One of the rarest plants in the country has been helped to regain a strong hold by a team of scientists and horticulturists from the Eden Project and Natural England. 

The Lizard juniper (Juniperus communis ssp. hemisphaerica) is a subspecies found in only one location in the country on Cornwall’s Lizard peninsula. 

Just six years ago, the population had dwindled to only 13 plants in the wild. With so few plants, the subspecies was at risk from being wiped out by a wildfire or grazing animals so Eden and Natural England took cuttings and started growing new plants at Eden’s nursery near Pentewan. 

Recently, nearly 200 of these Eden-grown junipers were planted in a secret location on the peninsula near where the existing wild population grow, to establish a new colony. 

Protected by an electric fence, the new juniper plantation is the culmination of six years’ work and will hopefully result in a wild population that will thrive again. 

The Eden team are aiming to grow more plants from seed collected from the Lizard, with the aim of introducing these to the wild too.