Leigh Woods Whitebeam (Sorbus leighensis)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vascular plant > flowering plant > Shrub/sub-shrub |
| 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: | Sorbus leighensis |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | T.C.G.Rich |
| 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: | No |
| Justification: | Locally frequent on open rocks, quarries and cliffs on Leigh Woods side of Avon Gorge, where currently doing well and stable and under little or no threat in the Avon Gorge SSSI/SAC. Rare on Bristol side of gorge but always has been. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | No |
| Justification: | Whitebeam stable if rare and under little/no threat. |
| 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: | Some scrub management in Avon Gorge quarries would help all whitebeams medium term. Whole SSSI would benefit from control of invasive species such as Holm oak |
Species Assessment
Not relevant as no Key Actions defined.
Key Actions
No Key Actions Defined
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.