Hampshire Dandelion (Taraxacum akteum)
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: | Taraxacum akteum |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | Hagend., Soest & Zevenb. |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | in Stroh et al., 2014 |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | Taxonomic understanding has changed with time; see Richards (2021) for current treatment. |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Requires a survey to assess threats and priorities. Once only known from a single watermeadow site in Hampshire, the taxonomy of this was revised by Richards (2021) and is now known to be scattered across watermeadows in c. 12-14 sites in southern Britain in a threatened habitat. There are very little population data (that in Rich et al. 2018 only partly corresponds to the revised understanding of the species) so the first step is to assess the populations/habitats and threats. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | species-specific survey required to assess current population sizes. |
| 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: | specific watermeadow species |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 2. Biological status assessment exists |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Unknown |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Need specific surveys as few dandelion experts available, and outside skills/scope of general BSBI Atlas and local flora mapping |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Full population assessment in watermeadow sites with quadrats to determine vegetation/NVC niche in May when flowering and thus potential management requirements.
Action targets: 2. Biological status assessment exists
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 20 sites
High priority sites: All require survey
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Review management and water regime of its site on flood meadows to help define management requirements
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 20 sites
High priority sites: All extant sites
Comments: Management for this dandelion would probably benefit many other 'mead' dandelions of old watermeadows, a rich diverse flora.
Key Action 3
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.