Nature on the EDGE of extinction: Kew and ZSL scientists warn 21% of flowering plant evolutionary history is at risk - Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

• New research finds more than a fifth of flowering plant evolutionary history could vanish without adequate protection measures in place
• From the ‘world’s smelliest plant’ to the tiniest of waterlilies, scientists identify almost 10,000 Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) species
• This first assessment of its kind for flowering plants will feed into the tree of life indicators of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)
• Explore the unique and wonderful EDGE species in Kew’s collections with a brand new exhibition in the Princess of Wales Conservatory from May 20

In a new study published today (7 May 2026) in the journal Science, researchers from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, ZSL (Zoological Society of London) and their international collaborators present the first global assessment of risk to the angiosperm (flowering plants) tree of life, warning that more than a fifth of all angiosperm evolutionary history is at risk of extinction.

The new findings will enable scientists to prioritise many of these vulnerable plants for conservation, giving some of the most truly unique wonders of nature a better chance of survival.

Evolutionary history depicts how living organisms relate to one another on the tree of life and how they change over time. Not all species are equal in evolutionary terms, and some exist on long and isolated branches with few or no close relatives. These species represent a more unique evolutionary history than recently diverged species with several close relatives.

Examples include the shrub Amborella trichopoda, which represent a lineage that is estimated to have split from all other flowering plants about 130 million years ago, and the maidenhair tree, Ginkgo biloba, which is the only known descendant of an ancient lineage dating back more than 300 million years.