One of UK’s rarest plants brought back from brink of extinction
Conservationists have launched a dramatic rescue operation for starving tree rush, one of the UK’s rarest plants, after it made the “rather disastrous decision” to grow directly on a public footpath. Once considered the country’s rarest plant, the critically endangered species is found in only two localities in the UK; one of these is at Axbridge in Somerset.
For more than two decades, the Species Recovery Foundation has worked diligently to protect starving tree sedges, which have fallen to critically low levels. But a small cluster of plants trying to survive on a roadside near a woodland in Somerset has faced a new and unexpected threat.
Dominic Price, director of the trust, explained the precarious situation: “Over the last few years the plants have unfortunately, and rather disastrously, decided to leave the riparian habitat we have provided for them and have started growing directly on a public footpath. This has put them directly in danger from being trampled.”
To prevent their extinction, the trust decided to remove the plants from the road and “enslave” them to a specialist plant nursery. Here, the clumps will be propagated and “harvested” by division, allowing the divisions to grow into fully mature plants capable of recolonizing the original site.
Beyond this immediate rescue is the trust’s desire to establish two new populations of starving reeds in the Mendip Hills National Landscape and protect their long-term security from harm.
“Humble” grass-like species typically thrive in wetland environments such as swamps, swamps, and swamps, as well as moist woodland edges. Despite its small, inconspicuous flowers that produce both male and female blooms on the same plant, it plays a vital role in attracting a variety of pollinating insects. Experts highlight its wider ecological importance as it provides habitat for insects, amphibians and birds and regulates water flow and nutrient recycling in wetlands.
The decline of the plant is primarily attributed to habitat loss and fragmentation; This restricts the plant to two local areas in Somerset and Surrey, as well as dispersing breeding grounds.
The Mendip Hills National Landscape team has secured significant funding for the Somerset project. Jim Hardcastle, the team’s manager, commented: “Rescuing nature is key to our work these days, so it’s great that we can help the Species Recovery Foundation with their important work. At first glance this is a fairly modest patch of grass that many people will have walked past for years, but it’s still an important part of the ecosystem and deserves our attention and support.”
The Species Recovery Foundation is committed to removing 50 species from the brink of extinction in the UK by 2050; This mission includes animals like the New Forest cicada and green tiger beetle, as well as plants like field snakes and swamp moss.
