Pyramidal Bugle (Ajuga pyramidalis)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vascular plant > flowering plant > Herbaceous plant |
| Red List Status: | Vulnerable (Not Relevant) [VU(nr)] |
| D5 Status: | Included in the baseline Red List Index for England (Wilkins, Wilson & Brown, 2022) |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Ajuga pyramidalis |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | L. |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | in Stroh et al., 2014 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | (none) |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | CR in England, the sole English population occurs on inaccessible ledges on one mountain in the Lake District where its population appears to have been stable since its discovery in 1869 (<20 plants). There are no other records from England and so no evidence of a decline but it is highly threatened due to its small population size. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Although no evidence of decline the sole population is highly vulnerable to stochastic events and potentially climate change |
| 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: | All actions will need to be specific given the extreme rarity of this taxon |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 4. Autecology and pressures understood |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Relict or natural rarity |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - sufficient |
| Species Comments: | The sole English locality is visited periodically by Cumbrian botanists to assess the condition of the population |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Collect seed and investigate germination and growth requirements for ex situ cultivation for introduction to suitable sites
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: Ex situ conservation
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: Not applicable
High priority sites: Yoke, Kentmere
Comments: Ideally work should be undertaken by RSPB Haweswater staff as they have the ability to cultivate and reintroduce the plant at suitable sites closeby
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Depending on the outcome of Action 1 bolster the main population and introduce it to suitable sites closeby on the RSPB Haweswater Reserve
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Ex situ conservation
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Haweswater RSPB Reserve
Comments:
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Alongside all the action proposed ensure appropriate grazing levels are in place (autumn and winter to ensure seed-set) to maintain a short sward. This would provide an opportunity to investigate whether the species could spread more widely into the mountain pastures (as it does elsewhere in its European range) with reduced grazing pressure.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Yoke, Kentmere
Comments:
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.