Savanna amongst boulders. Altitude: approximately 1200-1700 m (estimated from Google Earth).

Phenology.

This species has a short flowering period in the dry season, between September and November, and fruiting from October, but mostly from November through to January.

Preliminary IUCN conservation assessment.

With an EOO of approximately 100,000 km2 and an AOO likely above 20 km2, the species is known to have over 1000 individuals from more than five locations. Furthermore, with populations appearing to be stable over the last 21 years and resilience to the major threat of fire, the species is assessed as Least Concern (LC) ( Balkwill 2020).

Additional material examined.

SOUTH AFRICA • Soutpansberg , above Louis Trichardt; 16 Dec. 1928; Hutchinson 2025; K • Bokpoort, in forest under cliffs; 2 Jan. 1936; fr.; Smuts & Gillett 3357; EA • Above Punchbowl Hotel, Soutpansberg; 16 Oct. 1956; fr.; Story 5935; K [K001271443] .

Figures

Figure 3. Species of Ochna, habit and leaf margin. A. Ochna maguirei (from Story 5935). B. Ochna puberula (from Fanshawe 2648). C. Ochna afzelioides (from Richards 13726). D. Ochna polyneura (from Vollesen 4298). Drawn by Andrew Brown.

Figure 9. Distribution map of Ochna maguirei in South Africa.