Sea-heath (Frankenia laevis)
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: | Frankenia laevis |
| 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: | No |
| Justification: | As a native this mat-forming perennial herb occurs in saltmarshes and saltmarsh transitions in eastern and southern England and as a garden escape elsewhere. It suffered from habitat loss due to coastal developments in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but recent evidence from Plant Atlas 2020 suggests that it is increasing within its restricted range, partly due to habitat creation but possibly as a result of climate change, as British populations are at the northern edge of its Southern-temperate range in Europe. It is therefore questionable whether this species needs any specific conservation measures. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | This species appears to be increasing as a result of habitat creation in parts of its range as well as climate change. Its recovery therefore does not require any specific measures. |
| 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 likely to benefit incidentally from the creation of new coastal habitats, such as saltmarshes, shingle and sand dune systems. |
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.