Commelina bella

The Southern Africa bushveld belongs to the vast savanna biome, which occurs on an extensive, undulating interior plateau, which lies at an elevation of between 700 m to 1,100 m asl. Cattle ranching and urban expansion are the major threats to the conservation of this ecoregion. However, ecotourism has become a major land-use activity in the bushveld and has led to the establishment of many small nature reserves and private game parks in the area, which enhance the conservation status of this ecoregion (Spriggs 2001). While the percentage of habitat protected by the game farms is high, the habitat is somewhat fragmented because these small conservation areas are often interspersed with cattle ranches. Cattle directly degrade the habitat by grazing and trampling plants and by exposing and compacting the soil, leading to soil erosion. The Springbokvlakte Thornveld in which this species occurs, is a vegetation type that has been 64% transformed, mainly by agriculture, and has been classified as endangered (Rouget et al. 2004). This species occurs in black turf soils that are ideally suitable to cultivation and was probably extensively impacted by habitat loss in the past. Current threats also include spreading human settlements, overgrazing and alien invasive encroachment.

This species is known to occur in Magaliesberg, a large chain of formal and private protected areas, Rust de Winter Nature Reserve as well as Bothasvley Nature Reserve (L. von Staden pers. comm. July 2013). It has been assessed as Insufficiently Known (K) in the 1996 South Africa Red List and Data Deficient in the 2009 Red Data List of South African Plants (Raimondo et al. 2009). Samples of seed of should be collected and stored as an ex situ conservation measure.