Water Germander (Teucrium scordium)
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: | Teucrium scordium |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | L. |
| 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: | EN in GB & England. Confined to four sites as native. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | All populations highly localised, and need targeted management over & above 'generic' grazing management |
| 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: | Restoration of a dynamic and functional landscape in Fenland would deliver for a wide guild of species including this |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 5. Remedial action identified |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Life history factor/s |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Combination - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Largely lost through drainage & land reclamation, but surviving sites permanently at risk from vegetation succession: the species favours seasonally flooded open, & short fen / dune slack vegetation & has little tolerance of competition from coarser species. Hydrology appears critical to survival - the species appears to die out if sites remain flooded too late into the spring, yet highly vulnerable to dummer droughting. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Maintain & create open dune slack & fen vegetation with varied hydrology in all sites through mechanical scraping/rutting etc, sedge cutting & associated extensive grazing. Review options for expansion of area of occupancy within sites, & for introducing plants into suitable nearby locations (e.g. through SRP Fens project).
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: All sites
Comments: The bulk of surviving populations of T. scordium at Braunton Burrows survive in areas that have been mechanically scraped over the past 20+ years. Significant recent works through the Dynamic Dunescapes project have targeted key areas for species, but in the absence of natural mobility within these dunes, it is likely that further intervention needed in future years.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Monitor species at all known native sites every 1 - 3 years to assess status of species at both sites & to ensure favourable management conditions persist
Action targets: 3. National Monitoring Plan agreed and implemented
Action type: Targeted monitoring
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: All
Comments: Particularly attention should be paid to population at Northam Burrows where species is especially vulnerable to extinction
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Undertake research into autecology of species & response to various management regimes. Issues to assess include role hydrology; vegetation structure (incl. pleurocarpous moss growth); impact of climate change; dispersal mechanisms etc. Review roles of mechanical interventions (e.g. scraping / rutting / cutting), grazing & disturbance in mitigating impacts.
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: All
Comments: The species clearly benefits from vegetation that is open, short & seasonally-flooded. But many aspects of ecology poorly understood - making precise management interventions difficult (.g. the role of seed vs. vegetative spread).
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.