Hieracium hethlandiae

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Hieracium hethlandiae
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Hieracium
Species:
H. hethlandiae
Binomial name
Hieracium hethlandiae
Synonyms[1]

Hieracium dovrense var. hethlandiae F.Hanb.

Hieracium hethlandiae, known as Cliva Hill hawkweed, is a species of hawkweed native to Shetland. The species was first published in 1946.[2]

The species was endemic to a localized region of rocky slopes near Mavis Grind. Already threatened due to overgrazing by sheep, it was declared extinct in the wild after habitat disruption due to quarrying in the 1980s.[3]

Before the only known wild population was destroyed, botanist Walter Scott harvested and cultivated specimens of Hieracium hethlandiae. An authority on Hieracium, Scott was awarded an MBE for his conservation efforts in 1996.[4] Although it was declared extinct by the National Biodiversity Network, in 2015 the species was reintroduced to the wild on a site geologically similar to where it was originally found.[5]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Hieracium hethlandiae (F.Hanb.) Pugsley". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Hieracium hethlandiae (F.Hanb.) Pugsley | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Trust is helping to save endangered hawkweed". The Shetland Times. 23 September 2010. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  4. ^ Harvey, Paul (September 2018). "Walter Scott MBE" (PDF). BSBI News (139). Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland: 71–72. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  5. ^ Zimmer, Katarina (11 March 2021). "Seventeen "Extinct" European Plant Species Found Alive". The Scientist Magazine. Retrieved 9 August 2021.