Common Name

Botanical Name

Habitat - Sandy Shores and Dunes.

Burnet Rose

Evening Primrose

Frosted Orache

Portland Spurge

Prickly Saltwort

Purple Spurge

Rough Clover

Sea Bindweed

Sea Buckthorn

Sea Holly

Sea Holly is
Eryngium maritimum

Umbellifer family

Sea Kale

Sea Mayweed

Sea Rocket

Sea Rocket is
Cakile maritima

Crucifer family

Sea Sandwort

Seaside Centaury

Sea Spurge

Sea Stork's-bill

Bulbous Buttercup

Bulbous Buttercup is
Ranunculus bulbosus

Buttercup family

A perennial herb with a corm-like stem-base, found on well-drained, neutral or calcareous soils in meadows, pastures and dunes. It is absent from highly productive, fertile grassland and from strongly acidic soils.

Avoided by grazing animals but intolerant of trampling.

Virgin's Bower, Fragrant Virgin's Bower

Virgin's Bower, Fragrant Virgin's Bower is
Clematis flammula

Clematis flammula, found in Corsica. By IKAl, via Wikimedia Commons.

Buttercup family

Pollinated by bees, flies.

All parts of the plant are poisonous, the toxic principle is dissipated by heat or by drying.

This is a scrambling or weakly climbing perennial. It is occasionally found naturalised on coastal cliffs, shingle beaches and dunes, and rarely inland.

Hedges, thickets and waste places.

Plants can be grown as ground cover, planted about 48 inches (120 cms) apart and allowed to scramble over the ground. Grows well on chalk soil.

Common Fumitory , Fumitory

Common Fumitory is
Fumaria officinalis

Fumitory family

Native plant, which if seen in quantity at a distance the greyish foliage has the faint smoky appearance that gives the plant its name.

Pollinated by bees or probably more frequently selfed, self-fertile.

Its stems are poisonous due to the fumarin. An overdose is always fatal because it paralyses the respiratory system.

A scrambling annual of arable fields, allotments, gardens and other disturbed land, most commonly found on calcareous soils. Most germination occurs in the spring, and the seed bank is long-lived.

Habitat in shores.

Weed on cultivated ground on the lighter soils (Sand and Chalk), waste places and hedgebanks throughout the British Isles.

Use as an annual.

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FLOWER COLOUR Comparison Page,
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...Yellow H-Z Note
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Number of Petals List:-
Without Petals. Other plants
without flowers.
1 Petal or
Composite of
many 1 Petal Flowers as Disc
or Ray Floret .
2 Petals.
3 Petals.
4 Petals.
5 Petals.
6 Petals.
Over 6 Petals.

BLUE WILD FLOWER GALLERY
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Lists of:-

Edible Plant Parts.

Flower Legend.

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Flowering plants of Chalk and Limestone Page 1
Page 2

Flowering plants of Acid Soil
Page 1

Pollinator.

Poisonous Parts.

Scented Flower, Foliage, Root.

Story of their Common Names.

Use for Flowering Plants

Use for Non-Flowering Plants

SEED COLOUR
Seed 1
Seed 2

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Habitat Lists:-

Approaching the
Coast (Coastal).

Broad-leaved
Woods.

Grassland - Acid, Neutral, Chalk.

Heaths and Moors.

Hedgerows and Verges.

Lakes, Canals and Rivers.

Marshes, Fens,
Bogs.

Old Buildings and Walls.

Pinewoods.

River Banks and
other Freshwater Margins.

Saltmarshes.

Sandy Shores and Dunes.

Shingle Beaches, Rocks and
Cliff Tops.

Other.
 

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Introduction

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INDEX LINK TO WILDFLOWER PLANT DESCRIPTION PAGE
a-h
i-p
q-z


FLOWER COLOUR
(o)Blue
(o)Brown
(o)Cream
(o)Green
(o)Mauve
(o)Multi-Coloured
Orange
(o)Pink 1
(o)Pink 2
(o)Purple
(o)Red
(o)White1
(o)White2
(o)White3
(o)Yelow1
(o)Yelow2
(o)Shrub or Small Tree

SEED COLOUR
(o)Seed 1
(o)Seed 2

BED PICTURES
(o)Bed

HABITAT TABLES
Flowers in
Acid Soil
Flowers in
Chalk Soil
Flowers in
Marine Soil
Flowers in
Neutral Soil
Ferns
Grasses
Rushes
Sedges

WILDFLOWER INDEX
Botanical Name
Common Name

See Explanation of Structure of this Website with User Guidelines to aid your use of this website.

