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Scientific Name | Alepidea multisecta B.L.Burtt |
Higher Classification | Dicotyledons |
Family | APIACEAE |
National Status |
Status and Criteria | Vulnerable D2 |
Assessment Date | 2016/01/19 |
Assessor(s) | N.A. Helme & L. von Staden |
Justification | One large, stable known subpopulation is potentially threatened by competition from alien invasive plants. |
Distribution |
Endemism | South African endemic |
Provincial distribution | Eastern Cape |
Range | Hogsback. |
Habitat and Ecology |
Major system | Terrestrial |
Major habitats | Amathole Mistbelt Grassland |
Description | Steep rocky dolerite slopes and ridges in mistbelt grassland. |
Threats |
| Threatened by habitat loss to timber plantations, encroaching alien invasive plants, and overgrazing. It is not known why the subpopulation at the type locality disappeared - possibly as a result of grazing. There are at present no threats to the subpopulation discovered in 2015, but nearby grasslands have some escaped pines in it, which may spread if left unmanaged. The site is not grazed (N.A. Helme pers. comm. 2015). |
Population |
This species was previously known from a single collection, dating from 1926. The locality, Gaika's Kop, is fairly accurately documented, but several searches in this area failed to relocate the subpopulation (A. de Castro pers. comm.). In 2015, a second subpopulation was discovered in similar habitat about 10 km away. This subpopulation is large, consisting of over 1000 mature individuals, and is not under any threat (N.A. Helme pers. comm.). It is likely that other subpopulations exist in similar habitat between Hogsback and Cathcart, and these areas need to be surveyed.
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Population trend | Stable |
Assessment History |
Taxon assessed |
Status and Criteria |
Citation/Red List version | | Alepidea multisecta B.L.Burtt | VU D2 | 2017.1 | | Alepidea multisecta B.L.Burtt | Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct) | Raimondo et al. (2009) | |
Bibliography |
Burtt, B.L. 1991. Umbelliferae of southern Africa: an introduction and annotated check-list. Edinburgh Journal of Botany 48(2):133-282.
De Castro, A. and Van Wyk, B.-E. 1994. Diagnostic characters and geographic distributions of Alepidea species used in tradional medicine. South African Journal of Botany 60(6):345-350.
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.
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Citation |
| Helme, N.A. & von Staden, L. 2016. Alepidea multisecta B.L.Burtt. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version . Accessed on 2025/04/19 |
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