Key to the species accounts Species and infraspecific taxa are arranged alphabetically by family, genus, and species to facilitate easy lookup. Where available, synonyms are also included. Note that families are listed alphabetically, regardless of whether they are dicotyle- dons or monocotyledons. Endemic and protected species are identified by the following icons: C1 CITES Appendix I C2 CITES Appendix II E Endemic taxon P Protected under Nature Conservation Ordinance 4 of 1975 Status The conservation status is indicated by the following abbreviations: CR Critically Endangered EN Endangered LC Least Concern NT Near Threatened R Rare VU Vulnerable Description Description of the growth form and major distinguishing characters of each taxon. Rationale Brief explanation of the reasons for listing and the factors that contributed to a particular assessment. Habitat Short description of habitat and altitude (in metres) where taxon may be expected to occur. Threats List of the main factors that threaten the taxon with extinction in Namibia. Additional notes Other important information. Where available, common names are included in this section. Red Data Book of Namibian Plants i Red Data Book of Namibian Plants Sonja Loots 2005 Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 38 ii Red Data Book of Namibian Plants Citation LOOTS S. 2005. Red Data Book of Namibian plants. Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 38. SABONET, Pretoria and Windhoek. Address for Correspondence National Botanical Research Institute Private Bag 13184 Windhoek NAMIBIA Tel: +264 61 2022013 Fax: +264 61 258153 E-mail: [email protected] Issued by The Project Coordinator Southern African Botanical Diversity Network c/o National Botanical Institute Private Bag X101 Pretoria 0001 SOUTH AFRICA Printed in 2005 in the Republic of South Africa by Capture Press, Pretoria, (27) 12 349-1802 ISBN 1-919976-16-7 © SABONET. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the permission of the copyright holder. The SABONET Project Coordinator and the Author (addresses above) would appreciate each receiving a copy of any publication that uses this report as a source. Scientific editor: Janine E. Victor Subeditor: Hanlie van Heerden Text design and layout: Antoinette Burkhardt Cover design: Antoinette Burkhardt, Pretoria, South Africa (27) 82 888-8438. Front cover: TOP, L–R: Namibia cinerea (Photo: C. Mannheimer), Aloe pachygaster (Photo: G. Owen-Smith), Aloe pearsonii (Photo: W. Giess). MIDDLE, L–R: Hoodia ruschii (Photo: P.V. Bruyns), Aloe pillansii (Photo: H. Dauth), Australluma peschii (Photo: P. V. Bruyns), Babiana namaquensis (Photo: C. Mannheimer). BOTTOM, L–R: Ansellia africana (Photo: H. zur Strassen), Crassula mesembrianthemopsis (Photo: H. Kolberg). Back cover: TOP: Crinum paludosum (Photo: W. Giess). BOTTOM, L–R: View from the Aurus Mountain in the Sperrgebiet (Photo: W. Giess), Sesamothamnus sp. (Photo: B. Curtis). SABONET website: www.sabonet.org This report is a joint product of the National Botanical Research Institute of Namibia and the Southern African Botanical Diversity Network (SABONET). The support provided by the Global Environment Facility (GEF)/United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/World Conservation Union-Regional Office for southern Africa (IUCN-ROSA) (Plot no. 14818 Lebatlane Road, Gaborone West, Extension 6 Gaborone, Botswana) made this report possible under the terms of Grant No. 690-0283-A-00-5950. SABONET is a GEF Project implemented by the UNDP and co-funded by USAID/IUCN ROSA. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the GEF/UNDP, the SABONET Steering Committee or SABONET National Working Groups. Red Data Book of Namibian Plants iii Contents Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................................................... iv Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................1 History of the plant RDL in Namibia ...................................................................................................................1 Future RDL endeavours .........................................................................................................................................1 Methods ...........................................................................................................................................................................2 Important literature, herbarium collections, data sources and software used ..............................................2 Changes in assessments of taxa on the Red Data List .......................................................................................2 Organisation of information ..................................................................................................................................3 Results ..............................................................................................................................................................................4 Discussion ........................................................................................................................................................................7 Conclusion and recommendations ..............................................................................................................................8 IUCN Red List Categories version 3.1. (2001) ...........................................................................................................9 Icons and Abbreviations ..............................................................................................................................................10 Individual taxon accounts........................................................................................................................................... 11 Glossary .......................................................................................................................................................................108 References .................................................................................................................................................................... 111 Appendix 1: IUCN Red List Criteria and Definitions .......................................................................................... 116 Appendix 2: List of Data Deficient (DD) taxa ........................................................................................................120 Index to genera and species ......................................................................................................................................123 iv Red Data Book of Namibian Plants Acknowledgements I am grateful to the SABONET Project for the financial support in publishing this book and for courses offered in the use of the Red List classification system. The contribution of this project towards the Namibian Red List (RL) has been invaluable. The support for this work and financial contribution towards this project by the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development of the Government of Namibia, as well as their continued support for the work of the NBRI, are acknowledged with gratitude. Herta Kolberg was the patient mentor without whom I would not have embarked on such an endeavour. Her long list of contributions to this work includes reviewing several drafts of the manuscript, offering advice on many occasions, providing photographs, producing the Arc View maps, helping to fine-tune translations from FSWA, and contributing to field assessments of a number of taxa. Coleen Mannheimer provided many photographs, contributed greatly to the assessments of the Mesembryanthemaceae, reviewed the manuscript, identified many Red List voucher specimens, and helped with field assessments. She also contributed the drawing of a mesemb capsule. Gillian Maggs-Kölling reviewed the manuscript and very kindly assisted in ensuring that descriptions were con- sistent. She acted as the most important link to SABONET. Janine Victor kindly agreed to be the external reviewer. Apart from reviewing and editing the manuscript, she evaluated all the assessments on RAMAS and gave invaluable advice on using the IUCN classification system correctly, thereby helping to improve my assessment skills. Sonja Schubert generously produced the MAPPIT distribution maps. She also translated many keys and descrip- tions from FSWA and other German literature. Silke Rügheimer provided many photographs and contributed to assessments for a number of taxa. She reviewed the Apocynaceae, Crassulaceae, and geophytes and identified many Red Data voucher specimens. Patricia Craven headed the Threatened Plants Programme of the NBRI for a long time. The dossiers of threatened plants that she had compiled over many years were used as a starting point for this work. Salome Kruger assisted in finding photographs and ordered important literature. John Irish provided countless QDS references for remote localities from his gazetteer, which could not be obtained otherwise. This has increased the accuracy of many distribution maps. Janice Golding reviewed parts of the manuscript. Barbara Curtis reviewed the trees,