According to the National Wildlife Federation, more than 3,000 plants are considered critically endangered. Species of cacti, sunflower, and orchids are sitting on the ICUM Red List of Threatened Species while our environment continues to be degraded. When most think of endangered species, their mind goes to the millions of animals whose homes have been displaced due to climate change. However, it's important to recognize the crucial world plants play in ecosystems and the urgency to protect them.
Examples of Critically Endangered Species
1. Dwarf Ebony
Scientific name: (Trochetiopsis ebenus)
ICUN Status: Critically Endangered
An increase in forest clearings and rise of industrialization wiped out entire populations rapidly. The few that were left were picked off by grazing goats, and they were declared extinct for centuries. When amazingly the plants were found in 1980 clinging onto a cliff in wild St. Helena. The Dwarf Ebony still remains critically endangered as the rise of farmland and infrastructure continues to overtake them.
2. Blue amaryllis
Scientific name: (Worsleya procera)
ICUN Status: Critically Endangered
Blue amaryllis grows in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where wildfires are likely to occur due to the rise and longevity of dry seasons. Due to its beauty, it's also at risk for commercial collectors that make a huge profit off of selling it.
3. Bishop's Cap Cactus
Scientific name: (Astrophytum ornatum)
ICUN Status: Vulnerable
The Bishop's Cap Cactus plant is most found mostly in the high canyons of Mexico, up to 2,500 to 5,000 feet above sea level. They are prone to mine altercations, increase in livestock trampling, and commercial collectors. Although they seem small, they can grow up to six feet in height in the wild and they have a wooly and scaly body to protect themselves from the scorching sun.
4. Salt River Gum
Scientific name: (Eucalyptus sargentii)
ICUN Status: Endangered
Salt River Gum is a unique plant that thrives in the high salt content of the shrublands in wild Australia. It lives off of saline levels usually fatal to other plants. Unfortunately, its home has been destroyed by agricultural lands and pastures.
5. Willamette Daisy
Scientific name: (Erigeron decumbens)
ICUN Status: Endangered
Mostly found in Oregon, the Willamette daisy is threatened by habitat loss and habitat degradation due to invasive species and displacement through increased agricultural lands. The daisy is found also in seasonally and exclusively wet prairies and drier upland prairie sites making it hard for them to adapt to a changing environment.
Why Does This Matter
Entire ecosystems depend on all plants, large or small, in order to survive and thrive. Every single one of these species play a role within each of their environments and without them, it triggers the loss of other species in the same area. Someone as small as the Bishop's Cap Cactus can create a domino effect for an entire Mexico ecosystem, including humans, who depend on the health of plants for food and clean water.
Urban infrastructure and agricultural lands are rapidly encroaching on these plants' habitats and throwing off the delicate balance of their role within their environment. Plant studies on declines have been sustainably ignored compared to birds and insects. The ICUN notes that they have not collected data for all plant species and rather continue to add data to the existing plants. By ignoring plant species, they are not addressing the true concern the world should be having for the large numbers of at-risk plants.
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