Cheddar Hawkweed (Hieracium stenolepiforme)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vascular plant > flowering plant > Herbaceous plant |
| Red List Status: | Endangered (Not Relevant) [EN(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: | Hieracium stenolepiforme |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Pugsley) P.D.Sell & C.West |
| 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: | Requires a recovery project to restore former range at Cheddar where it is Critically Endangered. In 2016, 59 plants were recorded in Cheddar Gorge but none at Black Rock where it was last recorded in 2000; reintroduction programme needed at Black Rock. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | There are insufficient data to assess trends at subspecies level and so it is assessed the same as the species as EN due to a dramatic decline in its extent of occurrence since the 1950s (Stroh et al., 2014). See line in data for Hypopitys monotropa. |
| 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: | would benefit reduction in grazing at Cheddar. |
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: | Full census available: Crouch et al. 2019. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Targeted reintroduction programme at Black Rock using local seed (held in Millennium Seed Bank)
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: (Re-)introduction
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: 1 site
High priority sites: Cheddar SSSI
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Promote awareness of the group amongst landowners, understanding of conservation requirements amongst conservation professionals and identification skills amongst field botanists e.g. via BSBI training resources and workshops
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: Advice & support
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 100 sites
High priority sites:
Comments: generic action
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.