Slender Hare's-ear (Bupleurum tenuissimum)
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 tenuissimum |
| 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: | Atlas data shows continued decline following the historic decline in Area of Occupancy which determined its current Red List status. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | The plant is an annual, requiring disturbed or open ground for germination. Restoration of AOO may require increased disturbance in suitable grazed sites. |
| 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: | As a species of short and/or disturbed swards, it may benefit from action to increase the availability of early successional stages in suitable grassland areas. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 5. Remedial action identified |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Combination - insufficient |
| Species Comments: |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Review population and management history and site characteristics at coastal sites with consistently above average populations (e.g. with regular counts averaging 250 or more) to identify factors which contribute to the success of the local population, particularly in terms of management or disturbance characteristics that would be transferable to other sites.
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: Pressure mitigation
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites:
Comments: Most current populations appear to have remained stable since 1970 (with the exception of populations around The Wash and Humber, which appear to have declined over this period. However, all populations may be vulnerable to the pressures affecting low-lying coastal habitats, including built development and sea-level rise.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Where the species occurs in coastal grazing marsh, maintain or enhance grazing management to provide the necessary disturbance and bare ground, especially in the extensive marsh landscapes of the Greater Thames, Severn and Solent.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: National
High priority sites:
Comments: This action overlaps substantially with untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics and structural diversity.
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Review populations and management at known inland sites on commons in Worcestershire and on a Cambridgeshire road verge, with the aims of (i) ensuring populations are maintained or increased at these sites as appropriate, and (ii) creating a blueprint for re-establishment of lost inland populations.
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites:
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.