Restricted to the Gariep Valley, occurring on both the South African and Namibian sides of the Orange River this species has an extent of occurrence (EOO) of 823 km² and an area of occupancy (AOO) of 124 km². The population has declined by more than 90% since 1989 as a result of extensive habitat loss to diamond mining and also high levels of mortality experienced as a result of an extended drought experienced between 2015 and 2022 attributed to climate change. With future climate models predicting further increases in temperatures and aridification loss due to climate change is expected to be ongoing. This species therefore qualifies for listing as Critically Endangered under criterion  A.

This species is endemic to the terraces along the Orange River, occurring in southern Namibia, and northern Richtersveld (Northern Cape, South Africa). The population is found 50 km inland of the coast and is concentrated around the town of Sendelingsdrif. It extends from Xarries on the South African side of the Lower Orange River in the southwest to Sendelings Ridge in the northeast (Burke 2004).

Surveys of the entire population took place in 2004, the total number of plants for the global population was reported then to be 12,200 mature individuals (Burke 2004). The core of the population was concentrated at the town of Sendelingsdrif in South Africa where many thousands of plants existed, in Namibia a sizable population (>1,000 plants) occurred on Orange River terraces at Sendelingsdrif scheduled for mining. In fact, at the time this was the core population of the plant. Active mining for diamonds over 20 years has resulted in the largest population being lost. All subpopulations surveyed over the past 10 years have been small and in severe decline. Fewer than 1,000 plants are suspected to occur in South Africa, the Namibian population is also considered to be under 1,000 plants. A decline of over 80% of the population took place between 1989 and 2014 due to habitat loss for mining, loss to mining since then has been ongoing and a further 90% of mature individuals died as a result of an extended drought between 2014 and 2021.

Restricted to gravel alluvial terraces along the Orange River, it occurs in areas where the topography allows for precipitation of fog, an important source of moisture in this otherwise highly arid environment (Burke 2004).

Opencast mining along the Orange River Valley in both South African and Namibia has resulted in the majority of this species habitat being lost, loss to mining is ongoing. Key habitats are ancient terraces of the Orange River and mountains and inselbergs   Dust blown from exposed mine dumps are however extensively burying these specialised habitats, destroying the sheltering conditions provided. The plant predominantly grows on south- to southwest-facing slopes and particularly in gullies which receive fog precipitation intruding along  the Orange River.  In addition, irresponsible off-road driving of mining and construction vehicles are also destroying  its habitat along the Sendelingsdrif road. It has also experienced severe declines since 2015 due to the worst drought on record, with more than 90% mortality of mature individuals recorded in 2022.  Predictions of future climate change include further increases in the annual average temperature, ranging between 1.4°C and 2.4°C by 2050. This rise is expected to lead to unbearably hot temperatures throughout significant portions of the year (van Wilgen 2017), future declines as a result of climate change are thus expected.  Succulent collecting, as well as habitat degradation due to livestock overgrazing are additional threats observed to have impacted the South African portion of the population. 

An illegal trade in habitat-collected plants of this species has developed in recent years.

While occurring within the Ai/Ais Richtersveld Transfrontier National Park, there is little protection afforded due to mining taking place within the boundaries of the park. There are however recovery actions being implemented for this species, in South Africa seed collections have been made by staff working for the South African National Parks Board (SANPARKS) for as many of the remaining subpopulations as possible and the plants have been grown in the Sendelingsdrift Botanic Garden. Plants will be reintroduced to the wild in May 2024 and hardened off over the next five years.  In Namibia, the mining company NAMDEB have been working on a reintroduction project of this species since 2008 which has involved introducing nursery-grown plants onto backfilled terraces post mining activities. To date this work is successful in the short-term with over 90% of plants surviving and many no longer needing irrigation. However, whether the planted individuals will survive in this drastically altered rehabilitated area (without  protected gullies and not necessarily facing the right direction for fog capturing) in the long-term remains to be seen. Given significant declines to plants in natural areas over the past 20 years, these reintroduction efforts by NAMDEB have resulted in critical genetic plant stock being conserved. There is a need  now to co-ordinate reintroduction efforts between South Africa and Namibia and to monitor if reintroduced plants manage to recruit successfully. The species is reported to be in a number of ex situ collections (BGCI 2024).