Lesser Butterfly-orchid (Platanthera bifolia)
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: | Platanthera bifolia |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (L.) Rich. |
| 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: | The species has undergone substantial contractions on Area of Occupancy and Extent of Occurrence. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | As well as protection/restoration of habitat, specific conditions may need to be met to maintain suitable habitat for germination and recruitment, and establish or maintain connections between populations/sites. |
| 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: | There may be some benefit from short/open swards and extensive grazed areas. |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 6. Recovery solutions trialled |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Policy conflict (detail in comments) |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Combination - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | SRC step 6 is suggested as Back from the Brink carried out sufficient work to allow wider trials of recovery solutions. Recovery potential given as 'low' because of influence of land-drainage, nutrient enrichment and habitat loss, which means only partial recovery of the lost AOO is likely to be possible. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Establish a programme of targeted monitoring across a selected set of sites across the species' range in England. Monitoring should aim at gaining an understanding of population dynamics, including recruitment, longevity, flowering frequency etc. Sites should include a range of geologies and a range of habitats, including heathland, acid grassland, chalk grassland and woodland.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Targeted monitoring
Duration: 6-10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 20 sites
High priority sites: The Mid-Cornwall Moors, including Goss Moor; the Dartmoor Commons; Dunsdon Moor NNR, Devon; Shapwick Heath NNR, Somerset; Cae Blaen-dyffryn, Sir Gaerfyrddin; Hartland Moor, Dorset; Marlborough Downs, Wiltshire, including Pewsey Down. If possible, sites in Cumbria and on the North Downs.
Comments: This action necessarily has a long duration because of the four or more years taken between germination and first flowering.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Undertake a programme of trial management, based on guidance produced by Back from the Brink, on a series of key sites across the species' geographic and habitat range. Sites should be selected where existing populations are known to be small, to be localised within apparently suitable habitat, or to have recently declined. Include the selected sites within the monitoring programme set out in action 1.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 10 sites
High priority sites: The Mid-Cornwall Moors, including Goss Moor; The Lizard, Cornwall; the Dartmoor Commons; Dunsdon Moor NNR, Devon; Shapwick Heath NNR, Somerset; Hartland Moor, Dorset; Marlborough Downs, Wiltshire, including Pewsey Down. If possible, sites in Cumbria and on the North Downs.
Comments:
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Undertake molecular studies to determine whether the various ecotypes (of heathland, woodland and chalk grassland) ought to be considered taxonomically distinct.
Action targets: 1. Taxonomy established
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 10 sites
High priority sites:
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.