Grey Alder

Flower: Pendulous, red-brown and becoming yellow later (male catkins). Red, erect and cylindrical (female catkins). Male and female catkins present on same tree. Fruit: Wooded cones which persist on the tree throughout winter months. Leaves: Deciduous. Hairy, ovate and pointed, glossy, grey beneath.

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Bog Arum

Flower: A greenish white spadix, up to 8cm long. Pollinated by flies. Fruit: Red berries in autumn. The seeds ripen in August and September. Leaves: A deciduous, evergreen perennial which grows in shallow water. The broadly heart-shaped leaves are dark green and glossy.

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Bog Asphodel

Flower: Deep yellow spike of flowers, often tinged orange. Flowers are star-like with 6 petals and orange anthers. Fruit: Egg-shaped and bright orange. Leaves: Long and slender, grass-like.

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Awlwort

Flower: Flowers have 4 narrow, white petals. 2 or 3mm wide. Fruit: Tiny, egg-shaped, inflated pods. Leaves: An annual or biennial aquatic plant which is almost always completely submerged. The pale green leaves appear in tufts and are cylindrical, linear and sharp-pointed. This plant looks similar to Shoreweed (Littorella uniflora) but the leaves are shorter and more slender than those of Shoreweed. Both ...

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Alpine Bartsia

Flower: Dark purple flowers with leafy bracts. The flowers are occasionally yellow. 4 stamens. Fruit: A dark brown, oval capsule. 2 valves. Leaves: A downy perennial plant with purple-tinted, oval, untoothed leaves. Unstalked. The leaves appear together in opposite pairs along the stems.

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White Beak-sedge

Flower: White Beak-sedge (Rhynchospora alba) features small, inconspicuous flowers with pale to creamy-colored petals, typically arranged in compact clusters or spikelets at the tips of its slender, grass-like stems. The flowers are delicate and often go unnoticed due to their subtle appearance, but they ad... Fruit: The fruit of White Beak-sedge consists of small, nut-like achenes. These achenes are typically dark brown or black and are attached to the plant's stem in clusters. They have a hard, seed-like shell and are dispersed by wind or water, contributing to the plant's reproductive cycle. Leaves: The leaves of White Beak-sedge are long, slender, and grass-like in appearance. They are typically dark green and have a linear shape. These leaves grow in dense tufts and arise from the base of the plant, forming an attractive clump. The leaves are typically smooth and narrow, adding to the overall...

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Brown Beak-sedge

Flower: Reddish-brown spikelets. The upper leaf-like bracts extend beyond the head of the flowers. Fruit: An beaked achene (nutlet). Single-seeded. Leaves: Narrow, thread-like leaves. Perennial, growing on peaty soils.

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Arctic Bearberry

Flower: Small white, bell-shaped flowers. Flowers are stalked. 5 green sepals and 5 fused petals.. 10 stamens. Pollinated by bees. Fruit: The fruit is a globular black berry, up to 12mm in diameter. Fruits are green initially, later turning red and then finally black. Leaves: Small oval, pointed leaves with finely toothed margins.

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Slender Marsh Bedstraw

Flower: Flowers appear in small clusters. The flowers are pale pink on the outside and creamy-white inside. Flowers each measure 2 or 3mm across. Fruit: The fruit is a high domed, warted nutlet. Leaves: The linear leaves are in whorls of 4 to 6 along the stems. The tips of the leaves can be either blunt or pointed. Similar in appearance to Fen Bedstraw (Galium uliginosum) and Marsh Bedstraw (Galium palustre) except Slender Marsh Bedstraw is more slender and weaker branched. It is also a shorter gro...

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Marsh Bedstraw

Flower: Small, white flowers. Up to 4mm in diameter. Fruit: Small, globular fruit, slightly wrinkled. Leaves: Rough-margined leaves, in whorls of 4 to 6. Stems are without prickles. The similar-looking Fen Bedstraw (Galium oliginosum) does not have prickles on the stems. Perennial which sometimes grows in water.

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Velvet Bent

Flower: Purplish spikelets and awned florets. Spikelets measure between 2 and 2.5mm in length. Fruit: The fruit is a caryopsis. A type of dry, one-seeded fruit. Leaves: The leaves are very narrow. They each have a jagged, long, pointed ligule.

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Bilberry

Flower: One or two reddish-pink bell-shaped flowers on short stalks at leaf bases. Fruit: Small, round, dark blue, flat-topped berries. No larger than 1cm in diameter. Leaves: Small, light green and short-stalked oval to elliptical leaves with netted veins. Leaf margins are finely serrated.

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Bog Bilberry

Flower: Clusters of pendulous pale pink, bell-shaped flowers. Bog Bilberry is a shy flowerer and flowers appear together in clusters of up to 4. Insect pollinated. Fruit: The fruit is a bluish-black berry. Fruits are bluer than those of the similar looking Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus). 5 to 8mm in diameter. Leaves: A dwarf shrub with bluish-green, oval leaves, similar to those of Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) but rounder and without toothed margins. The leaves are a more bluish-green and are paler beneath.

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Dwarf Birch

Flower: Greenish-brown erect catkins, up to 1.5cm long. Smaller than the catkins of Downy Birch and Silver Birch. Wind pollinated. Fruit: The fruit is a small winged achene (a type of one-seeded, dry fruit). In fruit from July to September. Leaves: Small, round, hairless and deeply toothed. They are downy when young. Up to 1.5mm across. The leaves turn yellow, orange or red in autumn.

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Downy Birch

Flower: Male and female catkins appear on the same tree. Erect female catkins are shorter and green. Male catkins hang loosely in groups of 2-4. Often hybridizes with Silver Birch making identification tricky. Fruit: Small dry one-sided winged fruits, called 'achenes'. Leaves: Deciduous. Ovate, pointed and with serrated margins. Light green in spring, darkening and then turning yellow or orange in autumn. Leaves are often hairy underneath.

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