Marsh Arrowgrass

Flower: A flower spike. The green flowers have purple edges. Individual flowers are up to 3mm wide. Flowers have 3 petals and 6 stamens. Fruit: Narrow, erect and arrow-like. Leaves: Long and grass-like leaves with deep grooves.

[view all information]

Broad-leaved Arrowhead

Flower: The white (pink tinged) flowers have 3 petals and 3 green sepals. They form flower spikes and each flower is about 4cm wide. This species is similar to Arrowhead (Sagittaria saggitifolia) but without the base of the petals being purple. Purple stamens. Insect pollinated. Fruit: The fruits are globular and produce seeds that ripen in August and September. Leaves: Arrow-shaped leaves on the end of a stalk, up to 30cm in length. Perennial.

[view all information]

Sea Barley

Flower: The spike is a maximum of 5cm in length. It has stiff, strongly spreading awns, up to 2.5cm long. Fruit: The fruit is a caryopsis. A caryopsis is a type of dry, one-seeded fruit. Leaves: An tufted, erect, annual species with glaucous, velvety leaves.

[view all information]

Fen Bedstraw

Flower: Loose clusters of white flowers. Each flower is up to 3mm across. Yellow anthers. Fruit: The fruits are low-domed warts. Leaves: Whorls of leaves in groups of 6 to 10. Leaves are one-veined. The linear leaves have prickly edges. Similar to Marsh Bedstraw (Galium palustre) but Fen Bedstraw often has rougher, purplish leaves. Fen Bedstraw is also a shorter plant.

[view all information]

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.

[view all information]

Great Marsh Bedstraw

Flower: The flowers are small and white, appearing together in clusters. The flowers are larger than those of Marsh Bedstraw (Galium palustre). Fruit: The fruit is a wrinkled nutlet. Leaves: The leaves are configured in whorls of 4 to 6. They have rough margins. The stems are without prickles. This is a perennial species, sometimes growing in water. It can be found throughout all parts of the British Isles.

[view all information]

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...

[view all information]

Creeping Bent

Flower: Clusters of flower spikelets, usually awned. Spikelets have only one floret. Often purplish. Similar in appearance to Common Bent (Agrostis capillaris) but its flowerheads are less open. Wind pollinated. Fruit: A brown caryopsis (a type of dry one-seeded fruit). Leaves: A perennial grass with creeping runners. Flat leaves with long pointed ligules. Abundant all over the British Isles.

[view all information]

New Forest Bladderwort

Flower: 2-lipped. The airborne flowers appear on stalked, leafless stems. The flowers of New Forest Bladderwort have a broad, flat lip. Fruit: The fruit is a capsule. Leaves: A carnivorous aquatic plant whose leaves are comprised of numerous thread-like segments. Its minute bristles and small bladders trap insects as a means of obtaining food. In autumn, the bladders fill with water and cause the plant to sink to the bottom. In the British Isles, this species only occurs...

[view all information]

Lesser Bladderwort

Flower: Pale greenish-yellow, up to 8mm across. The flowers have a short, blunt spur. The flowers look similar to those of Snapdragon. Fruit: The fruit is a round capsule. Leaves: A small, carnivorous, perennial flower with leaves that alternate along the stems. This is the smallest of the British Bladderwort species. The leaves are sometimes bristled. The bladders trap small animals inside them in order to feed.

[view all information]

Nordic Bladderwort

Flower: Small pale yellow flowers, similar looking to Snapdragon flowers. Fruit: A globular capsule. Leaves: An aquatic carnivorous plant, often tinged red.

[view all information]

Wavy Bladderwort

Flower: Yellow flowers, up to 15mm across. The lower lip has flat or slightly upturned margins and the spur is 7 or 8mm long. Flowers are on stems between 10 and 20cm in length. This species is similar in appearance to Greater Bladderwort (Utricularia vulgaris) but has paler flowers and the lower lip of Gre... Fruit: The fruits are rarely seen in the British Isles. They are a many-seeded, globular capsule, similar in appearance to a small grape. Leaves: An aquatic perennial species. The green, thread-like, segmented leaves are present on both submerged and aerial stems.

[view all information]

Greater Bladderwort

Flower: Rich yellow flowers, similar to those of Snapdragon. The lower lip of the flower is curved upwards and contains some red venation. The sepals are small, green and egg-shaped. Flower stalks are short and green. The most common of Britain's Bladderworts. Pollinated by bees. Fruit: A very small, round capsule. Very rarely seen. Leaves: A perennial, aquatic and carnivorous species of flower. The thread-like leaves are alternate along the stems. They zigzag between branches. Reddish-green bladder-like organs (up to 5mm wide) are present along the stems. These are used to trap insects on which the plant feeds. The evergreen underwate...

[view all information]

Blinks

Flower: Very tiny white flowers appearing in clusters of 1 to 3. Short-stalked. Pollinated by insects. Fruit: Shiny, black fruits. The seeds ripen from June to October. Leaves: A prostrate, low-growing, annual or short-lived perennial plant with small, narrowly oval to oblong (blunt-tipped) leaves. The leaves appear together in opposite pairs along the stems. Usually found growing on wet ground or in mud and is sometimes aquatic.

[view all information]

Brookweed

Flower: Flower spikes (racemes). Each flower has an inward bending long stalk and is about 2 to 4mm across. The bend in the stalk has a tiny, pointed bract. Triangular but blunt-pointed sepals. Orange heart-shaped anthers. Yellow pollen. Fruit: Green globular fruit capsules containing many reddish-brown seeds. The seeds ripen from July to August. Leaves: A hairless, normally unbranched flower with pale green, fleshy, upright, spoon-shaped leaves. The oval leaves remain close to the stems. The basal leaves are the largest. The stem leaves are alternately positioned going up the stem. Deciduous, short-lived perennial. Most frequently found near the se...

[view all information]