WIRED UK
Plants Under Pressure
Artwork for Wired UK regarding the 'State of the World’s Plants 2016 - Extinction Risk'
"This report provides, for the first time, a baseline assessment of our current knowledge on the diversity of plants on earth, the global threats these plants currently face, and the policies in place and their effectiveness in dealing with these threats.
On the diversity of plants, we can report that there are now an estimated ~391,000 vascular plants known to science of which 369,000 are flowering plants. Around 2000 new vascular plant species are described each year. In 2015 these included a massive leguminous tree (Gilbertiodendron maximum), more than 90 species of Begonia, 13 new species from the onion family, and discovery of a close relative of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas). Most were found during fieldwork, some in herbarium specimens, while one of the largest carnivorous plants known (1.5m in height) a new insect-eating plant, Drosera magnifica was first discovered on Facebook. However, there are still large parts of the world where very little is known about the plants. Identification of these important plant areas is now critical. Similarly, we still only know a fraction of the genetic diversity of plants and whole-genome sequences are currently available for just 139 species of vascular plants."
