| Scientific Name | Rapanea melanophloeos (L.) Mez | Higher Classification | Dicotyledons | Family | MYRSINACEAE | Synonyms | Myrsine melanophloeos (L.) R.Br., Myrsine neurophylla Gilg, Myrsine rhododendroides Gilg, Myrsine runssorica Gilg, Rapanea gracilior Mildbr., Rapanea lamiaensis De Wild., Rapanea neurophylla (Gilg) Mez, Rapanea pulchra Gilg & G.Schellenb., Rapanea rhododendroides (Gilg) Mez, Rapanea runssorica (Gilg) Mez, Rapanea schliebenii Mildbr., Rapanea ulugurensis Mez, Rapanea umbratilis S.Moore, Rapanea usambarensis Gilg & G.Schellenb., Sideroxylon melanophloeos L. | Common Names | Beukeboom (a), Beukehout (a), Boekehout (a), Boekenhout (a), Bucku-hout (a), Cape Beech (e), Cape Beech Tree (e), Inhluthe (z), Isicalabi (z), Isihluthi-wentaba (z), Isiqalaba-sehlathi (z), Isiqwandwemshube (x), Isiqwane Sehlathi (x), Mogônô (ns), Roode Bucku (e), Roode Bucku (a), Rooiboekenhout (a), Rooi-bucku (a), Shitsuvane (ts), Swartbas (a), Swartbasboom (a), Tshididiri (v), Tshikonwa (v), Umaphipha (z), Umaphiphakhubalo (z), Uvukakwabafilikhubalo (z), Witbeukenhout (a), Witboekenhout (a) |
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 & A.P. Dold | Justification | The species is declining due to bark harvesting for medicinal plant trade, especially in KwaZulu-Natal. Tree mortality has been observed as a result of debarking and its vulnerability to fungal and insect attack following bark removal. However, the species is widespread and there is sufficient recruitment for it not to be in danger of extinction. |
Distribution | Endemism | Not endemic to South Africa | Provincial distribution | Eastern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga | Range | Cape Peninsula to Malawi. |
Habitat and Ecology | Major system | Terrestrial | Major habitats | Potberg Sandstone Fynbos, Albany Mesic Thicket, Garden Route Granite Fynbos, Suurberg Shale Fynbos, Peninsula Shale Fynbos, Garden Route Shale Fynbos, Southern Cape Dune Fynbos, South Langeberg Sandstone Fynbos, Swellendam Silcrete Fynbos, South Outeniqua Sandstone Fynbos, Tsitsikamma Sandstone Fynbos, South Swartberg Sandstone Fynbos, Kouga Grassy Sandstone Fynbos, Algoa Sandstone Fynbos, Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos, Suurberg Quartzite Fynbos, St Francis Dune Thicket, Albany Valley Thicket, Buffels Mesic Thicket, Gouritz Valley Thicket, Grahamstown Grassland Thicket, Nanaga Savanna Thicket, Boland Granite Fynbos, Hamburg Dune Thicket, Northern Afrotemperate Forest, Subtropical Alluvial Vegetation, Maputaland Coastal Belt, Maputaland Wooded Grassland, KwaZulu-Natal Coastal Belt Grassland, Pondoland-Ugu Sandstone Coastal Sourveld, Transkei Coastal Belt, Sundays Mesic Thicket, Swaziland Sour Bushveld, Mthatha Moist Grassland, Tarkastad Montane Shrubland, Moist Coast Hinterland Grassland, Low Escarpment Moist Grassland, Northern KwaZulu-Natal Moist Grassland, Swamp Forest, Soutpansberg Mountain Bushveld, Northern Zululand Mistbelt Grassland, Southern Lebombo Bushveld, Zululand Lowveld, Muzi Palm Veld and Wooded Grassland, KwaZulu-Natal Sandstone Sourveld, Eastern Valley Bushveld, Bhisho Thornveld, Midlands Mistbelt Grassland, uKhahlamba Basalt Grassland, South Eastern Coastal Thornveld, Southern Mistbelt Forest, Northern Mistbelt Forest, Scarp Forest, Northern Coastal Forest, Kango Limestone Renosterveld, Southern KwaZulu-Natal Moist Grassland, Amathole Montane Grassland, Drakensberg Foothill Moist Grassland, Paulpietersburg Moist Grassland, Northern Escarpment Quartzite Sourveld, Wolkberg Dolomite Grassland, Soutpansberg Summit Sourveld, Long Tom Pass Montane Grassland, Southern Afrotemperate Forest, Humansdorp Shale Renosterveld | Description | Coastal, swamp and mountain forest, on forest margins and bush clumps, often in damp areas from coast to mountains. |
Population | Population trend | Decreasing |
Assessment History |
Taxon assessed |
Status and Criteria |
Citation/Red List version | | Rapanea melanophloeos (L.) Mez | Declining | Raimondo et al. (2009) | |
Bibliography | Boon, R. 2010. Pooley's Trees of eastern South Africa. Flora and Fauna Publications Trust, Durban.
