Grief and Gardening: Extinct Plants of northern North America 2024

Today, November 30th is the Remembrance Day for Lost Species. Animals, mostly charismatic megafauna, get most of the attention. Plants are mostly overlooked. I root for the underdog.

Ice meadow at Riparius, Warren County, NY, August 2021

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

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

The lists below are sorted by botanical name, linked to an accompanying Wikipedia article, if available. Most of these species were endemic to a small area, sometimes only a single site. Because of this, most have no common name, and the taxonomy of many is unclear. Each entry includes the common name, if any, last know location, and year it was last observed in the wild.

I’ve had no additions or updates to these lists since 2020. If you have additions or corrections to this list, please let me know, and provide a link which I can research.

Extinct

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

Related Content

Grief and Gardening: Extinct Plants of northern North America 2022, 2022-11-30
Extinct Plants of northern North America 2020, 2020-11-30
Grief and Gardening: Ashes (Remembrance Day for Lost Species), 2019-12-02
Extinct Plants of northern North America 2018, 2018-11-30
Extinct Plants of northern North America 2015, 2015-11-29
Extinct Plants of northern North America, 2014-11-30

Links

Vascular plant extinction in the continental United States and Canada, 2020-08-20.
Authors: Wesley M. KnappAnne FrancesReed NossRobert F. C. NacziAlan WeakleyGeorge D. GannBruce G. BaldwinJames MillerPatrick McIntyreBrent D. MishlerGerry MooreRichard G. OlmsteadAnna StrongKathryn KennedyBonnie HeidelDaniel Gluesenkamp

The Recently Extinct Plants Database (added 2024-11-30)
Wikipedia: List of recently extinct plants
IUCN Red List
Extinct and Extirpated Plants from Oregon (PDF, 5 pp)

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