Abstract:
South Africa’s 800 km-long southern Great Escarpment hosts numerous endemic plant species only
known from their type specimens or from very few records. This is a legacy of a 100–150 year lag between
the pioneer work of 19th century botanists and repeat fieldwork in the 21st century. As a result, population
and ecological data are lacking for many local endemic species. Here we report on the rediscovery
of Lotononis harveyi B.–E.van Wyk 147 years after its original description, and provide the first detailed
ecological notes on the poorly known shrub Macowania revoluta Oliv. Both species are locally endemic to
the Great Winterberg–Amatholes (Eastern Cape Province). With only six known individuals, L. harveyi is
recommended the conservation status of Critically Endangered, with fire (and potentially grazing) being
the main population constraints. Macowania revoluta is locally abundant, and it is surprising that it has
been so poorly collected in recent decades. It occupies an important local niche as a keystone montane
wetland species, and its narrow distribution range – combined with pressure from woody alien invasive
species – suggests that its conservation status should be Rare. The research further highlights the need for
continued biodiversity field research along South Africa’s poorly explored Great Escarpment.
