Colchicum Smut (Urocystis colchici)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Fungus or lichen > fungus > Fungus |
| Red List Status: | (Not Relevant) [(not listed)(nr)] |
| D5 Status: | |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Urocystis colchici |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Schltdl.) Rabenh. |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | (not listed) |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Assessed as Critically Endangered (2006) - Restricted to the decreasing range of host plant, which is widespread in England with a core in the SW. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Without evidence of the current national status of this species it will be very difficult to assess if there are any other species-specific actions required for its conservation; or if it is need of conservation at all. |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | An increase/improvement in the host plant habitats could be beneficial to the host and therefore to this species |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 2. Biological status assessment exists |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | A smut fungus of Colchicum autumnale. It is reliant on the success/distribution of this plant species, which as part of the TSRA project should see an increase in population growth/distribution. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: An assessment of the necessary national species records should be made according to IUCN guidelines to provide a recognised redlist status criteria for this species.
Action targets: 2. Biological status assessment exists
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 1 year
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites: N/A
Comments: As no IUCN recognised assessment exists for this species, this action should be prioritised.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: For this fungus to recover, existing populations of its host plant need to be managed correctly and expanded. The host is a TSRA species, so that will be covered by actions given for that species. Once that is complete, a pilot study on translocating the rust fungus into other populations should be undertaken.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: (Re-)introduction
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 20 sites
High priority sites: N/A
Comments: See Colchicum autumnale TSR actions for details on host plant recovery. Trials on assisting the recovery/distribution of this smut fungus may benefit from ex-situ propagation of infected host plants. It is also possible that the smut fungus is translocated along with donor plants by accident or by design.
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.