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Scientific Name | Berkheya caffra MacOwan |
Higher Classification | Dicotyledons |
Family | ASTERACEAE |
National Status |
Status and Criteria | Data Deficient - Taxonomically Problematic |
Assessment Date | 2007/05/15 |
Assessor(s) | C.R. Scott-Shaw & L. von Staden |
Justification | Known only from the type collection that was made in 1886 in an area that is now heavily transformed by subsistence farming, overgrazing and forestry plantations, which could potentially threaten this species. The exact locality and habitat is however not known, and there is some uncertainty as to whether it is an aberrant form of Berkheya decurrens. |
Distribution |
Endemism | South African endemic |
Provincial distribution | KwaZulu-Natal |
Range | Clydesdale, southern KwaZulu-Natal. |
Habitat and Ecology |
Major system | Terrestrial |
Major habitats | Grassland |
Description | Unknown, probably mistbelt grassland. |
Threats |
| The Clydesdale area is affected by severe degradation of natural vegetation due to dense rural settlements. Grasslands on lower lying areas have been transformed by subsistence farming as well as severe overgrazing of communal rangelands. On higher slopes grasslands have been transformed to commercial forestry plantations. Although the exact habitat of this species is not known, the extent of transformation in the area where it was collected probably may have had an impact on populations. |
Population |
Population trend | Unknown |
Conservation |
| Not currently conserved in any formally protected area. |
Notes |
| According to Roessler (1959), this species may just be an extreme aberrant form of B. decurrens, a highly variable species occurring in the Eastern Cape, to which this species is morphologically the closest. However, Roessler (1959) also points out some distinct differences between B. decurrens and the type specimen of B. caffra: B. caffra is characterized by the complete absence of tomentose hairs. In stead, it is densely covered in very small glands. The basal leaf shape also differs somewhat in that it is only fairly shallowly sinuate, but barely lobate. |
Assessment History |
Taxon assessed |
Status and Criteria |
Citation/Red List version | | Berkheya caffra MacOwan | Data Deficient (Taxonomically Problematic) | Raimondo et al. (2009) | | Berkheya caffra MacOwan | Data Deficient | Scott-Shaw (1999) | |
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.
Roessler, H. 1959. Revision der Arctotideae-Gorteriinae (Compositae). Mitteilungen der Botanischen Staatssammlung München 3:71-500.
Scott-Shaw, C.R. 1999. Rare and threatened plants of KwaZulu-Natal and neighbouring regions. KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conservation Service, Pietermaritzburg.
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Citation |
| Scott-Shaw, C.R. & von Staden, L. 2007. Berkheya caffra MacOwan. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version . Accessed on 2025/05/09 |
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