Hesperantha sufflava was first described in 1999 and two herbarium vouchers were placed in the Compton Herbarium in Cape Town and Missouri Botanical Garden respectively.

Although this species was described as common in 1999 it was not then seen for five years and was thought to be extinct. In 2004, members of the Custodians for Rare and Endangered Wildflowers (CREW) found a small population next to a housing development in Malmesbury. Petitions to the local authorities were made to declare the land a reserve or to hold off development until the Millennium Seed Bank Project (MSBP) could harvest seeds and plants for re-location; however, this was ignored and the site was promptly bulldozed. Hesperantha sufflava was then given the official title of EX (extinct), in the Red Data Book for South Africa. In 2005, while searching for other threatened geophytic plant populations, the MSBP team found a population of over a thousand Hesperantha sufflava ! Seed was collected for the Seed Bank and Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. However, celebrations were short-lived as the site has been zoned for more urban housing. Fortunately, the local authorities have now set aside a 'sister' site for conservation and it is planned to introduce H. sufflava to this site. This species is currently being reviewed for the new Red Data list for South Africa and has been given the temporary status of Critically Rare (CR). Unfortunately this species has been sighted so rarely that there are only two pictures by Dr Peter Goldblatt and one line drawing by Dr John Manning who generously allowed us to use it for this article.

© John Manning