Taxon name
Seddera latifolia
Hochst. & Steud.
Uploaded by
National Red List Database
Taxonomic information
Scientific name
Seddera latifolia
Hochst. & Steud.
Assessed taxon level
Species
Higher level taxonomic groupings
Plants
Flowering Plants
Species authority
Hochst. & Steud.
Location and scope
Specific locality or subnational name or regional name
United Arab Emirates (the)
Scope (of the Assessment)
National
Countries included within the scope of the assessment
United Arab Emirates (the)
Does the assessment cover a marine EEZ area(s)?
Not_assigned
Conservation Status
Assessed as
Data Deficient
Criteria system used
IUCN
(see Assessment details)
Assessment rationale/justification
Only three records of this species have been found for the UAE. An isotype specimen was collected in 1844 in the UAE (locality not known, but assumed to be the Hajar Mountains). A second record, from the Hatta region, is from 1986. The final, most recent, record from 2004-5 is from Qurayyah on the east coast in Fujairah, and is assumed to have been destroyed by development. Confirmation of the continued presence, distribution and population status of this species is needed, and at present it is assessed as Data Deficient.
Assessment details
Assessors/contributors/reviewers listed
UAE National Red List Workshop
Criteria system used
IUCN
Reference for methods given
IUCN. 2012. IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1, Second edition. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. iv + 32pp pp. And IUCN. 2012. Guidelines for Application of IUCN Red List Criteria at Regional and National Levels: Version 4.0. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. iii + 41pp.
Further information
Endemism (according to assessment)
Endemic to region
Not assigned
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
Only three records of this species have been found for the UAE. An isotype was collected ""in the mountains"" in the UAE (presumably the Hajar Mountains) by Schimper in 1844 (held at <a href=""https://www.europeana.eu/portal/en/record/11601/_HERBARW_NHMV_AUSTRIA_87887.html"">Natural History Museum, Vienna - Herbarium W</a>). G.R. Feulner (in litt, MEW 2010) collected the species in 2004-5 from cemented dune sands at the mountain front adjacent to the Qurayyah wetland: an artificial wetland near the base of cliffs on the coastal plain north of Fujairah created by sewage dumping that has since been destroyed by development (Feulner 2016, G.R. Feulner pers. comm. 2019). Demissew and Mill (2009) reviewed a specimen from Hatta (hills and foothills, 300 m asl; specimen collected in 1986 and voucher held at <a href=""http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00421795"">RBG Edinburgh</a>). This species has a wide native range from the Sahara to Tanzania in Africa, through the Arabian Peninsula, to north-west India (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Not possible
Habitat and systems
Ecological system type
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
Demissew and Mill (2009) give the general habitat as open Acacia woodland: sparse vegetation cover with Acacia, Maerua and Euphorbia species on stony ground, rocky slopes on limestone, basalt granite or shale, extending from sea level to 1,500 (- 2,000) m elevation. In the UAE, the Hatta specimen was collected from limestone foothills/hills, whilst the coastal specimen was collected from an artificial wetland created by sewage dumping at the base of cliffs. The plant is a low, bushy under-shrub, usually found on open rocky slopes (Kumar and Purohit 2015).
Threats and conservation measures listed
Threats listed in assessment
Ongoing development is thought to have destroyed at least one site. Nothing is known of threats at the site near Hatta.
Publication
Allen, D.J., Westrip, J.R.S., Puttick, A., Harding, K.A., Hilton-Taylor, C. and Ali, H. 2021. UAE National Red List of Vascular Plants. Technical Report. Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, United Arab Emirates, Dubai.
