Punica protopunica

– Vulnerable

Taxonomy

Kingdom:

PLANTAE

Phylum:

TRACHEOPHYTA

Class:

MAGNOLIOPSIDA

Order:

MYRTALES

Family:

LYTHRACEAE

Scientific Name:

Punica protopunica

Species Authority:

Balf. f.

Common Name/s:

English

—

POMEGRANATE TREE

Assessment Information

Red List Category & Criteria:

VU B1ab(iii) ver 3.1 (2001)

Year Assessed:

2004

Assessor/s:

Miller, A.

Evaluator/s:

Abuzinada, A.H. & AL-Eisawi, D.M.H. (Arabian Plants Red List Authority)

Justification:

In the Plant Red Data Book (Lucas and Synge 1978) Punica protopunica was considered Endangered. However, recent surveys have shown it to be widespread on the island and fairly common in places. Its total area of occupancy is probably around 100 km². It has a severely fragmented distribution with different subpopulations showing varying degrees of vigour. In some upland, plateau regions it becomes prostrate, in other areas it grows to a small tree. In some areas it is common and actively regenerates. However, over large areas the tree is absent except for small relict populations with no apparent regeneration. The foliage of this species is not browsed by livestock, nor is the tree lopped as drought fodder. The wood is of no importance, either as firewood or in construction, nor are the small, bitter fruit appealing as human or livestock food. Local expertise suggests that the population of this species (unlike Dracaena or Cadaba) is stable. The absence therefore indicates a decline in quality of habitat, but the reasons for this are uncertain.

History:

1978	-	Endangered (Lucas and Synge 1978)
1997	-	Endangered (Walter and Gillett 1998)
1998	-	Vulnerable (Oldfield et al. 1998)

Geographic Range

Range Description:	Endemic to Soqotra. The only congeneric relative of the Pomegranate P. granatum.
Countries:	Native: Yemen (Socotra)

Population

Population:	The species remains widespread throughout the island.
Population Trend:

Habitat and Ecology

Habitat and Ecology:

Locally common in moist woodland on both the limestone and granite. Altitude of 300–1,200 m.

Flowers and fruits from December and January through to the summer.

System:

Terrestrial

List of Habitats:

1.5	Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Dry

Threats

List of Threats:

9.2	Intrinsic factors - Poor recruitment/reproduction/regeneration (ongoing)

Bibliography

Bibliography:

Lucas, G.L.l. and Synge, H. (compilers) 1978. The IUCN Plant Red Data Book. IUCN, Morges, Switzerland.

Miller, A.G. 1992. List of Socotran endemics with conservation status. Revised November 1991 (unpublished).

Miller, A.G. 1997. Completed data collection forms and comments concerning the threatened trees of Socotra and Yemen.

Oldfield, S., Lusty, C. and MacKinven, A. (compilers) 1998. The World List of Threatened Trees. World Conservation Press, Cambridge, UK.

Walter, K.S. and Gillett, H.J. (eds). 1998. 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants. Compiled by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. IUCN - The World Conservation Union, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.

Citation:	Miller, A. 2004. Punica protopunica. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 28 August 2008.
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