Symonds Yat Whitebeam (Sorbus saxicola)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Vascular plant > flowering plant > Tree |
| Red List Status: | Critically Endangered (Not Relevant) [CR(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 saxicola |
| 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: | Yes |
| Justification: | Endangered and with a total population of about 25 trees, it is scattered on open rocks, quarries and cliffs on the Great Doward and Symonds Yat. However, it is currently doing well and is stable and under little or no threat in protected site Upper Wye Gorge SSSI. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Whitebeam stable if rare and under little/no threat in Upper Wye Gorge SSSI. |
| 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: | Reintroduction of woodland coppicing management across woodlands in Upper Wye Gorge SSSI and Wye Valley in general - especially along cliff edges - would benefit whitebeams and some hawkweeds |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 2. Biological status assessment exists |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Relict or natural rarity |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Opportunistic - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Wye Valley Sorbus can be grouped together for similar action plans |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Expert monitoring of populations to inform next action(s)
Action targets: 2. Biological status assessment exists
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 2 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 5 sites
High priority sites: Upper Wye Gorge SSSI
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.