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Scientific Name | Leucadendron immoderatum Rourke |
Higher Classification | Dicotyledons |
Family | PROTEACEAE |
Common Names | Climax Conebush (e), Lollipop Conebush (e) |
National Status |
Status and Criteria | Critically Endangered B1ac(iv)+2ac(iv); D |
Assessment Date | 2020/06/04 |
Assessor(s) | A.G. Rebelo & D. Raimondo |
Justification | A highly restricted species known from one population on the slopes of the Riviersonderend Mountains in South Africa. Known from one stand of plants occupying an area of 50 m² this species has an extent of occurrence (EOO) and an area of occupancy (AOO) of 4 km². Fewer than fifty mature individuals are suspected to be extant, and this species has a life-history where fire-related fluctuations in number of mature individuals occur in one small population at one location. It therefore qualifies for listing as Critically Endangered under criterion B and D. |
Distribution |
Endemism | South African endemic |
Provincial distribution | Western Cape |
Range | It is restricted to the northern slopes of the Olifantsberg, on the Riviersonderend Mountains in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. |
Habitat and Ecology |
Major system | Terrestrial |
Major habitats | North Sonderend Sandstone Fynbos |
Description | This species is found in mesic montane fynbos at about 1300 m.a.s.l. Mature individuals are killed by fires, and only seeds survive. Seeds are stored in fire-resistant inflorescences, and released after fires. It is dioecious, with insect-pollinated male and female flowers occurring on separate plants. This species is interesting in that it has both mature and immature plants present simultaneously in the population, this is unusual and the significance of this is unknown as the phenomenon is not known elsewhere in serotinous, obligate reseeder Fynbos plants where all plants within a fire location are usually of the same post-fire cohort and highly synchronised with regard to first flowering and growth stages. |
Threats |
| As a serotinous species whose seeds remain stored in fire-resistant inflorescences between fires, it is vulnerable to short fire return intervals as it is unlikely to have a soil stored seedbank. A number of short succession fires have come close to burning this only known population. Furthermore it is potentially threatened by invasive alien plants which are rapidly spreading throughout the Riviersonderend Mountains. |
Population |
Known from a single locality, about 30 plants (14 adults, 16 immature) were recorded in 2001. The population survived the fires of 2000 and 2004, both of which got to within 100 m of the locality: had both fires extended into the patch it would have been extinct. The population was monitored in 2011 and was still extant with fewer than 40 mature individuals, it burnt in 2012 in a natural fire started by lightening. While the population has not since been monitored it is suspected to still be extant and to have fewer than 50 mature individuals.
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Population trend | Unknown |
Conservation |
| It occurs in the Riviersonderend Nature Reserve. |
Assessment History |
Taxon assessed |
Status and Criteria |
Citation/Red List version | | Leucadendron immoderatum Rourke | CR B1ac(iv)+2ac(iv); D | Raimondo et al. (2009) | |
Bibliography |
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.
Rourke, J.P. 2005. Proteaceae: A new Leucadendron (Proteaceae) from Western Cape, South Africa. Bothalia 35(1):63-92.
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Citation |
| Rebelo, A.G. & Raimondo, D. 2020. Leucadendron immoderatum Rourke. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version . Accessed on 2025/05/19 |
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