JP stumbled across a rather curious-looking plant while conducting field work. What happened next solved a centuries-old mystery!
Nieuwoudtville, South Africa (04 February 2026) – Nearly two centuries after it was last recorded, a long-lost plant has been found again on the Bokkeveld Plateau near Nieuwoudtville.
The plant, Prismatocarpus fastigiatus, was first collected and described in 1830 by German horticulturist Johann Franz Drège. After that, it vanished from the scientific record. For years, botanists assumed it was either extremely rare or gone altogether.
That changed when biodiversity officer JP le Roux came across it during fieldwork about 12km south of Nieuwoudtville. JP works in the stewardship programme for the Northern Cape Department of Agriculture, Environmental Affairs, Rural Development & Land Reform and was out surveying vegetation following a fire in 2024.
“The area burned in 2024, so I was out looking for any unusual plants. At this time of year, it’s quite unusual to find anything in flower, so when I came across this plant it immediately caught my attention as something out of the ordinary.” says JP. “I took photographs and uploaded the observation to iNaturalist, which is something I routinely do whenever I’m in the field. The aim is to collect as much biodiversity data as possible and make every field trip count, even when the primary focus is on something else.”
That upload sparked an exciting conversation among botanists and eventually led to the plant being identified as the long-missing P. fastigiatus.
As it turns out, part of the mystery lay in geography.
For years, the plant was believed to have originated in the Caledon–Bredasdorp area of the Western Cape, around 300km away, meaning researchers had likely been searching in the wrong place.
New research now points to its original location being Uienvalei (‘bulb valley’) on the Bokkeveld Plateau, near Nieuwoudtville, an area famous for its spring flowers and bulb species.
Unlike many local plants, P. fastigiatus flowers in mid-summer, when far fewer botanists are out in the field. That combination of seasonal timing and a misplaced location might have played a role in keeping it hidden for almost 200 years.
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Amateur botanist De Waal Hugo, who has a special interest in the bellflower family and who had been on the trail of the missing plant, had already suspected something wasn’t adding up.
After JP’s discovery, Hugo wrote to him.
“It was immensely fortunate that you (found) the plants in flower and confirm(ed) the theory, ” he wrote. “Hopefully, a proper assessment of the conservation status can now be undertaken and the plant appropriately protected. It is quite possibly still rare in an area that has seen a lot of habitat loss.”
JP had been working on land bordering Oorlogskloof Nature Reserve at the time, carrying out general surveys for flowering species. His broader role involves helping expand protected areas across the Northern Cape. That includes assessing new sites, conducting biodiversity surveys, and supporting long-term conservation efforts once areas are formally protected. That work is made possible through funding from the WWF Leslie Hill Succulent Karoo Trust.
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