Notes

Sleumer states this species resembles O. kirkii Oliv. but can be distinguished from it by the absence of a long drawn-out leaf apex. At first I was not satisfied with the taxonomy of this species. Study of the EA isotype, which Sleumer would not have seen, reveals a number of discrepancies when compared with Sleumer’s description. The EA isotype has no young flowers and it is almost certain the Berlin holotype would have had none either in which case anther, petal and young sepal information would have been derived from Schlieben 6530 of which I have been unable to find a duplicate. The persistent filaments in Braun 1209 are 4 mm long not 1.5 mm and the persistent styles 12 mm not 8. Brother J. Anthony’s flowering specimen shows this is within the variation possible in this species. Braun 1209 had been first identified as Ochna holstii by some German worker at Amani against which Greenway has written a firm ‘not’. He was of course familiar with the tall timber tree in the East Usambaras but Robson has accepted shrubby forms.