''Psoralea cataracta'' is a species of
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...
in the family ''
Fabaceae
Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,[International Code of Nomen ...](_blank)
''. It was declared extinct in 2008 in the
Red List of South African Plants, with a single specimen collected from the
Tulbagh Waterfall in 1804. It was rediscovered 200 years later by Brian Du Preez in November of 2019 in the
Winterhoek Mountains near
Tulbagh
Tulbagh (), previously named Roodezand, then Land van Waveren later in 1804 named after Cape of Good Hope Governor Ryk Tulbagh, is a town located in the "Land van Waveren" mountain basin (also known as the Tulbagh basin), in the Cape Winelands ...
.
It is endemic to the
Western Cape
The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...
.
It is also known by the name waterfall fountainbush.
Description
''Psoralea cataracta'' has small purple flowers dangling on long, thread-like flower stalks.
Distribution
''Psoralea cataracta'' is found around the southern slopes of the Winterhoek Mountains in the Tulbagh Valley.
Conservation status
As of the 2022 classification, ''Psoralea cataracta'' is classified as Critically Endangered due to its restricted extent of occurrence and area of occupancy of less than 8 km
2, the threat of alien invasive species such as
Acacia mearnsii
''Acacia mearnsii'', commonly known as black wattle, late black wattle or green wattle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is Endemism, endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is usually an erect tree with smooth bark, Glo ...
and species of
Pinus
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae.
''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as c ...
, and the expansion of farmland in the Winterhoek Mountains.
References
External links
*
Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces
Psoraleeae
{{Faboideae-stub