Garden Arabis

Flower: Clusters of small white, pink or purple flowers. Each flower is about 1.5cm across. Pollinated by bees, butterflies and moths. Fruit: A long slender capsule. The seeds ripen from April to June. Leaves: A low mat-forming perennial flower with hoary, long-stalked, oblong leaves. The leaves are slightly toothed. The upper leaves clap their stems and have arrow-shaped lobes. Evergreen.

[view all information]

Goldilocks Aster

Flower: Loose, erect clusters of bright golden yellow flowers. They measure no larger than 1.8cm across. The yellow stigmas are prominent. Very late flowering. Fruit: The fruit is an achene. An achene is a type of dry, one-seeded fruit. Leaves: Numerous, linear, lance-shaped leaves. Unlike the similar looking Golden Samphire (Inula crithmoides), the leaves are not fleshy.

[view all information]

Common Barberry

Flower: Hanging yellow flowers. Insect-pollinated. Fruit: Red, globular berries. The seeds ripen in September and October. Leaves: Deciduous shrub whose leaves appear from March to November. The leaves are simple, oval and spiny-toothed.

[view all information]

Cornish Bellflower

Flower: The white, tubular, pendulous flowers appear in spikes. Flowers measure up to 2cm long. The petals are pointed. Fruit: The fruit is a many-seeded capsule. The seeds are minute. Leaves: A clump-forming perennial with heart-shaped, softly hairy basal leaves, up to 3 inches long. The leaves are also greyish-green and toothed. Most likely to be found in Cornwall and Somerset.

[view all information]

Clustered Bellflower

Flower: A compact clustered flowerhead of violet-blue, unstalked, bell-shaped or star-shaped flowers. The petals are blunt-tipped and curve outwards. A faint dark violet vein runs through the centre of each petal. Flowers are occasionally solitary where they are sometimes mistaken for a Gentian, however Gen... Fruit: The fruit is a many-seeded capsule. Leaves: Dark green, narrow, lance-shaped leaves (or slightly heart-shaped), half clasping the stem. The leaves alternate along the stems on both sides. The lower leaves are triangular and stalked. Occasionally seen as a garden escape species. Perennial and clump-forming.

[view all information]

Alpine Bistort

Flower: The inflorescence is a slender flower spike. White or pink flowers. 8 stamens. Purple anthers. Fruit: The fruit is an achene. Leaves: An unbranched perennial flower with dark green, linear or lance-shaped leaves which taper at both ends. Leaf margins frequently have downturned margins.

[view all information]

Narrow-leaved Bittercress

Flower: Clusters of tiny, 4-petaled, white flowers. 6 stamens. The similar looking Hairy Bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) usually only has 4 stamens. Pollinated by bees, flies, butterflies and months. Fruit: The fruit is a cylindrical pod. The seeds ripen from May to September. Leaves: A biennial plant wit pinnate leaves. There are several pairs of deeply toothed, lance-shaped leaves. The leaves clasp their stems. Hairless with straight stems. The similar Wavy Bittercress (Cardamine flexuosa) has often got zigzagged stems. Often found growing on limestone pavements.

[view all information]

Cut-leaved Blackberry

Flower: Flowers can be white or pink. The petals are deeply cut into 3 lobes at their ends. Fruit: The fruit is a black berry. The fruits are similar in appearance to blackberry. Leaves: A scrambling, half-evergreen shrub with very easy to distinguish leaves. The leaves are deeply cut. Prickly stems. A garden escape species.

[view all information]

English Bluebell

Flower: The flowers of English Bluebells, with their pendulous, bell-shaped blooms, adorn the woodland floors of the United Kingdom from April to May, casting a spell of enchantment over observers. Their vivid blue hues, often seen carpeting the ground in dense colonies, create a scene of natural wonder in ... Fruit: After the blooming season, English Bluebells produce small, round fruits known as capsules, containing seeds that ensure their propagation in the following seasons. These capsules develop from the base of the flower stems, gradually swelling as the seeds ripen within. Once matured, the capsules spli... Leaves: The leaves of English Bluebells are long, narrow, and slightly glossy, emerging from the base of the plant in tufts or clusters. These strap-like leaves, characteristic of the genus Hyacinthoides, are typically dark green in colour and have a smooth texture. Arranged in an alternate fashion along th...

[view all information]

Butcher's Broom

Flower: Pale yellow or green flowers, up to 5mm across. Sometimes purple-spotted around the edges. The flowers grow out from the centre of the cladodes (see the section on leaf details). 3 petals and 3 sepals. Fruit: A red berry. The seeds are distributed by birds and ripen from August to March. Leaves: Butcher's Broom has no leaves. The leaf-like structures are actually flattened stems. These structures are called 'cladodes'. This plant is a low-growing evergreen shrub with oval cladodes that end in a sharp spiny point. Throughout the British Isles, Butcher's Broom is the most common in the south ...

[view all information]

Spanish Broom

Flower: Bright yellow, pea-like flowers, up to 2.5cm long. Pollinated by insects. Fruit: Black pea-like pods which are hairy all over and up to 10cm long. The seeds ripen from August to October. Leaves: The leaves appear very sparsely on the rush-like shoots. The latin name 'junceum' means rush-like which is a reference to the stems of Spanish Broom. The leaves are a maximum of 3cm in length and up to 4mm wide.

[view all information]

Oxtongue Broomrape

Flower: Yellowish-white, purple-veined, downy flowers. Purple stamens. Fruit: The fruit is an egg-shaped capsule. Leaves: The green leaves are oblong or lance-shaped and toothed. The stems are purple-tinged. Oxtongue Broomrape is parasitic on Bristly Oxtongue (Helminthotheca echioides) and Hawkweed Oxtongue (Picris hieracioides).

[view all information]

Bedstraw Broomrape

Flower: The flowers are yellowish and tinged purple. Purple, 2-lobed stigma. Downy stamens. Fruit: The fruit is an egg-shaped capsule, 1.2cm long. Leaves: Ovate to lance-shaped leaves, up to 2.5cm (1 inch) in length. Parasitic on Hedge Bedstraw (Galium album).

[view all information]

Yarrow Broomrape

Flower: The flowers are purplish-blue making them easier to identify than other Broomrape species. They measure up to 3cm in size. The flowers are dark blue veined and the petals are pointed. White stigmas. The only British species of Broomrape with 3 bracts. The lower lip of the flower is 3-lobed. Fruit: A capsule. Leaves: Yarrow Broomrape is downy all over with white hairs. It has no leaves.

[view all information]

Purple Viper's Bugloss

Flower: The purple tubular flowers appear in branched spikes. They each measure up to 3cm in size. Similar in appearance to Viper's Bugloss (Echium vulgare) but is a shorter plant with 2 protruding stamens per flower. Viper's Bugloss has 4 or 5 stamens. Fruit: Wrinkled nutlets. Leaves: Lance-shaped leaves, rough and very hairy, up to 14cm long. The side veins are prominent. Annual or biennial.

[view all information]