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Scientific Name | Skiatophytum flaccidifolium Klak |
Higher Classification | Dicotyledons |
Family | AIZOACEAE |
Synonyms | Saphesia flaccida of other authors, not of (Jacq.) N.E.Br. (misapplied name) |
National Status |
Status and Criteria | Critically Endangered B2ab(ii,iii,iv,v) |
Assessment Date | 2016/11/03 |
Assessor(s) | C. Klak, D. Raimondo & L. von Staden |
Justification | Two small, severely fragmented subpopulations remain on isolated habitat remnants (AOO <10 km²) after >50% of known subpopulations were lost to alien plant invasion, crop cultivation and urban development. It continues to decline due to ongoing habitat loss to rooibos tea cultivation and alien plant invasion. |
Distribution |
Endemism | South African endemic |
Provincial distribution | Western Cape |
Range | Graafwater to Malmesbury. |
Habitat and Ecology |
Major system | Terrestrial |
Major habitats | Atlantis Sand Fynbos, Leipoldtville Sand Fynbos |
Description | Lowland sand fynbos, in seasonally wet depressions. |
Threats |
| This species has declined due to extensive habitat loss to crop cultivation, and habitat loss continues in the sandveld. One remaining subpopulation near Darling is threatened by competition from alien invasive plants. Efforts to clear alien plants have been made, but after a recent fire, there has been extensive regeneration of invasive species from soil-stored seed banks, and more follow-up clearing is required to prevent reinvasion. |
Population |
This species is extremely rare, and is known historically from only a few collections from the area between Darling and Philadelphia. One subpopulation is known to remain in a small nature reserve, and recently a few more plants were found on a private property adjacent to the nature reserve. This subpopulation consists of less than 100 mature individuals. A second subpopulation of less than 50 mature individuals is known from the base of Paardeberg about 23 km to the south-east. Both subpopulations are small, occur on isolated remnants and the population is therefore considered to be severely fragmented. It was also recorded once from deep sandy soils near Redelinghuys, about 120 km further north. Most of the sand fynbos on this farm has been ploughed for rooibos tea and potato cultivation, and it is not certain whether the subpopulation survives. It was last recorded in 1984. This species may occur in similar, deep sandy soils in intervening areas, but very little sand fynbos remains intact due to rapid recent expansion of crop cultivation in the sandveld. The area is also botanically fairly well explored, and it is therefore unlikely that many other unrecorded subpopulations exist.
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Population trend | Decreasing |
Notes |
| Recent taxonomic study (Klak et al. 2015) revealed that collections of this species were previously erroneously referred to as Saphesia flaccida (Jacq.) N.E.Br., and that it is in fact an unnamed species. True Saphesia flaccida (Jacq.) N.E.Br. is very poorly known. No known wild populations can be confidently matched to the original illustration of this species, and it is considered insufficiently known (Klak et al. 2015). |
Assessment History |
Taxon assessed |
Status and Criteria |
Citation/Red List version | | Skiatophytum flaccidifolium Klak | CR B2ab(ii,iii,iv,v) | 2017.1 | | Saphesia flaccida (Jacq.) N.E.Br. | CR B2ab(ii,iii,iv,v) | Raimondo et al. (2009) | | Saphesia flaccida (Jacq.) N.E.Br. | Endangered | Hilton-Taylor (1996) | | Saphesia flaccida (Jacq.) N.E.Br. | Endangered | Hall et al. (1980) | |
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.
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.
Klak, C., Haná?ek, P. and Bruyns, P.V. 2015. A phylogeny and revised classification for the Apatesieae (Aizoaceae: Ruschioideae) with a comparison of centres of diversity. Taxon 64(3):507-522.
Manning, J.C. and Goldblatt, P. 2012. Plants of the Greater Cape Floristic Region 1: The Core Cape Flora. Strelitzia 29. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria.
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 |
| Klak, C., Raimondo, D. & von Staden, L. 2016. Skiatophytum flaccidifolium Klak. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version . Accessed on 2025/04/14 |
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