A new Red List for Vascular Plants in Great Britain has just been published - the first update for twenty years 🌿 So what is a Red List, and why does it matter? What does this new report tells us about the state of Britain’s flora?

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

Pepperpot Earthstar Myriostoma coliforme at one of its very few GB locations. Pleasingly the scientific name means ‘like a colander with many holes’. Note also the columns that hold the sac aloft.

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

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!

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!

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

Well done all involved in years of data gathering, analysis, coordination & funding for this new GB red list. Dedicated work by top botanists. And thanks to the brilliant conservation orgs & land managers stemming the haemorrhaging of biodiversity too. Many declines but also some glimmers of hope

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

This week’s botany surprise was a self set Olive Olea europaea on a Norfolk verge. Presumably from seed of a cultivated tree from a nearby garden, lodged in a stump by a small mammal. C. 10 years old. Seems to be the first wild record @bsbibotany.bsky.social ? #wildflowerhour #NorfolkFloraGroup

Norfolk hentut.

My pumpkins bring all the childs to the yard.. 🎶🎶🎃🎃

As it’s the season for ghostly apparitions here’s a few Epipogium spotted in France earlier this year.. oooooo 👻

Digging in the last flowers on the allotment arable plant plot today. Necessary for autumn germination of winter annuals. A few new species join the party this year: Red Hemp-nettle, Field Gromwell, Violet Horned Poppy, Annual Knawel & Narrow-leaved Cudweed

More gorgeous late summer colour from the Isles of Scilly. An Aizoaceae (anyone have a good resource for ID’ing them?) in walls, Tibouchina & butterflies, feral Osteospermum ‘Tresco Purple’ and Aeoniums everywhere.. I’ll be back as soon as possible #wildflowerhour

Fascicularia bicolor Rhodostachys (surely we can come up with a better common name - suggestions below pls) on the Isles of Scilly, planted on walls, dunes, roadsides.. and escaping as fragments on the tide too. Spectacular but pretty useless for wildlife? #wildflowerhour

Geastrum britannicum British Earthstar at its type location under pines in west Norfolk today

Grass Carp for sale at a local pond supplier. Doesn’t seem the best idea and I was surprised to learn it’s not illegal if GB bred. Just hugely irresponsible, especially down the road from important wetlands. Interesting to see them forming dense masses as they do in infested European waterbodies

Belladonna Lily Amaryllis belladonna surviving in former bulb fields on the Isles of Scilly this week.. and some that came home with me from a roadside stall:) #wildflowerhour

A few of the stranger established alien plants seen on the Isles of Scilly this week: the delicious Chilean Guava Myrtus ugni, German Ivy Delairea odorata, Toothed Fireweed Senecio minimus & Shrub Goldilocks Chrysocoma coma-aurea #wildflowerhour

@ghostofdatura.bsky.social and I found a new location for the wonderful Polygonum maritimum Sea Knotgrass on the Isles of Scilly this week:) #wildflowerhour

Some gorgeous mature Brugmansia sanguinea on the Isles of Scilly this week, the latter recordable on a dump. Thanks @pilning.bsky.social for the tip-off! #wildflowerhour

Ophioglossum lusitanicum Least Adderstongue on St Agnes this week. It really is pretty tiny.. at least it was a dry day for crawling about a moor #wildflowerhour

Leaves now turning for autumn 🍂 after a season of extremes — great to see some great tussocks. We may move those in drier locations next year. Supported by the NE SRP capital grant. Thanks to all who helped with planting and today to Des Pike for help with pulling Typha and monitoring! 🙌

When you hit the right depth & hydroperiod, the tussocks are fantastic — starting to form pedestals, lush growth, and obviously strong rooting 💧 Shows how precise hydrology can make or break wetland planting success.

