British Wildflowers

Piccolo Explorer published A Guide to Wild Flowers in 1980. I was given a copy which contains 157 wild flowers and plants listed in the book, and which has been with me for many years. I have an aim to photograph each one in my own Quirky way whilst sharing the beauty of nature and encouraging you to share it with others. There may be plants which you knew as a child and you can gift that knowledge your children or grandchildren. These plants are native to the UK although they may be new to you.

Some of the plants are familiar to me, I am no expert but I'd love to know more hence why I'll share my discoveries.

Click on each photo to a full screen view and information.

The Creeping thistle is our most common species of thistle and can be found on disturbed and cultivated ground, such as rough grassland, roadside verges and field edges from June to October. Its creeping roots enable it to quickly spread across an area, forming large colonies. As with other thistles, it can become a nuisance on agricultural land and these species are often considered to be weeds. Despite this status, its seeds are an important food source for a variety of farmland birds.

The drooping, tubular, pink flowers of Common comfrey are a familiar sight to many gardeners. Sometimes considered a 'weed', this hairy plant can be used as an organic fertiliser and a form of slug control.

Found in hedgerows and along roadsides. The tufted Vetch is a climber with branched tendrils.

Birdfoot Trefoil has a variety of names including eggs and bacon & birdsfoot deervetch.
The eggs part of the name came from the yellow of the flower and previously it was known as butter and eggs.
It grows in fields, meadows and on roadsides. Grown as a food for livestock.

Cotton Thistle is an edible plant. All parts can be eaten including root, stem, leaves, flowers and seeds.
Also known as Scotch Thistle and enjoyed by insects including this bee.

Found in hedgerows and along roadside this Common Mallow is found in the summer and grows unto a metre high.

Lords and Ladies produces a flower in the spring. The flowers is light green in colour and can be thought of as a leaf. After the leaves die a seeded grows which at first is green in colour and then turns to red.
In herbal medicine in the past these red berries were used to induce vomiting and sweating.
Cuckoo Pint as it is also known is highly toxic and can cause the throat and lips to swell.

Common Ragwort led me to discover that there is a Weeds Act 1959. The act includes five native plants which were considered as injurious. The act was to prevent livestock being harmed by the Ragwort. When hay was sold to the farmer at times they too included Ragwort which over time (unto 18 months) would poison a cow causing it to have a seizure. The act has never been used to prosecute anyone however it is there to issue removal of the plants if required.

Timothy Grass is considered to be a threatened species due to the loss of meadow habitats. Used in animal feed it grows quickly and can be harvested several times a year.

Toxic to mice this Lesser Bindweed or Field Bindweed climbs up to 6 foot tall. It has pink flowers unlike the hedge bindweed which has white flowers.

Honeysuckle Lonicera periclymenum)
Twining, scented woodland stunner. This trumpet-like flower is a paradise for wildlife, with its sweet, heady fragrance calling to nearby species, particularly on warm summer evenings.

Scented mayweed can be found in flower from May to September but the main flowering period is June to July. It is usually the first mayweed in flower. The flowers are insect pollinated. The time from flowering to seed dispersal is 20-35 days. The average seed number per plant ranges from 5,000 to 17,000.

A sweet tasting and large common mint found near or in water or sometimes damp woodland. Water mint hybridises easily with other mints and a cross of water mint and spearmint produces peppermint.

A climbing plant, White bryony has curling tendrils and leaves with five lobes. It displays greenish, five-petalled flowers and orange-red berries.

Vipers Bugloss- Viper's-bugloss is a hairy plant with dense spikes of bright blue, funnel-shaped flowers. It is found on chalk grassland, sand dunes, cliffs and disturbed ground, and is in bloom from May to September. It provides food for a range of insects, including Buff-tailed and Red-tailed Bumblebees, Large Skipper and Painted Lady butterflies, Honeybees and Red Mason Bees.
How to identify
Viper's-bugloss has upright spikes of vivd blue flowers in dense clusters; hairy, spotted stems; and narrow, pointed leaves.
Distribution
Scattered distribution in the UK, most common in the south.

Dandelion - No.39- The seed 'clocks' of the common dandelion can carpet a grassland in fluffy, white pillows straight after the bright yellow, gaudy flowers have coloured it gold. Common dandelions grow in all kinds of grasslands from lawns to roadside verges, pastures to traditional meadows, and can be a weed.

The Yellow Iris The water-loving yellow iris can be found along the margins of waterways and ponds, and in wet woodlands, fens and saltmarshes. Often mingled among other reedbed plants, its large, bright yellow flowers appear between May and August; they are thought to be the inspiration for the fleur-de-lis symbol, which is used in heraldry and also by the Scouts.
How to identify
The yellow iris has tall reed stems that are sometimes branched. Its long, narrow leaves are grey-green and sword-like, and may droop at the ends. Its large, yellow flower petals fold back on themselves and hang down around the outer edges of the flower.

White Waterlily has rounded, leathery, floating leaves. It has large, white flowers that are sometimes tinged with pink and are borne on stalks just above the water.

Field Scabious a pincushion type flower used in medicine to treat scabies.

A common daisy flower with a single stem arises carrying the flower head - this is not just one flower, but a composite of a number of tiny flowers which make up the yellow disc in the middle ('disc florets') and the surrounding white 'ray florets' (which look just like petals).

Contact QJ

The British Wildflower Collection is available to purchase in limited runs. Images available in a square or rectangular format, signed and numbered. Available in bespoke sizing too.

If you would like to use any of these copywrited images, contact me:

quirkyjunket@gmail.com