|
Scientific Name | Wahlenbergia pyrophila Lammers |
Higher Classification | Dicotyledons |
Family | CAMPANULACEAE |
Synonyms | Lightfootia tenuis Adamson |
National Status |
Status and Criteria | Critically Endangered B1ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v)+2ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v) |
Assessment Date | 2015/05/11 |
Assessor(s) | N.A. Helme, D. van der Colff & L. von Staden |
Justification | EOO and AOO of less than 5 km². This species has not been collected recently and it is depended on fire to flower. It possibly still survives within the Table Mountain National Park, however it is threatened by competition from invasive alien plants and potentially threatened by inappropriate fire cycles. |
Distribution |
Endemism | South African endemic |
Provincial distribution | Western Cape |
Range | Cape Peninsula between Simon's Town and Glencairn. |
Habitat and Ecology |
Major system | Terrestrial |
Major habitats | Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos |
Description | Damp, peaty sandy flats in valleys. |
Threats |
| Historical records of this species have rather vague locality descriptions, and it is therefore difficult to determine threats. It has possibly lost habitat to urban expansion, and its wetland habitat may have been disturbed as a result of dam construction. The area west of Red Hill is also infested with alien invasive plants, and although efforts were made to clear alien invasive plants on the Cape Peninsula, ongoing clearing and management is required to prevent reinvasion. |
Population |
This species was last recorded in the 1950s from a small area on the Cape Peninsula. It was collected after a fire, and may be dependent on fire for regeneration and flowering. It is a small and cryptic species and easily overlooked, but the Cape Peninsula is also one of the botanically best explored areas of South Africa, and the lack of recent records for this species is concerning. Its probable habitat is quite degraded, but some of it remains relatively intact, and it is possible that dedicated searches could still relocate it.
|
Population trend | Decreasing |
Assessment History |
Taxon assessed |
Status and Criteria |
Citation/Red List version | | Wahlenbergia pyrophila Lammers | CR B1ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v)+2ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v) | 2015.1 | | Wahlenbergia pyrophila Lammers | Least Concern | Raimondo et al. (2009) | |
Bibliography |
Adamson, R.S. 1955. The South African species of Lightfootia. Journal of South African Botany 21:156-211.
Goldblatt, P. and Manning, J.C. 2000. Cape Plants: A conspectus of the Cape Flora of South Africa. Strelitzia 9. National Botanical Institute, Cape Town.
Helme, N.A. and Trinder-Smith, T.H. 2006. The endemic flora of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa. South African Journal of Botany 72(2):205-210.
Lammers, T.G. 1995. Transfer of the Southern African Species of Lightfootia, nom. illeg., to Wahlenbergia (Campanulaceae, Campanuloideae). Taxon 44(3):333-339.
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.
|
Citation |
| Helme, N.A., van der Colff, D. & von Staden, L. 2015. Wahlenbergia pyrophila Lammers. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version . Accessed on 2025/05/09 |
Comment on this assessment
