''Ardisia koupensis'' is a species of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

in the family

Primulaceae The Primulaceae , commonly known as the primrose family (but not related to the Onagraceae, evening primrose family), are a family (biology), family of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous and woody flowering plants including some favourite garden plants ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is subtropical or tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

. In 1979 a single specimen of ''Ardisia koupensis'' was collected from the western slopes of

Mount Kupe Mount Kupe or Mont Koupé is a plutonic mountain in the Western High Plateau of Cameroon, part of the Cameroon line of volcanoes. It is the highest of the Bakossi mountains, rising to . The mountain is revered by the local Bakossi people The Ba ...

, just above

Mbule Mbule or Mbulle is a small community in Cameroon, to the north of Tombel in the Southwest Region, on the slopes of Mount Kupe. Conflict On 31 December 1966 a Land Rover was attacked by unknown perpetrators while near Mbule. Four passengers wer ...

. Since then, two other locations have been found on the mountain above Kupe village. The plant, which grows in the understorey of mid-altitude to submontane closed canopy forest, was on the 2010

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

of Threatened Species, classified as Endangered.

References

koupensis Endemic flora of Cameroon Endangered flora of Africa Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Primulaceae-stub