Sampled Red List Index for Plants - Example plant profiles

Discover interesting facts and figures about some of the plant species assessed as part of the IUCN Sampled Red List Index for Plants project. Every plant tells a story.

Every year some 2,000 new plant species are described and the biodiversity of many parts of the world, especially in the remotest regions, remains poorly known. In a collaborative effort between world-renowned scientific institutions, the IUCN Sampled Red List Index for Plants project gives an accurate view for the first time of how plants are threatened across the world. It represents the first part of an ongoing project to monitor the status of the world’s plants. Use Kew's interactive map to explore the state of plant life around the world and find out more about plants at risk.

Five major groups of plants have been included in the IUCN Sampled Red List Index for Plants. Bryophytes (mosses and liverworts), pteridophytes (these are land plants, such as ferns, that produce neither flowers nor seeds and reproduce via spores), gymnosperms (such as conifers and cycads), monocotyledonss (one of the major groups of flowering plants including orchids and the economically important grass and palm families) and legumes (the pea and bean family), as representative of the other flowering plants. Both common and rare species were assessed in order to give an accurate picture of how plants are faring around the world. Explore a collection of related plant profiles below.