Botha, J., Witkowski, E.T.F. and Shackleton, C.M. 2001. An inventory of medicinal plants traded on the western boundary of the Kruger National Park, South Africa. Koede 44(2):7-46.
Botha, J., Witkowski, E.T.F. and Shackleton, C.M. 2004. Harvesting impacts on commonly used medicinal tree species (Catha edulis and Rapanea melanophloeos) under different land management regimes in the Mpumalanga Lowveld, South Africa. Koede 47(2):1-18.
Cunningham, A.B. 1988. An investigation of the herbal medicine trade in Natal/KwaZulu. Investigational Report No. 29. Institute of Natural Resources, Pietermaritzburg.
Dold, A.P. and Cocks, M.L. 2002. The trade in medicinal plants in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. South African Journal of Science 98:589-597.
Fourcade, H.G. 1889. Report on the Natal Forests. Natal Blue Book. Government Printer, Pietermaritzburg.
Geldenhuys, C.J. 2004. Bark harvesting for traditional medicine: from illegal resource degradation to participatory management. Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research 19(Supplement 4):103-115.
Goldblatt, P. and Manning, J.C. 2000. Cape Plants: A conspectus of the Cape Flora of South Africa. Strelitzia 9. National Botanical Institute, Cape Town.
Grace, O.M., Prendergast, H.D.V., Jager, A.K. and Van Staden, J. 2003. Bark medicines used in traditional healthcare in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: an inventory. South African Journal of Botany 69(3):301-363.
La Cock, G.D. and Briers, J.H. 1992. Bark collecting at Tootabie Nature Reserve, eastern Cape, South Africa. South African Journal of Botany 58(6):505-509.
Palmer, E. and Pitman, N. 1972. Trees of southern Africa covering all known indigenous species in the Republic of South Africa, South-West Africa, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. Volume 2. A.A.Balkema, Cape Town.
Pooley, E. 1998. The complete field guide to trees of Natal, Zululand and Transkei. Natal Flora Publications Trust, Durban.
Pooley, E. 2003. Mountain flowers: a field guide to the flora of the Drakensberg and Lesotho. Natal Flora Publications Trust, Durban.
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.
Sim, T.R. 1906. The Forests and Flora of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope. Government of the Cape of Good Hope, Pietermaritzburg.
Taylor, H.C. 1963. A report on the Nxamalala Forest. Forestry in South Africa 2:29-43.
Vermeulen, W.J. and Geldenhuys, C.J. 2004. Experimental protocols and lessons learnt from strip harvesting of bark for medicinal bark in the southern Cape forests. Unpublished Report, FRP-DFID Project R8305. Wild Resources Limited, U.K.
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.
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Citation | | Williams, V.L., Raimondo, D., Crouch, N.R., Cunningham, A.B., Scott-Shaw, C.R., Lötter, M., Ngwenya, A.M. & Dold, A.P. 2016. Rapanea melanophloeos (L.) Mez. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version . Accessed on 2025/05/12 |
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