Seventeen 'extinct' plant species back to conservation attention in Europe.

Seventeen European endemic plant species were considered extinct, but improved taxonomic and distribution knowledge as well as ex situ collecting activities brought them out of the extinct status. These species have now been reported into a conservation framework that may promote legal protection and in situ and ex situ conservation. Species once considered extinct have now, through improved taxonomic knowledge and collection activities, been restored, with lessons for conservation policies both in Europe and globally.