WILD FLOWER FAMILY
PAGE MENU 1

(o)Adder's Tongue
Amaranth
(o)Arrow-Grass
(o)Arum
(o)Balsam
Bamboo
(o)Barberry
(o)Bedstraw
(o)Beech
(o)Bellflower
(o)Bindweed
(o)Birch
(o)Birds-Nest
(o)Birthwort
(o)Bogbean
(o)Bog Myrtle
(o)Borage
(o)Box
(o)Broomrape
(o)Buckthorn
(o)Buddleia
(o)Bur-reed
(o)Buttercup
(o)Butterwort
(o)Cornel (Dogwood)
(o)Crowberry
(o)Crucifer (Cabbage/Mustard) 1
(o)Crucifer (Cabbage/Mustard) 2
Cypress
(o)Daffodil
(o)Daisy
(o)Daisy Cudweeds
(o)Daisy Chamomiles
(o)Daisy Thistle
(o)Daisy Catsears (o)Daisy Hawkweeds
(o)Daisy Hawksbeards
(o)Daphne
(o)Diapensia
(o)Dock Bistorts
(o)Dock Sorrels

WILD FLOWER FAMILY
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(o)Clubmoss
(o)Duckweed
(o)Eel-Grass
(o)Elm
(o)Filmy Fern
(o)Horsetail
(o)Polypody
Quillwort
(o)Royal Fern
(o)Figwort - Mulleins
(o)Figwort - Speedwells
(o)Flax
(o)Flowering-Rush
(o)Frog-bit
(o)Fumitory
(o)Gentian
(o)Geranium
(o)Glassworts
(o)Gooseberry
(o)Goosefoot
(o)Grass 1
(o)Grass 2
(o)Grass 3
(o)Grass Soft Bromes 1
(o)Grass Soft Bromes 2
(o)Grass Soft Bromes 3 (o)Hazel
(o)Heath
(o)Hemp
(o)Herb-Paris
(o)Holly
(o)Honeysuckle
(o)Horned-Pondweed
(o)Hornwort
(o)Iris
(o)Ivy
(o)Jacobs Ladder
(o)Lily
(o)Lily Garlic
(o)Lime
(o)Lobelia
(o)Loosestrife
(o)Mallow
(o)Maple
(o)Mares-tail
(o)Marsh Pennywort
(o)Melon (Gourd/Cucumber)
 

WILD FLOWER FAMILY
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(o)Mesem-bryanthemum
(o)Mignonette
(o)Milkwort
(o)Mistletoe
(o)Moschatel
Naiad
(o)Nettle
(o)Nightshade
(o)Oleaster
(o)Olive
(o)Orchid 1
(o)Orchid 2
(o)Orchid 3
(o)Orchid 4
(o)Parnassus-Grass
(o)Peaflower
(o)Peaflower Clover 1
(o)Peaflower Clover 2
(o)Peaflower Clover 3
(o)Peaflower Vetches/Peas
Peony
(o)Periwinkle
Pillwort
Pine
(o)Pink 1
(o)Pink 2
Pipewort
(o)Pitcher-Plant
(o)Plantain
(o)Pondweed
(o)Poppy
(o)Primrose
(o)Purslane
Rannock Rush
(o)Reedmace
(o)Rockrose
(o)Rose 1
(o)Rose 2
(o)Rose 3
(o)Rose 4
(o)Rush
(o)Rush Woodrushes
(o)Saint Johns Wort
Saltmarsh Grasses
(o)Sandalwood
(o)Saxifrage
 

WILD FLOWER FAMILY
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Seaheath
(o)Sea Lavender
(o)Sedge Rush-like
(o)Sedges Carex 1
(o)Sedges Carex 2
(o)Sedges Carex 3
(o)Sedges Carex 4
(o)Spindle-Tree
(o)Spurge
(o)Stonecrop
(o)Sundew
(o)Tamarisk
Tassel Pondweed
(o)Teasel
(o)Thyme 1
(o)Thyme 2
(o)Umbellifer 1
(o)Umbellifer 2
(o)Valerian
(o)Verbena
(o)Violet
(o)Water Fern
(o)Waterlily
(o)Water Milfoil
(o)Water Plantain
(o)Water Starwort
Waterwort
(o)Willow
(o)Willow-Herb
(o)Wintergreen
(o)Wood-Sorrel
(o)Yam
(o)Yew

See current Wildflower Common Name Index link Table for more wildflower of the UK common names together with their names in languages from America, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

See current Wildflower Botanical Name Index link table for wildflower of the United Kingdom (Great Britain) botanical names.

