Sea Stock (Matthiola sinuata)
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: | Matthiola sinuata |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (L.) W.T.Aiton |
| 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: | VU in GB & England. In England only known from four native stations in recent years, though very rare/possibly extinct in three |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Targeted management may be necessary at three sites where species is either very rare (< 5plants) or has not been seen since 1991 (Instow Sands, vc. 4) |
| 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: | Large-scale sand dune conservation work at Braunton Burrows (v-c. 4), including notching of foredunes & mechanical devegetation has led to significant increases in some populations, & appearances at sites where previously unrecorded. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 6. Recovery solutions trialled |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Handsome species of foredunes etc where it can be frequent on bare sand. Apparently has moderately long-lived seed bank, and capable of rapid population increase when suitable conditions exist (e.g. from 5 to 260 plants in Pebble Slack, Braunton, within one year following management works). Highly vulnerable to browsing by rabbits. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Monitor all populations on a 2 - 3 yearly basis (particular at vulnerable populations away from Braunton Burrows), recording numbers of plants, noting tallies of flowering plants vs. non-flowering rosettes. Record condition of sites.
Action targets: 3. National Monitoring Plan agreed and implemented
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Braunton Burrows SSSI. Northam Burrows SSSI. Taw-Torridge Estuary SSSI. Studland & Godlingston Heaths SSSI.
Comments: Matthiola sinuata is a short lived perennial (monocarpic?) reliant on an abundant availability of bare sand within foredune habitats in which to survive. Nos. of non-flowering rosettes key, as is condition of site. Human disturbance poses a threat at some sites & should be monitored
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Implement appropriate management at all sites where populations are becoming small, including protection of plants from visitor pressure & animal browsing, control of non-native & invasive woody species, & provision of areas of dry semi-mobile sand, through mechanical devegetating (if necessary).
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Braunton Burrows SSSI. Northam Burrows SSSI. Taw-Torridge Estuary SSSI. Studland & Godlingston Heaths SSSI.
Comments: Recent records suggest low populations at Northam Burrows (c. 5 plants) and on the South Haven Peninsula (Studland, 1 - 2 plants), whilst the population at Instow Sands has not been seen since 1991.
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Ensure good stocks of seed are maintained ex-situ, collected following guidelines from all four English sites.
Action targets: 7. Best approach adopted at appropriate scales
Action type: Ex situ conservation
Duration: 1 year
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Braunton Burrows SSSI. Northam Burrows SSSI. Taw-Torridge Estuary SSSI. Studland & Godlingston Heaths SSSI.
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.