Assessor: Sarah Schumann
According to the SANBI and IUCN Red List Assessments, this subspecies is Critically Endangered as it is range restricted, threatened by habitat degradation and its known location is popular and accessible for illegal collection for the succulent horticultural trade (Young & von Staden 2016; Young, 2022). There is a very small legal trade in cultivated plants and there are no reports of illegal collection of plants from habitat. The plants are highly range-restricted which renders them susceptible to a rapid decline in number through collection (Young, 2022). Its single location is also close to human habitation. As of 2019, this genus has become popular in trade and there is a high demand from international and domestic horticultural markets for wild collected plants as indicated by media, police reports and several online marketplace, e-commerce, and auction sites (Friedman 2021; Tshuma 2021; Trenchard 2021; Hyman 2020; Young 2020). Plants of this genus and the bolusiae species were among those targeted and confiscated during recent criminal prosecutions of illegal plant collecting (Majikela 2020; Myburgh 2021) (Confiscation Lists (2019-2021) provided by Cape Nature, SANBI Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden, SANBI Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden, SANParks Sendelingsdrift Botanic Garden and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment). This all suggests that this genus is being targeted and that this subspecies is therefore considered to be at high risk of illegal collection (Young, 2022).
Friedman, B. 2021. 24 May 2021. South Africa targeted for rare plant poaching placing biodiversity at risk. Cape Talk. Available at: https://www.capetalk.co.za/articles/417213/south-africa-targeted-for-rare-plant-poaching-placing-biodiversity-at-risk
Hyman, A. 2020. 1 February 2020. Koreans fined R5m as poachers target SA's succulent treasure chest. Times Live. Available at: https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2020-02-01-koreans-fined-r5m-as-poachers-target-sas-succulent-treasure-chest/
Majikela, M. 2020. 31 January 2020. Hefty sentencing for possession of Conophytum plants. Media Statement. South African Police Service Office of the Provincial Commissioner Western Cape. Available at: https://www.saps.gov.za/newsroommsspeechdetail.php?nid=24491
Myburgh, A. 2021. 20 January 2021. Man behind bars for possession of endangered plants (Conophytum). Media Statement South African Police Service, Office of the Provincial Commissioner North West. Available at: https://www.saps.gov.za/newsroom/msspeechdetail.php?nid=24491
Trenchard, T. 2021. 31 July 2021. In South Africa, Poachers Now Traffic in Tiny Succulent Plants. The New York Times. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/31/world/africa/south-africa-poachers-tiny-succulent-plants.html
Tshuma, N. 2021. 20 May 2021. Collectors drive a spike in theft of indigenous plants in the Western Cape. IOL. Available at: https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/news/collectors-drive-a-spike-in-theft-of-indigenous-plants-in-the-western-cape-e120f529-741b-43a7-8454-cb8f69544878
Young, A.J. & von Staden, L. 2016. Conophytum bolusiae Schwantes subsp. primavernum S.A.Hammer. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version 2020.1.
Young, A.J. 2020. Conophytum armianum S.A.Hammer. National Assessment: Red List of South African Plants version 2020.1.
Young A. 2022. (assessment in prep 2022)Conophytum bolusiae subsp. primavernum. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
This taxon is known from a single location, is thought to be locally very abundant with a population size estimated to be several thousand plants (Young, 2022). There is no evidence yet of population decline (Young, 2022).
Young A. 2022. (assessment in prep 2022) Conophytum bolusiae subsp. primavernum. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
This species has a restricted range which makes it vulnerable to population loss (Hammer 2002; Young & Desmet 2016). Regeneration potential for the vast majority of the Conophytum genus is very poor as recruitment is low and dependent on successive, appropriate weather conditions. Seeds are not known to disperse. Regeneration will take decades. (Young, personal communication 2021, 5 October)
Hammer, S. 2002. Dumpling and his wife: New view of the genus Conophytum. EAE Creative Colour, Norwich.
Young, A.J. and Desmet, P.G., 2016. The distribution of the dwarf succulent genus Conophytum NE Br.(Aizoaceae) in southern Africa. Bothalia-African Biodiversity & Conservation, 46(1), pp.1-13.