As in past years, I’m limiting this list to northern North America for two reasons:

1. Restricting this list geographically is in keeping with my specialization in plants native to northeastern North America.
2. There are many more tropical plants, and plant extinctions, than I can manage.

In 2020, this paper:

Vascular plant extinction in the continental United States and Canada

caused me to expand my list from 6 to 59 species, including 7 extinct in the wild. The summary is terse, and grim:

Given the paucity of plant surveys in many areas, particularly prior to European settlement, the actual extinction rate of vascular plants is undoubtedly much higher than indicated here.

Extinct

• Agalinis caddoensis, Railroad near Shreveport, Louisiana. last observed 1913
• * Astilbe crenatiloba, Roan Mountain false goat’s beard, Roan Mountain, Tennessee, 1885
• Astragalus endopterus, near Cameron, Coconino County, Arizona. Last observed 1947
• Astragalus kentrophyta var. douglasii, Washington/Oregon?, 1883
• Astragalus robbinsii var. robbinsii, Vermont, 1894
• Atriplex tularensis, California, 1891
• Blephilia hirsuta var. glabrata, Manchester, Bennington County, ermont, 1932
• Boechera fruticosa, Yellowstone, Wyoming, 1899
• Brickellia chenopodina, Grant County, New Mexico, 1903
• Brickellia hinckleyi var. terlinguensis, Brewster County, Texas, 1937
• Calochortus indecorus, Sexton Mountain, Josephine County, Oregon, 1948
• Calochortus monanthus, Yreka, Siskiyou County, California, 1876
• Calystegia seium ssp. binghamiae, Santa Barbara, California
• Castilleja leschkeana, Point Reyes, Marin County, California, 1947
• Castilleja uliginosa, Pitkin Marsh, Sonoma County, California, 1984
• Cirsium praeteriens, Palo Alto, Santa Clara County, California, 1901
• Corispermum pallidum, Washington, 1931
• Crataegus austromontana, Sand Mountain region and Cumberland Mountains, Alabama and Tennessee, 1916
• Cryptantha aptera, Grand Junctino, mesa County Colorado, 1892
• Cryptantha hooveri, California, 1939
• Cryptantha insolita, north of Las Vegas, Nevada, 1942
• Dalea sabinalis, Texas, 1950s
• Digitaria filiformis var. laeviglumis, Hillsboro County, NH, 1931
• Diplacus traskiae, near Avalon, Santa Catalina Island, California, 1901
• Eleocharis brachycarpa, Tamaulipas, Mexico (1959) and Texas, 1834
• Elodea schweinitzii, New York and Pennsylvania, 1832
• Erigeron mariposanus, California, 1900
• Eriochloa michauxii var. simpsonii, Florida, 1966
• Govenia floridana, Miami-Dade County, Florida, 1964
• Hedeoma pilosa, Old Blue Mountain, Brewster County, Texas, 1940
• Helianthus nuttallii ssp. parishii, Orange County, California, 1937
• Helianthus praetermissus, Arizona (likely) or New Mexico, 1851
• Isocoma humilis, Washington County, Utah, 1971
• Juncus pervetus, Lewis Bay, West Yarmouth, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, 1927
• Lechea lakelae, Collier County, Florida, 1987
• Lycium verrucosum, Arroyo Cliffs, San Nicolas County, California, 1901
• Marshallia grandiflora, North Carolina, 1919
• Micranthemum micranthemoides, Mid-atlantic United States, 1941
• Monardella leucocephala, California, 1941
• Monardella pringlei, San Bernardino County, California, 1941
• * Narthecium montanum, Appalachian Yellow Asphodel, East Flat Rock Bog, Henderson County, North Carolina, 1919
• * Neomacounia nitida, Macoun’s shining moss, Belleville, Ontario, 1864
• * Orbexilum macrophyllum, bigleaf scurfpea, Polk County, North Carolina, 1899
• * Orbexilum stipulatum, large-stipule leather-root, Falls-of-the-Ohio scurfpea, Rock Island, Falls of the Ohio, KY, 1881
• Paronychia maccartii, Rio Grande Plains, Webb County, Texas, 1962
• Plagiobothrys lamprocarpus, Grants Pass, Josephine County, Oregon, 1921
• Plagiobothrys lithocaryus, Mayacamas Mountains, California, 1899
• Plagiobothrys mollis var. vestitus, Petaluma, Sonoma County, California, 1880
• Polygonatum biflorum var. melleum, Lake St. Clair, north of Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario, 1937
• Potentilla multijuga, South Coast Ballona Marsh, Los Angeles County, California, 1893
• Potentilla uliginosa, Cunningham Marsh, Sonoma County, California, 1947
• Proboscidea spicata, Rio Grande, Texas, 1967
• Quercus tardifolia, Chisos Mountains, Brewster County, Texas, 2007
• Ribes divaricatum var. parishii, California, 1980
• Rumex tomentellus, Willow Creek, Mogollon Mountains, Catron County, New Mexico, 1954
• Sesuvium trianthemoides, Kenedy County, Texas, 1947
• Sphaeralcea procera, Deming, Luna County, New Mexico, 1943
• Tephrosia angustissima var. angustissima, Pine Rocklands, Florida, 1947 (1985?)
• * Thismia americana, banded trinity, Lake Calumet, Cook County, Illinois, 1916

Extinct in the wild (IUCN Red List code EW)

• Arctostaphylos franciscana, Central Coast, San Francisco County, California. Last observed in the wild 2009
• Crataegus delawarensis, Delaware, 1903
• Crataegus fecunda, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, 1930s
• Crataegus lanuginosa, Webb City, Jasper County, Missouri, 1957
• Euonymous atropurpurea var. cheatumii, Dallas County, Texas, 1944
• * Franklinia alatamaha, Franklin Tree
• Prunus maritima var. gravesii, beach plum, groton, New London County, Connecticut, 2000

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