Fewer than 50 species of plant have ever been recorded from Burhou and nothing rare, so it it came as a surprise to me to not only find a new species for the island, but one of the rarest British species, Rumex rupestris (shore dock). Britain is the world stronghold for Rumex rupestris, but even here the total population is estimated to be less than 650 plants (see a full description of its status at the JNCC website). The last record of this species nearby was in 1958 on Alderney.
Below is a picture of Rumex rupestris showing its large smooth tubercules and Rumex crispus like leaves.
This work by Quentin Groom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.