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Scientific Name | Wurmbea robusta B.Nord. |
Higher Classification | Monocotyledons |
Family | COLCHICACEAE |
National Status |
Status and Criteria | Critically Endangered B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii) |
Assessment Date | 2012/05/15 |
Assessor(s) | L. von Staden, D.A. Snijman & V. Zikishe |
Justification | Wurmbea robusta is endemic to Critically Endangered Swartland Shale Renosterveld, and occurs in one of the most highly transformed areas of South Africa, where less than 10% of natural vegetation remains in small fragments after the rest has been converted to crop fields for the cultivation of wheat. The species was thought to be extinct after it was not collected for nearly a hundred years, until a subpopulation was rediscovered in 2008 on a 27 hectare fragment where it is threatened by ongoing habitat loss and degradation. |
Distribution |
Endemism | South African endemic |
Provincial distribution | Western Cape |
Range | Previously known only from the area between Piketberg and Moorreesburg, but recently rediscovered at the foot of the Piekenierskloof Pass. |
Habitat and Ecology |
Major system | Terrestrial |
Major habitats | Swartland Shale Renosterveld |
Description | Clays flats in renosterveld. |
Threats |
| Habitat conversion to crop fields has caused nearly 90% habitat loss within this species' distribution range. A single known remaining subpopulation occur in a small, degraded fragment where it is threatened by ongoing habitat loss to crop cultivation, lack of fire, and fertilizer and herbicide runoff from surrounding crop fields. |
Population |
Population trend | Decreasing |
Assessment History |
Taxon assessed |
Status and Criteria |
Citation/Red List version | | Wurmbea robusta B.Nord. | Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct) | 2011.1 | | Wurmbea robusta B.Nord. | Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct) | Raimondo et al. (2009) | |
Bibliography |
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.
Nordenstam, B. 1986. The genus Wurmbea (Colchicaceae) in the Cape region. Opera Botanica 87:1-41.
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 |
| von Staden, L., Snijman, D.A. & Zikishe, V. 2012. Wurmbea robusta B.Nord. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version . Accessed on 2025/05/31 |
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