Elaeocarpus mahamayensis (Elaeocarpaceae), a new endemic species from the Knuckles Mountain Range in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Based on an ongoing taxonomic study on the genus Elaeocarpus, a new endemic Elaeocarpus species, E. mahamayensis, is described and illustrated from the Knuckles Mountain Range in Matale District (Sri Lanka). The new species had been already noticed by Zmarzty in 2001; during the revision of Elaeocarpus sect. Elaeocarpus in Southern India and Sri Lanka, she referred a herbarium specimen of this plant as “Elaeocarpus sp. B”. The stone of Elaeocarpus mahamayensis is similar to that of E. amoenus, E. coriaceus, E. montanus and E. taprobanicus, but their leaf characters differ. With this new addition, the number of Elaeocarpus species occurring in Sri Lanka is elevated to ten. The conservation status of E. mahamayensis based on the IUCN Red Data category guidelines is determined as Critically Endangered.