Lesser Calamint (Clinopodium calamintha)
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: | Clinopodium nepeta |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (L.) Kuntze |
| 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: | No |
| Justification: | Although assessed as VU in the 2005 Red List (Cheffings et al., 2005) this perennial herb of dry grassland was assessed as LC in England by Stroh et al. (2014); the results of Stroh et al. (2023) also revealed that its distribution has been relatively stable over the long- and short-term at the hectad scale although it has suffered localised losses on road verges due to habitat loss and changes in cutting regimes. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | This species is till relatively widespread within its rather narrow range in eastern England and its persistence on many sites does not appear to rely on tailored management although it would benefit from more sympathetic cutting regimes on road verges where it occurs. |
| 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: | This species is now largely confined to road verges where, like most wildflowers, it would benefit from less frequent mowing, especially during the flowering/seeding months, and removals of the cuttings. |
Species Assessment
Not relevant as no Key Actions defined.
Key Actions
No Key Actions Defined
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.