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Scientific Name | Encephalartos latifrons Lehm. |
Higher Classification | Gymnosperms |
Family | ZAMIACEAE |
Common Names | Albany Cycad (e), Albany-broodboom (a), Broodboom (a), Cycad (e), Kafferbrood (a), Kafferbroodboom (a) |
National Status |
Status and Criteria | Critically Endangered A2acd; C1+2a(i) |
Assessment Date | 2020/06/06 |
Assessor(s) | J.D. Bösenberg & J.S. Donaldson |
Justification | This species is assessed as Critically Endangered. Past estimates of population size were ~40 mature plants but detailed surveys between 2015 and 2020 have recorded 70 mature plants. Based on plants in collections and studies of matched photographs, the population has declined by >90% over the past 100 years, which represents two or three generations for this very slow growing species. |
Distribution |
Endemism | South African endemic |
Provincial distribution | Eastern Cape |
Range | It occurs in South Africa in the biodiversity hotspot region known as the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany hotspot, which is an important centre of plant endemism. A recent study has mapped out all historic records of subpopulations and modelled the expected distribution range showing that the species is restricted to quartzitic soils in the Albany and Bathurst districts of the Eastern Cape Province. This scattered distribution follows the quartzite ridges and their habitat is naturally widely spaced within the landscape (Swart et al. 2019). The altitude at which the plants are found varies between 200 and 600 m. |
Habitat and Ecology |
Major system | Terrestrial |
Major habitats | Suurberg Quartzite Fynbos, Grahamstown Grassland Thicket |
Description | The plants grow on rocky outcrops and hill slopes, usually amongst scrub bush vegetation, but also in open grassland. They also occur along dry river courses. The distribution area of Encephalartos latifrons occurs predominantly in Suurberg Quartzite Fynbos and modelling of plant distributions shows a strong association with soils from the Witpoort formation.
The annual rainfall varies between 600 and 1,250 mm and is fairly evenly distributed during the year, however, a summer peak usually occurs. Frost does not normally occur. The summers may be hot and fairly dry. |
Threats |
| It now occurs in areas where the predominant land uses are cultivation (pineapples and chicory) as well as stock farming. The impact of land use on E. latifrons is difficult to assess, but the early reports of Pearson (unpublished letters) and Chamberlain (1919) imply that at least some habitat was lost as a result of agricultural activity. Repeat photography, using photographs first taken between 1906 and 1945, indicated that all the plants occurring at seven different sites had disappeared by 1996 (Donaldson and Bösenberg 1999). However, this cannot be attributed directly to land use as, in most cases, the areas in which the plants occurred were neither ploughed nor cleared.
Trade in cycads is currently the greatest threat and probably explains the decline observed in the repeat photography study. The removal of relatively large numbers of plants by collectors has been recorded with some plants recovered by law enforcement and conservation agencies. The demand for wild collected plants remains high because E. latifrons is regarded as scarce and it is one of the most highly valued species in the cycad trade.
Population modelling of other species of Encephalartos (Raimondo and Donaldson 2003) showed that species such as E. latifrons are extremely sensitive to the removal of adult plants because population persistence over long periods relies on adult survival and not seedling recruitment. As a result, the species is very vulnerable to trade in mature plants.
It also seems likely that the natural pollinators are extinct. No natural seed set has been recorded in recent years and the current cohort of adult plants indicates that the last recruitment event was more than 50 years ago. |
Population |
The current wild population is estimated at 70 mature individuals based on recent surveys as part of a PhD study (Swart 2019) and additional surveys to collect DNA material in 2020. This includes plants not previously captured in surveys such as those carried out to gather DNA material, where fewer than 60 plants were recorded in the wild (Da Silva et al. 2012).
A study of the conservation genetics of both in situ and ex situ subpopulations of Encephalartos latifrons (Da Silva et al. 2012) showed that there is relatively little variation between subpopulations suggesting that all the remaining plants belong to what was once a single large population with relatively high levels of geneflow between subpopulations. The study also showed that there is a high level of genetic variation within the remaining population (high proportions of polymorphic loci, moderate to high Nei’s and Shannon’s diversity indices, as well as moderate levels of heterozygosity). This is greater than in many other cycad species where there tends to be low genetic variation within populations.
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Population trend | Decreasing |
Conservation |
| Introduced to two nature reserves, one as seedlings and the other as mature plants that were confiscated from collectors. |
Assessment History |
Taxon assessed |
Status and Criteria |
Citation/Red List version | | Encephalartos latifrons Lehm. | CR A2ad; B2ab(ii,iii,v); C1+2a(i) | Raimondo et al. (2009) | | Encephalartos latifrons Lehm. | Endangered | Hilton-Taylor (1996) | | Encephalartos latifrons Lehm. | Endangered | Hall et al. (1980) | |
Bibliography |
Donaldson, J.S. 2003. Cycads. Status survey and conservation action plan. IUCN/SSC Cycad Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland; Cambridge, UK.
Donaldson, J.S. and Bösenberg, J.D. 1999. In: C.-J. Chen (ed), Changes in the abundance of South African cycads during the 20th century: preliminary data from the study of matched photographs. Paper presented at the 4th International Conference on Cycad Biology, Beijing, Academic Publishers.
Goode, D. 1989. Cycads of Africa. Struik/Winchester, Cape Town.
Goode, D. 2001. Cycads of Africa Volume I. D&E Cycads of Africa, Gallo Manor.
Hall, A.V., De Winter, M., De Winter, B. and Van Oosterhout, S.A.M. 1980. Threatened plants of southern Africa. South African National Scienctific Programmes Report 45. CSIR, Pretoria.
Hilton-Taylor, C. 1996. Red data list of southern African plants. Strelitzia 4. South African National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
Kemp, M. 1986. Focus on Encephalartos latifrons. Encephalartos 8:8-15.
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.
Raimondo, D.C. and Donaldson, J.S. 2003. Responses of cycads with different life histories to the impact of plant collecting: simulation models to determine important life history stages and population recovery times. Biological Conservation 111:345-358.
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Citation |
| Bösenberg, J.D. & Donaldson, J.S. 2020. Encephalartos latifrons Lehm. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version . Accessed on 2025/05/19 |
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