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Scientific Name | Miraglossum laeve Kupicha |
Higher Classification | Dicotyledons |
Family | APOCYNACEAE |
National Status |
Status and Criteria | Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct) |
Assessment Date | 2014/10/01 |
Assessor(s) | M.M.P. Mogale, S.P. Bester & L. von Staden |
Justification | A rare and very poorly known species, last collected in 1960. Dedicated searches have thus far failed to relocate it, and is possibly already extinct due to habitat loss and degradation. |
Distribution |
Endemism | South African endemic |
Provincial distribution | Gauteng, North West |
Range | Hills south of Pretoria and the Vredefort Dome north-east of Parys. |
Habitat and Ecology |
Major system | Terrestrial |
Major habitats | Gold Reef Mountain Bushveld, Gauteng Shale Mountain Bushveld |
Description | Hills in Gold Reef Mountain Bushveld and possibly Gauteng Shale Mountain Bushveld. |
Threats |
| Habitat loss and degradation due to urban expansion is a severe threat across Gauteng, and very little natural areas remain. Efforts have been made to limit development on ridges, but these natural areas are now becoming increasingly isolated, and continue to be degraded due to fire exclusion and encroachment of alien invasive plants. |
Population |
Miraglossum laeve is a very rare and poorly known species. It has been collected twice only: first in 1930, from hills south of Pretoria, and again in 1960, from the hills of the Vredefort Dome north-east of Parys, a disjunction of about 130 km. Despite dedicated searches, this species has not been found again (S.P. Bester pers. comm.). The 1960 collection has a fairly precise locality description, which indicates that it occurs in Gold Reef Mountain Bushveld, a vegetation type with a limited distribution on the rocky ridges of Gauteng and adjacent areas in North West Province. The older collection's locality description is too imprecise to determine its habitat, but hills to the south of Pretoria also has another limited vegetation type on them, Gauteng Shale Mountain Bushveld, which is found on three ridges across Gauteng Province, and also extending somewhat into North West Province. It is therefore likely that this species is a rare, localized endemic of ridges in Gauteng Province.
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Population trend | Unknown |
Assessment History |
Taxon assessed |
Status and Criteria |
Citation/Red List version | | Miraglossum laeve Kupicha | Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct) | 2015.1 | | Miraglossum laeve Kupicha | Threatened | Raimondo et al. (2009) | |
Bibliography |
Hahn, N. 2013. Rare, endangered and endemic flora of the North West Province. Unpublished Report to the Department of Economic Development, Conservation and Tourism, North West Provincial Government.
Kupicha, F.K. 1984. Studies on African Asclepiadaceae. Kew Bulletin 38(4):599-672.
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.
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Citation |
| Mogale, M.M.P., Bester, S.P. & von Staden, L. 2014. Miraglossum laeve Kupicha. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version . Accessed on 2025/05/16 |
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