Ochna kirkii Oliver, Ochnaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: bird's-eye bush, Mickey Mouse plant

Habit:  shrub/tree

Description:  "Shrub or small tree (1) 2-5 (6) m. high, evergreen, with bark rather rough, greyish-white; branches slender or rather stout, ± spreading, reddish-purple or brownish with prominent lenticels at first, becoming greyish-white. Leaves petiolate; lamina (5) 6.5-11.2 x 2.6-5.1 cm. (up to 21 x 7 cm. in E. Africa), elliptic or oblong-elliptic to narrowly obovate, obtuse to rounded and mucronate at the apex, with margin entire or slightly undulate, usually beset with numerous equal dark-tipped cilia, cuneate to cordate at the base, ± coriaceous, with main lateral nerves more prominent than subsidiary ones and densely reticulate tertiary venation prominent above but almost plane below; petiole 4-5 (6) mm. long, slender to stoutish, sometimes rather swollen. Flowers 3-c. 20 in ± condensed panicles terminating short lateral shoots; pedicels 1-2.5 cm. long in fruit, articulated about 1/4 the distance from the base. Sepals 10-14 mm. long in flower, elliptic to elliptic-oblong, rounded, becoming red, 12-16 mm. long, flat and spreading in fruit. Petals bright yellow, sometimes dark-veined, 15-25 x 10-18 mm., obovate to broadly elliptic, unguiculate. Stamens with anthers 4-5 mm. long, equaling or half as long as the filaments, frequently incurved, dehiscing by apical pores. Carpels (8) 10-12, with styles free at the apex and spreading; stigmas capitate. Drupelets 9-10 x 5.5-8 mm., flattened-cylindric, inserted near the base; embryo straight"  (Flora Zambesiaca online).

Compared to Ochna thomasiana, Ochna kirkii "has larger leaves (2-3.25 inches long, 0.75-1.25 inches wide) that are broadly oblong, oblanceolate, or obovate, provided with many cilia around the margin on mature leaves; and smaller fruiting sepals (0.4-0.5 inch long, 0.15-0.25 inch wide).  Young leaves of O. thomasiana are ciliate around the entire margin, but at maturity only 5-8 cilia persist near the blade base" (Staples & Herbst, 2005; p. 437).

Habitat/ecology:  In the shrub layer of evergreen forest and in evergreen scrub, 0-600 m  (Flora Zambesiaca online).

Propagation:  Seed, probably spread by birds.

Native range:  Africa

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Raulerson, L. (2006) (p. 30)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced cultivated	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 107) Voucher cited: MacKee 42245

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 64) Cultivated only

Additional information:
Additional online information about Ochna kirkii is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Ochna kirkii as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Ochna kirkii may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. 2009. A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore. 273 pp.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

Raulerson, L. 2006. Checklist of Plants of the Mariana Islands. University of Guam Herbarium Contribution 37:1-69. .