Small Hare's-ear (Bupleurum baldense)
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: | Bupleurum baldense |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Turra |
| 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: | VU in GB, EN in England. Confined to two localities in Britain, where numbers fluctuate widely from year to year. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Populations highly localised (in some cases to a few square metres): some sites would benefit from targeted action to clear scrub etc. At Beachy Head, options to create suitable early successional habitat should be reviewed, to allow plant to spread as cliff falls likely to destroy extant colony. |
| 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: | This species would not benefit from untargeted management |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 5. Remedial action identified |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Relict or natural rarity |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Very rare, with just four sub-populations known since 2010, in two locations. Grows in very short <3 cm turf with open, bare mineral soil niches. Numbers can vary widely year to year. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Monitor all populations annually, recording total number of plants, plant size, & site conditions, particularly before & after trialled management. Review future management in light of findings.
Action targets: 3. National Monitoring Plan agreed and implemented
Action type: Targeted monitoring
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Berry Head to Sharkham Point SSSI. Seaford to Beachy Head SSSI.
Comments: Monitoring should be used to review state of population & quality of habitat, & inform future management decisions.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Maximise area available for colonisation by B. baldense, through programme of active management of extant sites, & restoration / linkage with nearby 'lost' populations through scrub clearance, heavy levels of grazing (incl. rabbit grazing) & linkage of microhabitats favoured by this species
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Berry Head to Sharkham Point SSSI. Daddyhole SSSI. Hope's Nose to Wall's Hill SSSI. Seaford to Beachy Head SSSI.
Comments: Species typically confined to very limited sites, in some cases just a few square metres. Some populations - particularly on the Torbay Limestones - threatened by encroachment of scrub & coarse grasses / forbs.
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Ensure seed stock maintained ex situ in seed bank, selecting sustainably from material both in Devon & Sussex.
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: Ex situ conservation
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Berry Head to Sharkham Point SSSI. Seaford to Beachy Head SSSI.
Comments: Seed thought to have short viability. Typical plants produce very few seeds, so care should be taken not to collect excessive quantities of seed.
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.