Taxonomy
Scientific Name
Xerophyta rehmannii Behnke
Higher Classification
Monocotyledons
Family
VELLOZIACEAE
National Status
Status and Criteria
Near Threatened B1ab(iii)
Assessment Date
2014/05/14
Assessor(s)
L. von Staden
Justification
EOO 8298 km², an estimated 10-15 locations continue to decline due to ongoing habitat loss and degradation, particularly due to urban expansion and mining.
Distribution
Endemism
South African endemic
Provincial distribution
Limpopo, Mpumalanga
Range
Polokwane and Tzaneen to Roossenekal.
Habitat and Ecology
Major system
Terrestrial
Major habitats
Sekhukhune Mountain Bushveld, Polokwane Plateau Bushveld, Woodbush Granite Grassland, Sekhukhune Montane Grassland
Description
Crevices on rock sheets and faces.
Threats
In Sekhukhune, this species is threatened predominantly by habitat loss to mining - at least one known location is from a mining site - as well as rapid expansion of rural settlements, and habitat degradation due to overgrazing. East of Polokwane, this species is also threatened by habitat loss to rapid urban expansion. At Woodbush and Pilgrim's Rest, the main threat to plant species is habitat loss to timber plantations, but plantations are unlikely to be established in the shallow, rocky soils this species prefers. It is however vulnerable to competition from unmanaged alien invasive plants spreading from surrounding timber plantations onto its habitat.
Population

This species is locally frequent in suitable habitat (J.E. Burrows pers. comm.). At the type locality the subpopulation is quite small (20-50 plants), but elsewhere subpopulations consist of several hundred plants.


Population trend
Decreasing
Assessment History
Taxon assessed
Status and Criteria
Citation/Red List version
Xerophyta rehmannii BehnkeNT B1ab(iii)2014.1
Bibliography

Behnke, H.D., Hummel, E., Hillmer, S., Sauer-Gürth, H., Gonzalez, J. and Wink, M. 2013. A revision of African Velloziaceae based on leaf anatomy characters and rbcL nucleotide sequences. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 172(1):22-94.


Citation
von Staden, L. 2014. Xerophyta rehmannii Behnke. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version . Accessed on 2025/02/18

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Distribution map

© N.R. Crouch

© N.R. Crouch


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