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Scientific Name | Synaptolepis oliveriana Gilg. |
Higher Classification | Dicotyledons |
Family | THYMELAEACEAE |
Synonyms | Synaptolepis kirkii in sense of C.H. Wright: 80 (1915), as to Bolus 9762 |
National Status |
Status and Criteria | Near Threatened A4d |
Assessment Date | 2022/06/20 |
Assessor(s) | V.L. Williams, D. Raimondo, N.R. Crouch, A.B. Cunningham, C.R. Scott-Shaw, M. Lötter & A.M. Ngwenya |
Justification | Past exploitation for the medicinal plant trade has caused a decline of over 30% of the South African portion of the population. Declines due to muthi harvesting and habitat destruction are ongoing. The assessment is downgraded to Near Threatened because there are adjacent and continuous subpopulations in southern Mozambique and Swaziland. |
Distribution |
Endemism | Not endemic to South Africa |
Provincial distribution | KwaZulu-Natal |
Range | This species is found in the northern parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Mozambique. |
Habitat and Ecology |
Major system | Terrestrial |
Major habitats | Muzi Palm Veld and Wooded Grassland, Sand Forest, Northern Coastal Forest, Lowveld Riverine Forest, Maputaland Wooded Grassland, Maputaland Coastal Belt, Subtropical Dune Thicket |
Description | Plants grow in sand forest or thicket in dry coastal grassland in sandy soils at low altitudes. |
Threats |
| This species is one of the most identifiable species in medicinal markets because of its chalk-like white roots.
Cunningham (1988) estimated that 89 bags of roots were traded annually in the Durban markets by 54 herb traders. The species was cited as scarce by 52% of the herb-traders (ranked 7th) and 20% of urban herbalists (ranked 14th) in the region, but wasn't considered to be vulnerable to exploitation in KwaZulu-Natal at the time. Synaptolepis is heavily exploited for its roots, and localised extinctions were reported by resource users in areas where commercial gathering was occurring for other species (Cunningham 1988). The species' popularity is also evident from records of it being sold in Maseru, Lesotho, more than 1200 km from its source area via a series of trade links which pass through Durban and Johannesburg (Cunningham 1991).
Synaptolepis was very common in the Witwatersrand muthi shops, and 60% of the traders sold it in 1994 (Williams 2007). Less than 10% of Faraday Street market traders sold the roots, but it is a consistently available product in the market of variable quantity.
Scott-Shaw (1999) reported that S. oliveriana was a widely-used and sought after medicinal plant that had been critically over-exploited over most of its range. Furthermore, plants were of low abundance and were becoming increasingly very rare and extirpated in many areas. The habitat of the species was also being rapidly degraded because of woodcutting and the expansion of crop farming.
During discussions at the Medicinal Plant Red List Workshop (14-15/01/2008, SANBI, Durban), the following points were raised: a) some South African subpopulations are reasonably abundant and plants are common, however plants have been noted to be uncommon in other subpopulations (A.B. Cunningham and M. Lötter pers. comm.); b) outside Tembe Reserve in the communal areas there are hardly any plants left and there are lots of signs of harvesting within 100 m of the boundary of the reserves in the area; c) its habitat is restricted to coastal plains and sand forest because it prefers well-drained deep sand to grow; however, sandy soils also make root cropping of plants very prevalent in the sand forest, and other species are similarly affected by over-exploitation; d) seed production is sporadic and not prolific, hence the recruitment rate from seed is poor; e) destructive harvesting of the population is reinforced by the selection of large individuals that aren't producing seeds; f) there is evidence of an above 30% decline in the population - especially outside of protected areas. This decline is ongoing and is unlikely to cease because of the species' popularity in the markets. This species is considered Vulnerable in South Africa, but the assessment will be downgraded to Near Threatened due to the presence of adjacent and continuous subpopulations in southern Mozambique. |
Population |
Population trend | Decreasing |
Assessment History |
Taxon assessed |
Status and Criteria |
Citation/Red List version | | Synaptolepis kirkii Oliv. | NT A4d | Raimondo et al. (2009) | | Synaptolepis kirkii Oliv. | Lower Risk - Conservation Dependent | Scott-Shaw (1999) | |
Bibliography |
Cunningham, A.B. 1988. An investigation of the herbal medicine trade in Natal/KwaZulu. Investigational Report No. 29. Institute of Natural Resources, Pietermaritzburg.
Cunningham, A.B. 1991. The herbal medicine trade: resource depletion and environmental management for a 'hidden economy'. In: E. Preston-Whyte and C. Rogerson (eds.), South Africa's Informal Economy (pp. 196-206), Oxford University Press, Cape Town.
Hyde, M.A. and Wursten, B. 2008. Flora of Zimbabwe: Tridactyle tridentata. www.zimbabweflora.co.zw. Downloaded on 15 January 2008.
Jordaan, M. and Bredenkamp, C.L. 2009. Thymelaeaceae: The true identity of Synaptolepis kirkii. Bothalia 39(1):104-106.
Peterson, B. 1978. Thymeleaceae. In: R.M. Polhill (ed). Flora of Tropical East Africa:1-37. Crown Agents for Oversea Governments and Administrators, London.
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.
Scott-Shaw, C.R. 1999. Rare and threatened plants of KwaZulu-Natal and neighbouring regions. KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conservation Service, Pietermaritzburg.
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.
Wright, C.H. 1925. Thymelaeaceae. In: W.T. Thiselton-Dyer (ed). Flora Capensis V Section II (Thymeleaceae-Ceratophylleae):1-81. L. Reeve & Co., Ltd., Ashford.
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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. 2022. Synaptolepis oliveriana Gilg. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version . Accessed on 2025/05/23 |
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