Favoritos de nishantharvind

Wynberg Conebush - extinct for 200 years

Leucadendron grandiflorum (Salisb.) R.Br. Wynberg Conebush
.
Global Status: EX.
.
Last seen in 1806 in Clapham. No records exist of its ecology, habitat, extent or time of demise, other than that it used to occur on Wynberg Mountain. The area was the location of the earliest colonial farms.
.
Based on its sister species, L. globosum and L. elimense, it probably occurred on the upper south slopes of Wynberg hill on moister granite soils.
.
Because of the feud between Robert Brown and Richard Salisbury at the turn of the 19th Century, Salisbury’s description was incorrectly synonymized and its existence neglected until Ion Williams revised the genus in 1972. During this entire period there are no records alluding to the species, and to this day it is only known from Salisbury’s description and a single drawing of a male plant (shown above: that is it!). Its local date of extinction is thus unknown, and can be anywhere from the turn of the 18th century until recently. However, as it was not collected by collectors in the middle 18th century it was either very rare or extinct by the early 1800s. From the description and drawing there can be no doubt that this is a valid taxon, that it belongs to the Crowned Conebushes, and that its sister species is L. globosum.
.
Considerable confusion was caused by the use of L. grandiflorum for the unrelated Sun Conebushes L. barkerae, L. daphnoides and L. tinctum during the 1900s, and illustrations of Leucadendron sessile that were misidentified as L. grandiflorum in the 1800s. The previous Red List status in 1996 as of uncertain taxonomic status is thus not valid, being partially as a result of this confusion. This confusion persists in the literature today.
A few persons have claimed that it might not be a good species based on a single plant, but Salisbury's description leaves no doubt that at least the male was quite distinct from the other Crown Conebushes. That coupled with the distribution make it highly likely that this was quite a distinct species. One unique feature mentioned was the strong and disagreeable odour, which unfortunately is not adequate to determine if it might have been fly pollinated.
.
It is sadly too late to do anything about this apparently impressive plant. Wynberg Hill is today covered by Bishops Court and Constantia, and either under houses or vineyards. The odds that any undiscovered seedbanks may survive under hedgerows and pine stands is exceedingly small. Road verges and undeveloped erven have been well searched, to no avail.
This must be our earliest documented extinction in South Africa, and perhaps attributable to our Mediterranean love of wine.
.
Illustration from Paradisus Londonensis page 105
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ia/mobot31753000575172#page/248/mode/1up