Talk:OThongathi

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Strychnos mackenii and the Zulu name of Tongaat

The article claimed that the name Tongaat came from the Zulu word for the Strychnos mackenii trees that flourish on the banks of the Tongaat River. I can't find a reference to this species in either Elsa Pooley's Complete Field Guide to the Trees of Natal or in Keith Coates Palgrave's Trees of Southern Africa, so I have removed the claim as I can't find any substantiation for it.

Jstor's article [1] on Strychnos gerrardi has Strychnos mackenii as a synonym. Pooley has the Zulu name for this sp as umGuluguhla Wayne Jayes (talk) 11:00, 13 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The Dictionary of South African Place Names says, of the Tongati River, that: "The name, derived from Zulu, is said to mean 'it is important to us' or 'you are important because of us', referring to legends involving reaction to a denigrating remark in the first instance, and to Shaka's magnanimous view of a tribe he had just made subservient to him." No mention is made of the trees. - htonl (talk) 11:32, 13 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]