Plenty Of Plants

A Kew report provides comprehensive details about existing plants around the world.

16:23 11 May 2016

A Kew report provides comprehensive details about existing plants around the world.

 

A report carried out by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew revealed that there are 390,000 plants known to science, 2,034 of which were discovered in 2015. The number excludes algae, liverworts, mosses and hornworts.

 

However, researchers, who searched existing databases for their report, warned that 21per cent of plants are at risk of extinction due to habitat loss, climate change, invasive species and diseases.

 

Prof Kathy Willis, director of science at RBG Kew, said: "It's really important to know how many plant species there are, where they are and the relationship between the groups, because plants are absolutely fundamental to our well-being.

 

"They provide us with our food, our fuel, our medicines - even controlling our climate."

 

As scientists are finding new species of plants all the time, Prof Willis said that the report is “just scratching the surface. There are thousands out there that we don’t know about.”

 

Last year’s study discovered a tree that grows up to 45m-high called Gilbertiodendron maximum, ninety new species of Begonia, five new species of onion, and a sprawling, insect-eating plant called Drosera magnifica in Brazil. 

 

The Kew team also assessed the problems faced the world’s flora.

 

"Invasive species are really one the biggest challenges for native biodiversity," said Dr Colin Clubbe, head of conservation science at Kew.

 

"They are a real driver of species loss."