Felwort Rust (Uromyces gentianae)
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: | Uromyces gentianae |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Arthur |
| 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 just a few sites in the SW,SE and East Anglia, which appears to be much less than the range of the host (see species comments) |
| 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 rust fungus on Gentianella amarella which is not part of the TSRA project. The fungus is only present at small fraction of the sites that have a population of the host plant. However, the host plant was recently split with 4 subspecies now recognised. It may be the case that this rust is associated with only one of these subspecies |
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: Undertake research into the autecology of the species. Most importantly, research should be attempting to discover if this fungus is able to infect all, or just some of the subspecies of the host plant.. This research should be carried out on a series of sites representing the complete geographic and habitat range of the species.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 50 sites
High priority sites: N/A
Comments: Host plant species is declining, but common locally. This may not be the case for each individual subspecies of the host plant. Assessments need to be made about translocation of fungus based on the results of this action and host plant status.
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Once the host plant/subspecies has been confirmed (see previous action). A programme of translocation/reintroduction should be trialled to introduce this species to more sites within its existing range. Sites should be chosen based on availability of host plant and proximity to existing populations.
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: Host plant species is declining, but common locally. This may not be the case for each individual subspecies of the host plant. Assessments need to be made about translocation of fungus based on the results of this action and host plant status If the host is also a scarce/rare species it may be necessary to culture both ex situ before translocating them together.
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.