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Scientific Name | Geissorhiza platystigma Goldblatt & J.C.Manning |
Higher Classification | Monocotyledons |
Family | IRIDACEAE |
National Status |
Status and Criteria | Critically Endangered B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii) |
Assessment Date | 2023/06/14 |
Assessor(s) | I. Ebrahim, L. von Staden & T. Patel |
Justification | This species has an extent of occurrence (EOO) and area of occupancy (AOO) of 4 km². It is known from one location, Darling Nature Reserve. Plants here continue to decline due to ongoing habitat degradation as a result of a lack of fire and alien plant invasion. It is therefore listed as Critically Endangered under criterion B. |
Distribution |
Endemism | South African endemic |
Provincial distribution | Western Cape |
Range | It is endemic to Western Cape, South Africa, and is only known from the Darling Nature Reserve in the hills above Darling. |
Habitat and Ecology |
Major system | Terrestrial |
Major habitats | Swartland Granite Renosterveld |
Description | It occurs in granite-derived soils on east-trending slopes in open ground or in the shade of low shrubs in renosterveld. |
Threats |
| This species is likely to have lost extensive amounts of habitat to crop cultivation and urban expansion in the past. However, as it has been overlooked until very recently, the extent of population reduction cannot be estimated. The only known subpopulation occurs in a small municipal reserve, which is not a formally proclaimed protected area and has no management plan. As a result, the habitat continues to be degraded due to a lack of fire and alien plant invasion. |
Population |
The population is known from only one location and has a decreasing trend.
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Population trend | Decreasing |
Notes |
| This diminutive species is easily overlooked, and could possibly still be found in other renosterveld fragments around Darling. Flowering appears to not be fire dependent, but may be stimulated by fire. |
Assessment History |
Taxon assessed |
Status and Criteria |
Citation/Red List version | | Geissorhiza platystigma Goldblatt & J.C.Manning | VU D2 | 2011.1 | |
Bibliography |
Goldblatt, P. and Manning, J.C. 2020. Iridaceae of southern Africa. Strelitzia 42. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria.
Goldblatt, P., Manning, J.C. and Nänni, I. 2009. New species of Geissorhiza (Iridaceae:Crocoideae) from the southern African winter rainfall zone, range extensions, taxonomic changes, and notes on pollen morphology. Bothalia 39(2):123-152.
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Citation |
| Ebrahim, I., von Staden, L. & Patel, T. 2023. Geissorhiza platystigma Goldblatt & J.C.Manning. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version . Accessed on 2024/09/14 |
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