Lesser Water-plantain (Baldellia ranunculoides)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vascular plant > flowering plant > Herbaceous plant |
| Red List Status: | Near Threatened (Not Relevant) [NT(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: | Baldellia ranunculoides |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (L.) Parl. |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | in Stroh et al., 2014 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | Stroh et al. 2014: The sole native subspecies recorded in England is Baldellia ranunculoides subsp. ranunculoides, although it is possible that subsp. repens is present but currently overlooked. |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | NT in GB, VU in England. Whilst still very locally frequent, the species has undergone a strong decline of 94% across Britain since 1987. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Populations were historically often rather limited in extent (e.g. to individual waterbodies), so targeted action is needed to 'resuscitate' lost populations through active management & restoration |
| 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: | Yes |
| Justification: | Maintenance or reinstatement of traditional management (through a long continuity of heavy grazing), combined with the restoration of individual waterbodies. High water quality important. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 6. Recovery solutions trialled |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Baldellia ranunculoides favours a range of waterbodies where competition from coarser herbs is kept in check by fluctuating water levels, grazing & poaching by livestock etc. The species has long-lived seed, & responds often dramatically well where management reinstates early successional waterbodies, typically through the combined actions of mechanical excavation and/or reintroduction of livestock grazing. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Monitor a sample of populations in stronghold areas, and all populations in non-stronghold/vulnerable areas, every <5 years. Sites where trialled management has taken place should be prioritised, and management prescriptions adjusted accordingly.
Action targets: 3. National Monitoring Plan agreed and implemented
Action type: Targeted monitoring
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites: Sites away from national strongholds
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Manage all populations through restoring / creating pool sites through mechanical excavation; maintenance of/reintroduction of appropriate grazing regimes; aiming to expand sites & establish linkages between scattered populations.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites: Vulnerable sites in non-stronghold areas
Comments: Responds well to restoration of waterbodies with 'lost' / extinct populations clearly capable of appearing from buried seed after a considerable number of decades
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Reintroduce traditional extensive grazing regimes to heathland, dune, lake and fen habitats favoured by B. ranunculoides, with provision to create or restore waterbodies such as pools, trackways etc.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites:
Comments: Management should ensure that roadside pools, village greens etc are included within restored grazing units.
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.