IUCN Species Information Service (SIS) Toolkit
Assessment Report

Taxonomy
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
PLANTAE TRACHEOPHYTA LILIOPSIDA ASPARAGALES IRIDACEAE
Scientific Name: Hesperantha umbricola
Species Authority: Goldblatt
Common Name/s:
-
Synonym/s: -
Taxonomic Notes: -
Assessment Information
Red List Category & Criteria: Critically Endangered B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii)
Year Assessed: 2023
Assessor/s: Braun, K.
Reviewer/s: Raimondo, D. & Mhlongo, N.
Contributor/s:
Facilitator/s:
Institutions/s:
Justification:
This species is only known from one specimen collected in 1982, and the locality has since been transformed.  It is however possible that the plant might still occur at other localities nearby, as there are remaining areas with a similar habitat.  Because of this, the species has been assessed as Critically Endangered possibly extinct under criterion B.
History: -
Geographic Range
Range Description: Known from Mbabane in Eswatini.
Countries: Native:
Eswatini;
Population
Population: This species is only known from one herbarium collection made by Goldblatt in 1982 there were no notes made on the population size.
Population Trend: Unknown
Habitat and Ecology
Habitat and Ecology: This plant was collected in deep shade under a large boulder, growing with Dietes and Streptocarpus, on a rocky hillside above the centre of Mbabane.  The plant was found in the grassland biome, in vegetation type KaNgwane Montane Grassland (Gm16) (Mucina et. al. 2018).
List of Habitats: 4 Grassland
4.7 Grassland - Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude
Threats
Major Threat(s): This species is only known from one locality within the urban area, which was transformed by highway construction.   Similar localities of this habitat do occur in the area, but are also at risk from further urban development.
List of Threats: 1 Residential & commercial development
1.1 Housing & urban areas
Conservation Actions
Conservation Actions: In spite of the loss of habitat from the one known locality for this species, it is possible that it still occurs within the general area.  There is currently no formal conservation for this habitat in the Mbabane area, but establishment of small flora reserves within the Mbabane urban area could potentially protect the habitat for this species.
List of Conservation Actions: 1 Land/water protection
1.2 Resource & habitat protection
3 Species management
3.4 Ex-situ conservation
3.4.2 Genome resource bank
Bibliography
  Bachman, S., Moat, J., Hill, A.W., de la Torre, J. and Scott, B. 2011. Supporting Red List threat assessments with GeoCAT geospatial conservation tool. In: Smith V, Penev L (Eds) e-Infrastructure for data publishing in biodiversity science. . ZooKeys 150: 117-126.
Mucina, L., Rutherford, M.C. and Powrie, L.W. (Editors). 2018. The Vegetation Map of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. South African National Biodiversity Institute. Available at: http://bgis.sanbi.org/Projects/Detail/186.
Citation: -