#GBRedList
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bsbibotany.bsky.social
New #GBRedList for vascular plants is published today by a team led by @bsbibotany.bsky.social with partners @naturalengland.bsky.social @ukceh.bsky.social @naturescot.bsky.social @natreswales.bsky.social @nhm-london.bsky.social @plantlifeintl.bsky.social @rbgkew.bsky.social @thebotanics.bsky.social
November 5, 2025 at 9:21 AM
bsbibotany.bsky.social
Nice to hear from @chrislansdell.bsky.social about a large population of Small-flowered Catchfly, but it is classified as Endangered on #GBRedList.
Find out more about the plant:
plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9...
Read the whole #GBRedList free of charge:
britishandirishbotany.org/index.php/bi...
June 4, 2026 at 12:06 PM
trevorthebotanist.bsky.social
Major revision of #GBRedList of plants published today shows 25% of our native & archaeophyte flora threatened with extinction. Many iconic widespread species classified as threatened for first time including Betony, Marsh Marigold, Devil’s-bit Scabious and Harebell. Another wake-up call for action!
November 5, 2025 at 6:17 PM
bsbibotany.bsky.social
Great to catch up with top gardening broadcaster Marian Foster on BBC Radio Newcastle today.
We talked about how plant records collected by citizen scientists e.g. during #NewYearPlantHunt & #WildFlowerHour fed into new #GBRedList.
Catch it here 3hrs 28 mins in: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
December 14, 2025 at 8:42 PM
bsbibotany.bsky.social
Great to hear from our friend @judywebb.bsky.social about Broad-leaved Cudweed introduction at @rowantnnr.bsky.social.
This archaeophyte (non-native plant introduced before CE1500) is classed as Endangered on #GBRedList.
Find out more: plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9...
July 29, 2026 at 1:57 PM
bsbibotany.bsky.social
Check out the very few locations where Spotted Rock-rose is recorded across Britain & Ireland, and the kind of habitat it likes, on its #PlantAtlas2020 page:
plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9...
Assessed as Near Threatened on #GBRedList.
Whole List is here: britishandirishbotany.org/index.php/bi...
June 6, 2026 at 2:17 PM
bsbibotany.bsky.social
Lovely find by @bsbiscience.bsky.social: Hairy Stonecrop has declined in recent decades due to eutrophication, overgrazing, climate change etc. (aka The Usual Suspects).
Now classified as Near Threatened on #GBRedList.
Find out more on its #PlantAtlas2020 page: plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9...
May 26, 2026 at 7:36 PM
bsbibotany.bsky.social
Dwarf Milkwort: classed as Endangered on #GBRedList.
Only 3 populations left in Kent & 16 in northern England.
Good job our friends @speciesrecovery.bsky.social are helping it come back from the brink!
Find out more about Dwarf Milkwort on its #PlantAtlas2020 page: plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9...
May 14, 2026 at 11:39 AM
bsbibotany.bsky.social
New #GBRedList for vascular plants is out now as a special issue of #BritishandIrishBotany, the @bsbibotany.bsky.social's Open Access scientific journal: britishandirishbotany.org/index.php/bi...
Also available (cost £10) as an eBook: bsbi.org/publications...
Press release: bsbi.org/wp-content/u...
November 5, 2025 at 9:30 AM
bsbibotany.bsky.social
Huge thanks to @adamvaughan.bsky.social for his excellent article in today's @thetimes.com about #GBRedList.
Wild plants inc Common Restharrow, Common Rock-rose & Common Milkwort all now classed as Vulnerable - so no longer common!
Download the new Red List:
britishandirishbotany.org/index.php/bi...
November 5, 2025 at 3:18 PM
bsbibotany.bsky.social
Tower Mustard declined in early C20th & is now classed as Endangered on #GBRedList.
It can't survive when habitat becomes overgrown, so as @trisnorton.bsky.social says 👇 it's probably surviving in Hants. thanks to disturbance which opens up the habitat.
More here: plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9...
May 15, 2026 at 12:17 PM
bsbibotany.bsky.social
New #GBRedList for vascular plants evaluated 1,720 species.
26% (up from 23% in 2005) assessed as threatened.
Common Restharrow, Marsh-marigold & Harebell: all Vulnerable.
Alpine Gentian: Endangered.
Work was led by Pete Stroh from @bsbibotany.bsky.social & funded by @naturalengland.bsky.social
November 5, 2025 at 9:25 AM
bsbibotany.bsky.social
Classed as Endangered on the Wales Red List (2008) & #GBRedList (2021) and Vulnerable in England where we think there are only c700 individual plants left.
Find out more about Shore Dock on its #PlantAtlas2020 page: plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9...
May 6, 2026 at 8:47 AM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
As usual, @markavery.bsky.social has it right. Things are not getting better for our wild plants