After clicking on the WILD FLOWER Common Name INDEX link to Wildflower Family Page; locate that Common name on that Wildflower Family Page, then

Click on Underlined Text in:-

Common Name to view that Plant Description Page
Botanical Name to link to Plant or Seed Supplier
Flowering Months to view photos
Habitat to view further Natural Habitat details and Botanical Society of the British Isles Distribution Map
 

Common Name

Botanical Name

Habitat - Approaching the Coast (Coastal).

Changing Forget-me-not

Common Rest-harrow

Common Scurvy-grass

Common Scurvy-grass is
Cochlearia officinalis

(Cochleaire,
Coclearia,
Cranson,
Cranson officinal, Cucharita,
Herbe aux cuillere, Kasikotu,
Loffelkraut,
Scurvy Grass, Spoonwort)

Crucifer family

Common Stork's-bill

Creeping Buttercup

Creeping Buttercup
Ranunculus repens

Buttercup Family

Visited by small flies.
Long established, as a cornfield weed especially on calcareous soils.

A perennial herb with creeping stems, R. repens has a very wide ecological tolerance, but is most typical of disturbed habitats on damp or wet nutrient-rich soils, including woodland rides, ditch sides, farm gateways, gardens and waste ground. It also occurs in damp or periodically flooded grasslands, in dune-slacks and on lake shores. It is absent from very acidic soils.

Early Forget-me-not

Early Scurvy-grass

Gorse

Hairy Buttercup

Hairy Buttercup is Ranunculus sardous

Ranunculus sardous. By Kristian Peters, via Wikimedia Commons

Buttercup Family

Visited by flies and small bees

When eaten, it would cause the eater's face to contort in a look resembling scorn (generally followed by death).

An annual of damp coastal pastures, poached pond edges and wet hollows, road verges, farm tracks and gateways. It is generally restricted to thin turf or disturbed areas on damp, neutral, moderately fertile soils.

Sand Spurrey

Sand Spurrey is
Spergularia rubra

Pink family

Sea Mouse-Ear

Sea Radish

Slender Hare's-ear

Slender Thistle

Stinking Iris

Strawberry Clover

Tamarisk

Tamarisk is
Tamarix gallica

Tamarix family

Tree Mallow

Wild Cabbage

Wild Carrot

Wild Madder

Lesser Meadow-rue

Lesser Meadow-rue is
Thalictrum minus

Buttercup Family

Visited by various flies and bees, but often setting little seed.

A morphologically variable, perennial herb found in calcareous or other base-rich habitats where competition is low, including fixed dunes, scrubby banks, rocky lake and river edges, limestone and serpentine cliffs, limestone grassland and pavement and montane rock ledges. It also occurs in other habitats, including churchyards, hedge banks and roadsides, as a garden escape.

3 main habitats of

• limestone rocks and grassland
• dunes
• streamsides or lakeside gravel and shingle

Lesser Spearwort

Lesser Spearwort is
Ranunculus flammula

Buttercup Family

Visited by various flies and small bees.

A perennial herb of wet habitats, particularly those with seasonal water level fluctuations. It is found in springs and flushes, around ponds, on lake shores, streamsides, in dune-slacks, marshes, water-meadows, flood pastures, bogs and in ditches and track ruts. It usually grows in oligotrophic or mesotrophic water over neutral to acid substrates.

In ditches, marshes, and alongside ponds and lakes.

Traveller's Joy
Old Man's Beard

Traveller's Joy
Old Man's Beard is Clematis vitalba

Buttercup family

Visited by pollen-collecting bees and pollen-eating flies, especially Syrphids.

