Eight thousand plant species around the world, from the deserts of southern Africa to the Georgia plains, are listed as critically threatened or endangered—and 795 of them right here in the United States!

In this gallery, we’ve collected a few of the most extraordinary threatened plants. These gems of nature are increasingly cut down, cemented over, and stomped on by the development of homes, roads, trails, shopping malls, and more.

What more can we be doing to protect and save endangered plants?