|
Scientific Name | Crinum macowanii Baker |
Higher Classification | Monocotyledons |
Family | AMARYLLIDACEAE |
Synonyms | Crinum gouwsii Traub, Crinum macowanii Baker subsp. confusum I.Verd. |
Common Names | Boslelie (a), Cape Coast Lily (e), Cape Lily (e), Common Vlei Crinum (e), Intelezi (x), Rivierlelie (a), Umnduze (z) |
National Status |
Status and Criteria | Least Concern |
Assessment Date | 2016/06/28 |
Assessor(s) | V.L. Williams, D. Raimondo, N.R. Crouch, A.B. Cunningham, C.R. Scott-Shaw, M. Lötter, A.M. Ngwenya & V.J. Brueton |
Justification | A widespread species that is suspected to be declining due to its constant presence in medicinal markets. It is a long-lived species and susceptible to over-exploitation, but is still relatively common in the wild, and not likely to be nearing thresholds for increased extinction risk. |
Distribution |
Endemism | Not endemic to South Africa |
Provincial distribution | Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West |
Range | Eastern Cape to Limpopo Province and from Zimbabwe to Eritrea. |
Habitat and Ecology |
Major system | Terrestrial |
Major habitats | Albany Thicket, Grassland, Indian Ocean Coastal Belt, Savanna |
Description | Mountain grassland and stony slopes in hard dry shale, gravely soil or sandy flats. |
Threats |
| Crinum spp. is threatened by harvesting for the medicinal plant trade. It is difficult to tell the species apart without flowering material, and the users and market traders do not distinguish between the species, hence they are all considered at risk of over-exploitation. The species most commonly found in the markets are Crinum bulbispermum, C. stuhlmannii, C. macowanii and C. moorei - the latter species being the most vulnerable due to its smaller distribution and possibly the most distinctive because of the neck that forms a false stem (Verdoorn 1973). Cunningham (1988) estimated that 122 bags of Crinum spp. (excluding C. bulbispermum) were sold between 54 traders in the Durban markets. Its vulnerability status was classed as 'indeterminate' i.e. it appears to be heavily exploited, but its vulnerability to harvesting is unknown and more data are required (Cunningham 1988). Williams (2007) recorded that the species occurred in 28% of muthi shops in Johannesburg in 1994, and was sold by 9% of the traders at the Faraday Street muthi market. The bulbs are usually very large (usually >10cm diameter) and very heavy, and are sold in moderate quantities throughout the market.
Of Crinum macowanii, there is not much known specifically about its prevalence in the market, but one would expect a significant presence due to its widespread distribution. It tends to occur in large clusters of many bulbs and it recruits easily from seed. It was believed to be declining slightly because of its occurrence in the muthi market. Amaryllis moths have been seen on C. macowanii and this may affect recruitment in the population. |
Population |
Population trend | Decreasing |
Assessment History |
Taxon assessed |
Status and Criteria |
Citation/Red List version | | Crinum macowanii Baker | Declining | Raimondo et al. (2009) | |
Bibliography |
Archer, R.H. and Condy, G. 1999. Crinum macowanii. Flowering Plants of Africa 56:30-35.
Cunningham, A.B. 1988. An investigation of the herbal medicine trade in Natal/KwaZulu. Investigational Report No. 29. Institute of Natural Resources, Pietermaritzburg.
Raimondo, D., von Staden, L., Foden, W., Victor, J.E., Helme, N.A., Turner, R.C., Kamundi, D.A. and Manyama, P.A. 2009. Red List of South African Plants. Strelitzia 25. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria.
Verdoorn, I.C. 1973. The genus Crinum in Southern Africa. Bothalia 11:27-52.
Williams, V.L. 2007. The design of a risk assessment model to determine the impact of the herbal medicine trade on the Witwatersrand on resources of indigenous plant species. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
|
Citation |
| Williams, V.L., Raimondo, D., Crouch, N.R., Cunningham, A.B., Scott-Shaw, C.R., Lötter, M., Ngwenya, A.M. & Brueton, V.J. 2016. Crinum macowanii Baker. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version . Accessed on 2025/05/19 |
Comment on this assessment
