Abstract
Hieracium breconicola P.D. Sell, Beacons Hawkweed, is a Welsh endemic plant confined to the Brecon Beacons. Field surveys 2009-2020 indicate only one plant survives in one of its three sites. The IUCN threat status is ‘Critically Endangered’; unless conservation action is undertaken soon, this species will soon be extinct in the wild.
Highlights
Given that only two plants were known, H. breconicola ranked as one of the world’s rarest plants and the aim of this paper is to summarise what is known about it and to provide an IUCN Threat Category as required under the Global Plant Conservation Strategy (Secretariat for the Conservation of Biodiversity, 2002)
The historical records indicate H. breconicola occurs in three sites in two vice-counties (Fig. 4), and these were used to direct the field surveys
Fan Nedd (v.c.42) Hieracium breconicola was first collected on sandstone rocks at Fan Nedd by Augustin Ley on 7 August 1906 and again on 9 July 1908 (BM, CGE)
Summary
Beacons Hawkweed, is a very rare Welsh endemic (Moore, 2009; McCosh & Rich, 2018) It was first described as a new species by Sell & Murrell (2006) from plants named incorrectly as H. scoticum F. It is a member of Hieracium section Oreadea (Fr.) Dahlst. It is characterised by the few basal leaves and 2-5 stem leaves which are dark green with rigid hairs on the margins, the few-flowered inflorescence, the dark green, obtuse involucral bracts with numerous simple hairs, few glandular hairs and few or no stellate hairs, and the yellow styles It is characterised by the few basal leaves and 2-5 stem leaves which are dark green with rigid hairs on the margins, the few-flowered inflorescence, the dark green, obtuse involucral bracts with numerous simple hairs, few glandular hairs and few or no stellate hairs, and the yellow styles (Figs. 1-3)
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