🌿 Scarce Tufted-sedge (C. cespitosa) monitoring at Fir & Pond Woods (HMWT Reserve). Early planting in very high winter water levels, then months of drought — a real test of resilience, aided by pre-tussock formation. Still, 71 % establishment success! 💪 @naturalengland.bsky.social

The tiniest of the ferns today - Least Adderstongue Ophioglossum lusitanicum in St Agnes with @ghostofdatura.bsky.social

Chrysocoma coma-aurea Shrub Goldilocks in the dunes on Tresco. A South African species well at home on the Isles of Scilly

Tresco Abbey Gardens. I’ve been wanting to visit for 30 years and it didn’t disappoint. A riot of exotica and interesting plants. Loved the South African collection and the mature palms

Scilly Cabbage Aeonium cuneatum fully established on walls around Hugh Town, St Mary’s

Thames saltmarsh this week looking for Salicornia obscura among others.. no luck on that but plenty of this which appears to be Salicornia obscura x ramosissima #wildflowerhour

Bramble associated species: Green Arches, Anaplectoides prasina. Wing length up to 25mm. Flies June to July. Larvae feed on a variety of shrubs and herbaceous plants including Bramble, Bilberry, Honeysuckle, Primrose, docks. Common across most of Britain

Bramble associated species: Buff Arches, Habrosyne pyritoides. Up to 20mm. Flies late June to early August. Larval food plants are Bramble and Dewberry. Common in England, Ireland and Wales. Scarce in Scotland

Bramble, Rubus fruticosus agg: you have no doubt heard the slogan ‘A dog isn’t just for Christmas’ well I think we need a new slogan…….. I shall be making a series of posts highlighting a variety of species associated with it.

Bramble associated species: Peach Blossom, Thyatira batis. Flies late May to late July. Larval foodplant is Bramble. Common across the UK

Beautiful salmon-coloured autumnal hues of Atriplex pedunculata Pedunculate Sea-purslane at its only GB location

Sickle-leaved Hare’s-ear Bupleurum falcatum on its Essex road verge. Native-or-not, who cares, it’s lovely and still flowering well. The second of two edge-of-patch ticks today

A colourful day on the Thames

Yay, congrats to @willgeorge.bsky.social on finding a York Groundsel! @bsbicountries.bsky.social was hunting for one the other day, but they are hard to find at this time of year.

#AncientWoodlandRestoration in action! 🌲 Felling of one hectare of nature depleted conifer has begun at #PloraWood, Innerleithen. These non-natives are being removed and replanted with mixed native broadleaf species that will support local biodiversity and increase resilience 🐿️ 🍄 🍂

Thorn Apple Datura stramonium in curious abundance as a contaminant in Pigweed seed margins. Huge plants too. Must’ve been a good summer for it. #NorfolkFloraGroup

A copse of Huntingdon Elm Ulmus vegeta in arable NW Norfolk with #NorfolkFloraGroup today. Lovely big trees undoubtedly surviving due to their isolation from elmy areas.

We're delighted to welcome @markavery.bsky.social to the growing ranks of #BSBImembers! Why not follow Mark's example & join us? We'll be equally delighted to welcome you! Here's what you'll get when you join: bsbipublicity.blogspot.com/2025/10/bsbi... Already a member? Huge thanks for your support!

Cotoneaster integrifolius at a Norwich park & ride. Pretty distinctive habit and dull crimson fruit

Our annual membership special offer opens today! Join us this month & you'll enjoy 15 months of membership benefits for the price of 12. Those benefits are so numerous & fabulous you'll have to head over here to see them all: bsbipublicity.blogspot.com/2025/10/bsbi... Then join us! bsbi.org/join-us

Absolute bargain price, for which you get access to a whole new world of plant-based wonders!! I can honestly say that joining the BSBI changed my life.

Aftermath reflowering on a south Norfolk common - a final flourish of summer. Hardheads Centaurea nigra s.s., Catsear Hypochaeris radicata, Red Clover Trifolium pratense & Agrimony Agrimonia eupatorium #wildflowerhour

Asplenium trichomanes subsp. pachyrachis is the rarest subspecies of maidenhair spleenwort found growing out of damp limestone with high humidity levels. Identified by its lobed leaves from which it gets its English name, lobed maidenhair spleenwort. This one was tucked away in the Wye Valley.

Coming soon: 'Wild Roses of Great Britain and Ireland'. This latest title, no.26 in the series of #BSBIHandbooks for tricky plant groups, has just gone to the printers! Available for #BSBImembers to pre-order now at the discount price of £16 (vs RRP £25). Sample pages here: bsbi.org/bsbi-handboo...

Marginal veins of Nymphaea alba (left) and Nymphaea candida (right) for comparison.. Veins of candida join to form closed loops, those of alba end at the leaf edge. Of course there’s a hybrid too, which is common where they meet.