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Erica verticillata Berq. (year?)

Cape Flats erica, Whorled heath, Whorl heath

 

 

Taxonomy & Nomenclature

Synonym/s: Erica concinna Sol.

 

Conservation Status

Last record: 1908

Since rediscovered

 

The species was thought to be extinct even in cultivation by 1950, but was rediscovered in 1984 in a Pretorian park. Several cultivars of this species were registered in 2012. (Hitchcock & Rebelo, 2017).

 

Distribution

Cape Flats, Western Cape Province, South Africa

 

Biology & Ecology

 

 

Hypodigm

 

 

Media

Above: photo by Abu Shawka in 2011. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

 

References

Argus. (2006). Rondevlei boosts new species thought to be extinct. Fynbos sanctuary plants new attitudes in residents, 16 August, p. 8.

Bolus, H., Guthrie, F. and Brown, N. E. (1909). Ericaceae. In: W.T. Thiselton-Dyer (ed). Flora Capensis IV Section I (Vacciniaceae to Gentianeae): 2-418. Lovell Reeve & Co., Ltd., London.

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.

Grobler, A. (ed.) (2013). Erica verticillata Ericaceae. Flowering Plants of Africa 63: 104-119.

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.

Hawkes, J. G., Maxted, N. and Ford-Lloyd, B. V. (2000). Field Gene Banks, Botanic Gardens In Vitro, DNA and Pollen Conservation, pp. 92-107. In: The Ex Situ Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources. Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Helme, N.A. and Trinder-Smith, T.H. 2006. The endemic flora of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa. South African Journal of Botany 72(2):205-210.

HILTON-TAYLOR, C. (1996a). Red Data List of Southern African Plants. Strelitzia, 4. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.

HILTON-TAYLOR, C. (1996b). Threatened Ericaceae in southern Africa. Yearbook of the Heather Society, 7–16.

HITCHCOCK, A. (2003). Erica verticillata is brought back from the brink of extinction. Yearbook of the Heather Society, 45–50.

Hitchcock, Anthony. (2007). The return of Erica verticillata. Veld & Flora 93(1):14-17.

HITCHCOCK, A., COWELL, C. & REBELO, A. (2012). The lost fynbos of Tokai Park. Veld & Flora, 98(1), 30–33.

Hitchcock, A., Cowell, C. and Stauch, M. 2008. Weaving the Golden Circle : Kenilworth Racecourse Conservation Area. Veld & Flora 94(1):31-35.

Hitchcock, Anthony and Rebelo, Anthony G. (2017). The Restoration of Erica verticillata - a Case Study in Species and Habitat Restoration and Implications for the Cape Flora. Sibbaldia 15: 39-63.

Humphreys, Aelys M., Govaerts, Rafaël, Ficinski, Sarah Z., Lughadha, Eimear Nic and Vorontsova, Maria S. (2019). Global dataset shows geography and life form predict modern plant extinction and rediscovery. Nature Ecology & Evolution 3: 1043-1047. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0906-2 [Supplementary Dataset 1]

Le Roux, Johannes J., Hui, C., Castillo, M. L., Iriondo, J. M., Keet, J.-H., Khapugin, A. A., Médail, F., Rejmánek, M., Theron, G. Yannelli, F. A. and Hirsch, H. (2019). Recent Anthropogenic Plant Extinctions Differ in Biodiversity Hotspots and Coldspots. Current Biology 29(17): 2912-2918.e2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.07.063

Oliver, E.G.H. and Oliver, I.M. 2005. The genus Erica (Ericaceae) in southern Africa: taxonomic notes 2. Bothalia 35(2):121-148.

Oliver, E.G.H., Turner, R.C. & Pillay, D. 2012. Erica verticillata P.J.Bergius. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version 2017.1. Accessed on 2017/06/04.

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.

Schumann, D., Kirsten, G. and Oliver, E.G.H. 1992. Ericas of South Africa. Fernwood Press, Cape Town.

Tutin, T.G. & al. (eds.) (1995). Flora Europaea electonic dataset

Walter, Kerry S. and Gillett, Harriet J. (eds.). (1998). 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants. Compiled by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Gland, Switzerland & Cambridge, UK: IUCN – The World Conservation Union. lxiv + 862 pp.

http://www.iol.co.za/scitech/fynbos-species-back-from-brink-of-extinction-1.1812267#.VNCdsp2UdCi

https://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/blue_mountains_botanic_garden/the_garden/blooming_calendar/Erica_verticillata

https://kew.dev.thebureaulondon.com/plant/whorl-heath/

http://pza.sanbi.org/history-loss-and-rediscovery-erica-verticillata

http://www.pas.va/content/accademia/en/publications/scriptavaria/noahs_arks/hitchcock.pdf

http://www.krca.co.za/extinct_erica_verticillata

http://vanishingflora.proboards.com/thread/19/erica-verticillata

https://www.pas.va/en/publications/scripta-varia/sv146pas/hitchcock.html

https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2022-02-05-cape-flats-plant-thought-to-be-extinct-returns-to-cape-town-this-time-likely-to-be-fire-resistant/

 

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