Cheddar Pink (Dianthus gratianopolitanus)
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: | Dianthus gratianopolitanus |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Vill. |
| 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: | Assessed as VU in England (Stroh et al. 2014) due to the small number of individuals and locations. This species is restricted to Cheddar Gorge and the surrounding area. Threats include erosion, rockfall, excessive visitor numbers (trampling) and scrub encroachment. The bulk of the population now grows on the edges of the gorge and in places generally inaccessible to humans. In the past, the species was present further away from ledges, but a combination of collection (in the distant past) and visitor trampling (current and ongoing) means that it remains vulnerable to further losses. Scrub encroachment is also a major issue in some areas of the gorge. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Although no locations have been lost in recent decades, there is a general degradation of suitable habitat in areas away from places that are inaccessible (without the use of climbing equipment) to humans. The checking/knocking back of scrub is also of paramount importance, for this species and for other threatened species that are found at Cheddar Gorge and the other 4 smaller locations nearby. |
| 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 has a highly restricted distribution and is unlikely to colonise new sites. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 5. Remedial action identified |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - sufficient |
| Species Comments: | This is a difficult species to monitor, both in terms of access (edge of gorge/inaccessible ledges) but also in terms of 'numbers' of individuals. The current County Recorder knows the plant well, and uses a 'patch' based approach to assess numbers for this slow-growing, rhizomatous species. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Scrub clearance in areas that have extant populations of Cheddar Pink nearby
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: 1 site
High priority sites: Cheddar Gorge SSSI
Comments: Before scrub clearance commences, individuals of nationally rare/'scarce/threatened Sorbus species should be identified, and left in situ .
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Suitable grazing regime instated/monitored
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Cheddar Gorge SSSI
Comments: A grazing regime is in place at Cheddar Gorge, but an ongoing issue with scrub encroachment, added to the complexity of the presence of rare Sorbus species, would suggest that the current regime is not optimal. It is suggested that, in partnership with local botanists (e.g. the VCR) who know the site well, and the National Trust who manage the site, an agreement is reached about livestock (sheep) numbers, timing of grazing, and the protection of Sorbus species.
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Monitor grazing regime
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: 6-10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Cheddar Gorge SSSI
Comments: Vegetation monitoring, and the presence of scrub, should be monitored alongside livestock numbers and timings (see Action 2), so that an optimal grazing regime can be implemented at Cheddar Gorge but also more widely, if necessary, for other sites where the species is extant. Where there is excessive trampling at extant Dianthus locations, protection using temporary fencing is desirable.
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.