Marijordaania A.E.van Wyk & R.G.C.Boon, 2024

van Wyk, Abraham E. & Boon, Richard G. C., 2024, Marijordaania (Celastraceae: Cassinoideae), a new monotypic genus from South Africa, Plant Ecology and Evolution 157 (1), pp. 100-112 : 100

Marijordaania A.E.van Wyk & R.G.C.Boon gen. nov.

Type species.

Marijordaania filiformis (Davison) A.E.van Wyk & R.G.C.Boon.

Diagnosis.

A member of Celastraceae , subfamily Cassinoideae (sensu Simmons et al. 2023), belonging to a clade of African members of the family (sensu McKenna et al. 2011), but taxonomically isolated without obvious close relatives. Often confused with Maytenus cordata , but distinguished from this and other unarmed African species still placed in Maytenus by the following combination of characters: shrub or small tree, without elastic threads (gutta-percha; trans-1,4-polyisoprene); stems distinctly angular when young; inflorescences cymose, 1- or 2(3)-flowered; flowers 5-merous, with pedicel slender, pendant, usually 35-40 mm long, articulated ca 0.5 mm from the base; floral disc present, fleshy, distinctly divided into 5 discoid subunits (lobes), the latter raised and alternating with the petals; stamens 5, each inserted in the centre of a discoid subunit; filaments very short (ca 1 mm); anthers dorsifixed; ovary 5-locular, almost entirely included in and adnate to the disc, with 2 erect collateral ovules in each locule; style ca 0.5 mm long, stigma capitate; fruit a loculicidally dehiscing capsule; seeds lacking postchalazal vascular bundles, with the basal portion enveloped for ca two-thirds or more its length with a fleshy, white aril, the latter mostly smooth-surfaced, but sparsely puberulent towards the base.

Description.

As for the species.

Etymology.

The generic name commemorates Dr Marie Jordaan ( née Prins) [1948-], in recognition of her considerable contributions towards the taxonomy of the southern African flora in general, and the Celastraceae in particular.