The 20-year efforts of #BSBImembers & the botanical community gave us #PlantAtlas2020, which provides the evidence base for much of this #GBRedList assessment.

Your #botany records make a difference!
markavery.bsky.social Mark Avery @markavery.bsky.social · Nov 5
New GB Red List for vascular plants from @bsbibotany.bsky.social @ukceh.bsky.social is comprehensive revision of 2005 list.

Plants are good indicators of the pressures on all our wildlife - things are not getting better.

More details: markavery.info/2025/11/05/b...
November 5, 2025 at 4:12 PM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
20 years on from the first #GBRedList for vascular plants - what's changed?
285 taxa have become more threatened.
Critically Endangered up from 35 to 55 taxa, Endangered up from 90 to 117 taxa, Vulnerable up from 220 to 261 taxa 😱☠️

Action needed now! Well done @bsbibotany.bsky.social and partners
November 5, 2025 at 3:54 PM
bsbibotany.bsky.social
Great to work with partners inc @rbgkew.bsky.social & @naturalengland.bsky.social to produce the new #GBRedList for vascular plants.

The bad news: 26% of wild plants are under threat, up from 23% in 2005.

The good news: Conservation action works, as partners @plantlifeuk.bsky.social have shown!
rbgkew.bsky.social Kew Gardens @rbgkew.bsky.social · Nov 10
While 1 in 4 UK plants remain threatened, the Red List offers a roadmap for recovery - proof that action works. We’re proud to have contributed alongside experts from @bsbibotany.bsky.social, @ukceh.bsky.social, @naturalengland.bsky.social & others 💚

Explore more 👉
ow.ly/egMJ50Xpxf2
November 12, 2025 at 11:32 AM
bsbibotany.bsky.social
Thanks @freshwaterhabitats.bsky.social for spreading the word that Flat-sedge has gone from Vulnerable on the 2005 #GBRedList to Endangered on the new List.
Find out more about Flat-sedge (gallery, distribution map, why it's declining) on its #PlantAtlas2020 page:
plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9...
November 7, 2025 at 2:46 PM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
The story of Fen Orchid is a bright spot in the gloomy picture of the new #GBRedList
@plantlifeuk.bsky.social show that positive conservation actions can make a difference to the threats plants face, highlighted by @emilybeament.bsky.social in @the-independent.com
www.indy100.com/news/beautif...
‘Beautiful yet mercurial’ fen orchid brought back from brink of extinction
The orchid’s increasing population in Britain is a bright spot in otherwise ‘stark picture’ for British wild plants, the latest Red List shows.
www.indy100.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:02 PM
moschatel.bsky.social
Today BSBI published the #GBRedList for vascular plants, crucial new evidence to underpin nature conservation and help prioritise future action. Thanks so much to the amazing botanists, partners and funders who have made this possible.
November 5, 2025 at 11:34 AM
bsbibotany.bsky.social
A great find in the Scottish Borders by @lizadownie.bsky.social!
Purple Milk-vetch is declining in southern England & is classified as Endangered on #GBRedList
Find out more about where this gorgeous plant can still be found on its #PlantAtlas2020 page: plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9...
May 12, 2026 at 1:23 PM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
Brilliant to see the #GBRedList making a report on CBBC newsround, headlined by the tale of Fen Orchid recovery.
The future of our wonderful plants is in their hands - let's try not to drop the baton before we can hand it over!
www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/ar...
@plantlifeuk.bsky.social
Rare orchid bought back from brink of extinction
The fen orchid is no longer listed as almost extinct in Great British Red List for vascular plants.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 9:42 PM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
We can't conserve things if we don't know they are there!

