Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden, South Africa

Common name: Wolkbergdrakeboom, Wolkberg dragon tree

Family: Asparagaceae subfam. Nolinoideae

Distribution: Limpopo: Wolkberg to Ohrigstad.

Habitat: Savannah quartzite or dolomite soils, sometimes in deep rock cracks. Hot and dry exposed slopes with deciduous woodland, or in light shade in evergreen woodland on mountain slopes, 750-1000 m.

National red list: Rare

Life form: Evergreen shrub / sub-shrub

Comments: Endemic to the dolomites of the Olifants River Valley near Penge, in Limpopo Province, and adjacent Wolkberg. Near Penge, the plants grow in dry Poung Dolomite Mountain Bushveld, which forms part of the Central Mountain Bushveld (Mucina et al. 2005) on steep slopes and kloofs, often in full sun or light shade. They share their habitat with other bushveld plants such as Croton gratissimus, Aloe marlothii, Ruttya ovata, Crassula expansa subsp. fragilis, Euphorbia excelsa, E. grandialata and E. lydenburgensis, Plectranthus dolomiticus, P. montanus and P. hadiensis, Dombeya autumnalis, Encephalartos inopinus, Sterculia rogersii, Gasteria batesiana and Portulacaria afra. The climate is hot in summer, with only light frost in winter. Rainfall in the region is about 400–650 mm per annum, mostly in summer.