| Scientific Name | Barleria greenii M.Balkwill & K.Balkwill | Higher Classification | Dicotyledons | Family | ACANTHACEAE | Common Names | Wild Bush Petunia (e) |
National Status | Status and Criteria | Critically Endangered B1ab(ii,iii,iv,v)+2ab(ii,iii,iv,v) | Assessment Date | 2007/05/15 | Assessor(s) | C.R. Scott-Shaw, I.M. Johnson, D. Styles, T. Makholela & L. von Staden | Justification | Restricted to a very small range (EOO 23.3 km²) and highly habitat specific (AOO 1.5 km²). All known populations are threatened by illegal informal settlements and land claims and there is currently continuing decline in at least one population and expected future declines in all others. Subpopulations are severely fragmented due to very short dispersal distances, and there are two to three locations. |
Distribution | Endemism | South African endemic | Provincial distribution | KwaZulu-Natal | Range | Weenen to Estcourt. |
Habitat and Ecology | Major system | Terrestrial | Major habitats | KwaZulu-Natal Highland Thornveld | Description | Savanna, on moderately sloping, north-facing aspects in open, rocky areas with heavy, dense, black clay soils strewn with doleritic rock. It occurs at the interface of grassland and valley bushveld, mostly in, or along the borders of seasonal or perennial streams, drainage lines or boggy areas, 1200-1260 m. |
Threats | | This species was formerly well protected in the Weenen Nature Reserve and the Lowlands East Conservancy, where the habitat was only subjected to very light grazing (Balkwill et al. 1990, Makholela et al. 2003). However, the future prospects of survival for this extremely range restricted endemic has changed drastically within the last few years.
The fences in the Weenen Nature Reserve were taken down and an illegal informal settlement was established inside the reserve, impacting directly on one of the populations (I. Johnson pers. comm.) The pressure of further development of the settlement and increased grazing pressure by livestock brought in by the settlers is likely to continue and will probably eventually impact on the other populations in the reserve as well.
The privately owned farms on which the other populations grow have recently been granted to a local community in a land claim (D. Styles pers. comm. 2007). This is likely to bring about a profound change in the management regime of the vegetation, as communally owned rangelands are normally much more frequently burnt and more heavily grazed (C.R. Scott-Shaw pers. comm.)
This species resprouts after fires, however, young seedlings will not be able to survive frequent burning. This, together with the low seed set and high levels of seed predation will lead to very poor, or no recruitment all (Makholela et al. 2003).
Barleria argillicola (restricted to the same small area as this species) is browsed by goats (Makholela et al. unpubl.), however, it is not known whether B. greenii is grazed, and what the impact of increased grazing pressure on the population will be, other than potentially causing soil erosion in the drainage lines where this species grows. |
Population | Three subpopulations in the Weenen Nature Reserve, one subpopulation is being destroyed by an illegal informal settlement that was recently established right on top of the population (I. Johnson pers. comm. 2007). The other two subpopulations are not yet impacted by the spreading informal settlement, but will probably be in future and, therefore, the Weenen Nature Reserve represents at present two locations. The other farms (Van der Merwe's Kraal, Selbourne and Braakfontein) on which the other five populations occur were formerly privately owned by Mr. Dave Green, but these have all been granted to a local community in a land claim and remains one location as the change in management regime will affect all four subpopulations (C.R. Scott-Shaw pers. comm.).
| Population trend | Decreasing |
Notes | | Perennial shrub which resprouts after fire. |
Assessment History |
Taxon assessed |
Status and Criteria |
Citation/Red List version | | Barleria greenii M.& K.Balkwill | CR B1ab(ii,iii,iv,v)+2ab(ii,iii,iv,v) | Raimondo et al. (2009) | | Barleria greenii M.& K.Balkwill | EN B1B2c | Scott-Shaw (1999) | | Barleria greenii M.& K.Balkwill | Vulnerable | Hilton-Taylor (1996) | |
Bibliography | Abrahams, J. 1993. Barleria greenii: the story of the discovery of a new species. Veld & Flora 79(2):56-57.
Balkwill, K. and Batten, A. 1999. Barleria greenii. Flowering Plants of Africa 56:106-109.
Balkwill, M.-J., Balkwill, K. and Vincent, L.P.D. 1990. Systematic studies in the Acanthaceae: a new species of Barleria from Natal. South African Journal of Botany 56(5):571-576.
Hilton-Taylor, C. 1996. Red data list of southern African plants. Strelitzia 4. South African National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
Makhoela, T., Balkwill, K. and van der Bank, H.F. Unpublished. Allozyme diversity, reproductive biology and conservation in a rare and restricted clonal endemic, Barleria argillicola (Acanthaceae).
Makhoela, T., van der Bank, H. and Balkwill, K. 2003. A preliminary study of allozyme variation in three rare and restricted endemic Barleria greenii (Acanthaceae) populations. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 31:141-154.
Mucina, L. and Rutherford, M.C. (eds). 2006. The vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. Strelitzia 19. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria.
Obermeyer, A.A. 1933. Revision of the South African species of Barleria. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 15(2):123-180.
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.
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Citation | | Scott-Shaw, C.R., Johnson, I.M., Styles, D., Makholela, T. & von Staden, L. 2007. Barleria greenii M.Balkwill & K.Balkwill. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version . Accessed on 2025/05/21 |
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