Influence of land use on populations of the medicinal plant Alepidea amatymbica in the southern Drakensberg

Alepidea amatymbica is a heavily traded medicinal plant species in KwaZulu-Natal facing the threat of local extirpation because harvesting of rhizomes usually results in plant death. Its population status in the southern Drakensberg was compared among conservation, communal and private (variable harvesting pressure) grasslands. Alepidea amatymbica was restricted to rocky slopes of southerly aspect. It was abundant in Coleford Nature Reserve and in adjacent protected private properties but was absent from the immediately adjacent Ndwana communal area, and had nearly been eliminated on other accessible private properties. Harvesting does not appear to be sustainable, but recommendations for sustainable harvesting are thwarted by a lack of basic natural history knowledge.