Old paper records are a treasure trove of info we need to unlock - not just to find out more about past recording, but to inform today's conservation assessments #GBRedList and science... and to help us refind lost plants.

Please help!
bsbibotany.bsky.social Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) @bsbibotany.bsky.social · Dec 2
Help us unlock the Plants of the Past, by supporting volunteers to digitise decades of paper records & inform C21st science!
@biggive.bsky.social
From #GivingTuesday to 9 Dec, we have £10K in matched funds to unlock: every donation, however small, will be doubled:
donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...
Unlocking the Plants of the Past – Big Give
Decades of botanical observations of our vital wild plants are trapped in paper records and archives - through the efforts …
donate.biggive.org
December 2, 2025 at 1:28 PM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
Botanical #adventcalendar Day 6 - Devil's-bit Scabious, its blue-violet flowers almost glowing in the dull light. Sensational!

Far more widespread than Day 5's plant, but also assessed as Vulnerable on the #GBRedList as its geographic range has declined by 37% over three generations
#wildflowerhour
Two flowerheads of Devil's-bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis) stand out, almost glowing violet in the centre of the photo. Each flowerhead is a cluster of florets, each with delicate white stamens extending out from the floret, a pinkish-red anther topping them. The blurred background is a morass of rushes, their rich brown heads discernable, and a patch of yellow flowers, probably Greater Bird's-foot-trefoil (Lotus corniculatus). The open rush-pasture is fringed at the back by trees.
December 6, 2025 at 7:03 AM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
Botanical #adventcalendar Day 20 - the fabulous Alpine Saxifrage, one of my favourite arctic-alpines, on Ben Lawers.

Nationally scarce and now Near Threatened on #GBRedList, finding its distinctive basal rosette or, if you're lucky, that clustered inflorescence is always special!
#wildflowerhour
Alpine Saxifrage (Micranthes nivalis), growing on the south-west crags of Ben Lawers. The photo shows a single plant, with a stout reddish stem covered in hairs about 15 cm long, rising from a green basal rosette of leaves to a terminal cluster of open flowers. The inflorescence has a single branch, going off to the right just below the main cluster of flowers, with two flowers held next to the main cluster. Each flower is open, consisting of five spaced petals held upright, their colour ranging from creamy white to flushed pink. The stamens and styles range from green to red, depending on age of the flower, with the youngest on the left of the inflorescence with orange anthers. The basal rosette consists of six spatulate leaves with big marginal teeth; the leaf undersides, not visible in the photo, will have red staining towards the end. Around the plant is bare ground and rock, the stones full of mica schist and shining silvery in the sunshine.
December 20, 2025 at 8:38 AM
bsbiscotland.bsky.social
Botanical #adventcalendar Day 13 is this beauty - Small-white #orchid. Assessed as Vulnerable on the #GBRedList, most of the recorded populations across Britain & Ireland have already been lost through habitat destruction
2025 was a good year for this species at the sites that remain #wildflowerhour
Two beautiful spikes of Small-white Orchid (Pseudorchis albida), growing in species-rich calcareous grassland in West Perthshire. The left-hand spike is leaning slightly leftwards, the right-hand spike grows at a 45 degree angle before straightening into an erect spike of flowers. Each flower is creamy with a slight hint of green, exacerbated by the light the photo was taken in, small and nodding at the end of a short green ovary. The yellow-green stems below have erect, adpressed, parallel-sided leaves that come to a blunt point, and lead down to a pair of basal leaves. The two plants are growing with Devil's-bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis) and Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) leaves, and behind them in the short grassland sward an opening Quaking-grass (Briza media) flowerhead can be discerned. Grass and last year's flower stems rise behind the orchids, crossing a moody, clouded sky.
December 13, 2025 at 8:14 AM