Spring Speedwell (Veronica verna)
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: | Veronica verna |
| 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: small number of sites but 1 v successful intro |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Does not recur at sites believed in suitable condition |
| 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: | Works to generate large areas of mobile open chalky-sand would benefit it, with the wind being the main dispersal vector |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 4. Autecology and pressures understood |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Medium-high |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Structured - sufficient |
| Species Comments: | Not understood why stands are confined within larger, seemingly widely suitable sites |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Research why stands occur in local patches and not more widely across seemingly suitable sites
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Scientific research
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 10 sites
High priority sites: Icklingham Plains, Deadmans Grave, Foxhole Heath, Eriswell Low Warren, Lakenheath Warren, Codson Hill,
Comments:
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Subject to outcome of Action 1, stimulate restoration of dispersal vectors
Action targets: 5. Remedial action identified
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: >10 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 10 sites
High priority sites: Icklingham Plains, Deadmans Grave, Foxhole Heath, Eriswell Low Warren, Lakenheath Warren, Codson Hill,
Comments:
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Strip turf off large area of Eriswell Low Warren to regenerate habitat
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: 1 site
High priority sites: Eriswell Low Warren
Comments: Issues for other species e.g. Scleranthus perennis
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.