Galingale (Cyperus longus)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vascular plant > flowering plant > Sedge |
| Red List Status: | Near Threatened (Not Relevant) [NT(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: | Cyperus longus |
| 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: | As a native, this perennial herb is confined to marshes an flushes near to the coast in southern and southwest England and in west Wales. Elsewhere it occurs much more widely as an ornamental introduction often growing on the edges of ponds, lakes and ditches. As a consequence, it's native range has been obscured in many areas and its trends in Plant Atlas 2020 show a dramatic increase in occurrences over time (Stroh et al., 2023). Consequently native populations should be identified as a priority for recovery. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | As a native this species has a very localised distribution and is confined to species-rich marshes and flushes that are susceptible land use and hydrological changes as well as pollution from surrounding land-uses, especially runoff of nutrients from farmland. It's remaining sites therefore protection and sensitive 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: | Reduction of diffuse pollution would benefit all aquatics of conservation importance, as would sensitive management of waterways and restoration of floodplains |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 2. Biological status assessment exists |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Life history factor/s |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | This species is at the northern edge of its native range in Britain and possibly only persists due to rhizomatous spread. It's native range is also debatable due to widespread introductions. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Identify both extant and former native sites with a view to restore appropriate management
Action targets: 4. Autecology and pressures understood
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 20 sites
High priority sites: To be determined
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.