A climbing perennial with liana-like woody stems, often covering large areas on hedge banks, hedges and walls, trees and scrub, sand dunes, disused quarry faces and ruins. It is a classic railway plant. On base-rich soils, or utilising lime mortar, the plant can form virtual monocultures.

In hedgerows, thickets and wood-margins chiefly on calcareous rocks or soils.

The climbing Clematises most commonly grown in British gardens, with large violet to purple flowers, are hybrids of the Chinese Clematis lanuginosa with the Southern European Clematis viticella (Clematis x jackmanii Th. Moore), or with the Chinese Clematis patens (Clematis x lawsoniata Moore & Jackman). The viticella hybrids are later-flowering than the patens hybrids, and have usually only 4 sepals instead of 6-8. Clmatis montana DC, and Asiatic species, is also much grown for its profusion of smallish white or pink flowers.

When the plant has finished flowering, the developing seeds (known as achenes – an achene is a one seeded fruit) retain part of the flower – the style.  This has long, silky hairs, which form the grey tufted balls that are so conspicuous in some woodlands and hedgerows in autumn and winter.  These are, indeed, the ‘old man’s beard’. These silky structures are important in the dispersal of the seeds.

Various-leaved Crowfoot (Pond Water-crowfoot)

Various-leaved Crowfoot (Pond Water-crowfoot) is
Ranunculus peltatus (Ranunculus floribundus, Ranunculus spaero-spermus)

Buttercup family

This perennial or sometimes annual species grows in slow-flowing streams and rivers, coastal lagoons, shallow lakes, ditches, ponds and dune-slacks. It is difficult to define its ecological preferences, as it grows in the upper reaches of highly calcareous rivers but in some areas favours base-poor waters; it has a broad trophic range.

Spineless Hornwort (Soft Hornwort)

Spineless Hornwort (Soft Hornwort) is
Ceratophyllum submersum

Zartes Horblatt Ceratophyllum submersum (Winterform). By Kristian Peters -- Fabelfroh, via Wikimedia Commons.

Hornwort family

This aquatic grows in eutrophic or slightly brackish water in shallow, sheltered lakes, ponds and ditches. It is particularly frequent in coastal grazing marshes. Like C. demersum, reproduction is mostly by vegetative fragmentation and it can occur in dense masses, even in shaded ponds.

Used as an aquarium plant when it may be known as tropical or spineless hornwort and for its high oxygen production.

It promotes its own growth by the release of chemicals that can suppress growth of other water plants, including algae, which would otherwise cloud water and intercept sunlight. Due to its rapid growth it can be good to rid algae in a new aquarium setup as it will out compete for nutrients.

Babington's Poppy

Babington's Poppy is
Papaver lecoqii (Papaver dubium subsp. lecoqii)

klaproos; eigen foto. by Rob Hooft at Dutch Wikipedia, via Wikimedia Commons

Poppy family

This annual is found in arable fields and in other disturbed open ground such as on roadsides, railway tracks and waste land, in gardens and along hedges. It is most frequent on heavy calcareous soils, and can be found in both spring- and autumn-sown crops. The seed can be very long-lived.

Grown for their cup-shaped flowers. Suitable for coastal conditions.

iSpot - A friendly and free community helping to identify wildlife and share nature in UK and Ireland run by The Open University.

Yellow Horned Poppy

Yellow Horned Poppy is
Glaucium flavum

Poppy family

Visited by various flies and some small bees.

All parts of the plant, including the seeds, are toxic and can produce a range of symptoms up to and including respiratory failure resulting in death. It is also toxic to grazing animals.

A short-lived perennial herb of shingle banks and stony beaches; also, more rarely, amongst loose rock and on eroding cliffs of sand and clay, and on the bare tops of chalk cliffs. The few inland records are of casual occurrences.

Maritime, chiefly on shingle banks, all round the coast from Argylly and Kincardine; Ireland and Channel Islands

UKButterflies Larval Foodplants website page lists the larval foodplants used by British butterflies. The name of each foodplant links to a Google search. An indication of whether the foodplant is a primary or secondary food source is also given.

Please note that the Butterfly you see for only a short time has grown up on plants as an egg, caterpillar and chrysalis for up to 11 months, before becoming a butterfly. If the plants that they live on during that time are removed, or sprayed with herbicide, then you will not see the butterfly.