Orthophytum itambense Versieux & Leme
Taxonomic Change:
Comments:
- Distribution, habitat, and conservation status.
Orthophytum itambense grows on quartzite outcrop, at ca. 850 m elevation and is usually associated with Eriocaulaceae, Velloziaceae, and Xyridaceae species. It grows inside gallery forest at shaded and moist spots along the margins of Rio Preto, cachoeira da Fumaca, in Pico do Itambe State Park, located at Santo Antonio do Itambe (Figs. 2A, B). Despite being under legal protection, Pico do Itambe State Park still suffers environmental aggressions such as fires from adjacent agricultural areas. These fires can reach gallery Forests, especially during the dry season (winter). Land clearing is also a problem around the protected area, thus compromising the natural populations of O. itambense and its habitat.
Similar conservation problems affect its closest relative, Orthophytum supthutii, which also has a restricyed distribution even within the limits of its area of occurrence at the Cipo range (Leme, 1995) about 100 km south from Santo Antonio do Itambe. According to Gross and Barthlott (1990) and Rauh and Gross (1990), O. supthutii grows as a lithophyte on vertical rocky walls in deciduous forests or under full sun on rocky soil at altitudes above 1000 m.
Based on the IUCN criteria (IUCN, 2001), Orthophytum itambense and O. supthutii can be given the conservation status of Critically Endangered CR B1ab(ii, iii) and Endangered EN B1ab(ii, iii), respectively, due to their restricted occurrence area. habitat loss, and small population size. This situation enforces further distribution analyses and conserva¬tion projects with these taxa.
