Adder's-tongue Spearwort (Ranunculus ophioglossifolius)
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: | Ranunculus ophioglossifolius |
| 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: | CR at GB and Eng level; |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Only two sites and unreliable at one of them, this sp is on the edge but quite why is not fully known. |
| 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: | Too isolated and restricted |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 4. Autecology and pressures understood |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Combination or other (detail in comments) |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Monitor population size, map plants, record habitat condition and habitat management locations
Action targets: 3. National Monitoring Plan agreed and implemented
Action type: Targeted monitoring
Duration: Unknown
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Badgworth, Wetmoor
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Restore appropriate (harder) grazing levels at Inglestone and monitor consequences
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: Unknown
Scale of Implementation: 1 site
High priority sites: Inglestone
Comments: To be maintained - synergy with stonewort conservation at this site
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Identify sites for pond creation and targeted introduction, using CS?
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: (Re-)introduction
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites:
Comments: Initially
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.