Endemic: Exploring the wildlife unique to Britain
Meet the rare, obscure, and utterly British species found nowhere else on earth.

Around 70,000 species call Britain home, but how many of them can be found here and only here? Join conservationist James Harding-Morris as he uncovers the stories of our endemic wildlife – the plants, animals and fungi that are unique to these islands.

Determined to give these irreplaceable species their moment in the spotlight, James goes in search of them across the length and breadth of Britain, from wild and rugged Orkney, the only known location for the Orkney vole, down to suburban Plymouth where the horrid ground-weaver spider faces global extinction at the hands of developers. He explores Devon's depths on the hunt for ghostly cave shrimp, seeks out alien fungi on Norfolk roadsides, and traces the tribulations of interrupted brome, the grass that has gone extinct not once, but twice.

Along the way, he meets the experts devoted to the study and survival of these vanishingly rare creatures and plants, determined to save them from the brink of global extinction, often single-handedly. Because many of these species are at risk of disappearing forever, before most of us even realise they exist.

A tapestry of wonder and weirdness, tragedies and triumphs, Endemic celebrates what makes our natural history so special and calls on us all to cherish and protect it.

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Endemic: Exploring the wildlife unique to Britain
Meet the rare, obscure, and utterly British species found nowhere else on earth.

Around 70,000 species call Britain home, but how many of them can be found here and only here? Join conservationist James Harding-Morris as he uncovers the stories of our endemic wildlife – the plants, animals and fungi that are unique to these islands.

Determined to give these irreplaceable species their moment in the spotlight, James goes in search of them across the length and breadth of Britain, from wild and rugged Orkney, the only known location for the Orkney vole, down to suburban Plymouth where the horrid ground-weaver spider faces global extinction at the hands of developers. He explores Devon's depths on the hunt for ghostly cave shrimp, seeks out alien fungi on Norfolk roadsides, and traces the tribulations of interrupted brome, the grass that has gone extinct not once, but twice.

Along the way, he meets the experts devoted to the study and survival of these vanishingly rare creatures and plants, determined to save them from the brink of global extinction, often single-handedly. Because many of these species are at risk of disappearing forever, before most of us even realise they exist.

A tapestry of wonder and weirdness, tragedies and triumphs, Endemic celebrates what makes our natural history so special and calls on us all to cherish and protect it.

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Endemic: Exploring the wildlife unique to Britain

Endemic: Exploring the wildlife unique to Britain

by James Harding-Morris
Endemic: Exploring the wildlife unique to Britain

Endemic: Exploring the wildlife unique to Britain

by James Harding-Morris

Hardcover

$28.00 
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Overview

Meet the rare, obscure, and utterly British species found nowhere else on earth.

Around 70,000 species call Britain home, but how many of them can be found here and only here? Join conservationist James Harding-Morris as he uncovers the stories of our endemic wildlife – the plants, animals and fungi that are unique to these islands.

Determined to give these irreplaceable species their moment in the spotlight, James goes in search of them across the length and breadth of Britain, from wild and rugged Orkney, the only known location for the Orkney vole, down to suburban Plymouth where the horrid ground-weaver spider faces global extinction at the hands of developers. He explores Devon's depths on the hunt for ghostly cave shrimp, seeks out alien fungi on Norfolk roadsides, and traces the tribulations of interrupted brome, the grass that has gone extinct not once, but twice.

Along the way, he meets the experts devoted to the study and survival of these vanishingly rare creatures and plants, determined to save them from the brink of global extinction, often single-handedly. Because many of these species are at risk of disappearing forever, before most of us even realise they exist.

A tapestry of wonder and weirdness, tragedies and triumphs, Endemic celebrates what makes our natural history so special and calls on us all to cherish and protect it.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781399405676
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Publication date: 08/26/2025
Pages: 272
Product dimensions: 6.02(w) x 9.21(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

James Harding-Morris is a passionate nature enthusiast with a lifelong love for exploring the natural world. Professionally, he specialises in communications and engagement within the conservation sector. His work on the Back from the Brink project has inspired many to care about some of England's rarest and most obscure species. Currently, James is on a mission to ensure that everyone in Britain and Ireland has the opportunity to fall in love with plants through his work with the BSBI.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Northern February Red

2. Birds

3. Celtic Woodlouse

4. Dandelions

5. Goldilocks Buttercups

6. Interrupted Brome

7. British Cave Shrimp

8. Lundy Cabbage

9. Purple Ramping-fumitory

10. York Groundsel

11. No Parking and Menai Strait Whitebeams

12. Great Orme Berry and South Stack Fleawort

13. False-toothed Lady's Mantle

14. Elms

15. Baker's Hawkweed

16. British Earthstar

17. Derbyshire Feather-moss

18. Scottish Primrose and Orkney Vole

19. Arran Whitebeam

20. Horrid Ground-weaver and the British False Flat-backed Millipede

Epilogue

Acknowledgements

References and Bibliography

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