Stellenbosch University Botanical Garden, South Africa

Common name: Strydom's yam

Family: Dioscoreaceae (Yam)

Distribution: Mpumalanga

Habitat: Open grassland, serpentine soils, rocky steep slopes.

National red list: Critically Endangered

Life form: Geophyte (bulb, corm or tuber - seasonally dormant)

Comments: A wild yam endemic to Mpumalanga, South Africa, this species is one of the 100 most threatened species in the world. There is only one known population left which is still declining as a result of unsustainable harvesting for medicinal purposes. This is a very slow-growing species and it's survival therefore depends on the long-term survival of individual plants. Currently the Lowland National Botanical Garden and Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden are developing methods of cultivation which would hopefully lead to reintroduction.