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Ground Ivy

Glechoma hederacea

A photo showing the bright blue flowers of Ground Ivy against it's green leaves and blades of grass.

Ground Ivy is an aromatic creeping herb with funnel-shaped violet flowers.

This small, common evergreen perennial belongs to the mint family and spreads rapidly in a carpet-like form due to its creeping stems. Despite its name, it is not closely related to common ivy.

How to spot it

Ground Ivy has upright flowering stems bearing between two and four violet two-lipped flowers in a whorl. The lower lip has purple spots. Its leaves are scalloped in shape, which may explain why catsfoot is one of its many nicknames.

Where to spot it

It is commonly found in woodlands, meadows, hedgerows, and wasteland throughout the British Isles, although it is rarer in Scotland. It also thrives in lawns as it survives mowing.

Things you might not know

  • Known as a lung-cleansing herb, Ground Ivy has been used to treat coughs and other respiratory illnesses such as bronchitis.
  • It has been used a substitute for animal rennet to make cheese.
  • Ground Ivy is a rich source of vitamin C and can be used as a herbal tea.
  • Common names for Ground Ivy include Gill-over-the-ground, Creeping Charlie, Alehoof, Tunhoof, Field balm and Run-away Robin.
  • It was known as “Our Lady’s Vine” in Medieval times.
  • The Saxons used Ground Ivy to flavour and clarify their ale.

Amethyst Deceiver

Laccaria amethystina

Two fungi growing next to eachother on the forest floor, a bright purple Amethyst Deceiver leans over the top of a creamy coloured Russula sp

How to Identify Amethyst Deceiver

CapDeep purple, fading to lilac and sometimes white in dry weather
Size2cm – 7cm
GillsWidely spaced, and similar in colour to the cap
Stem5mm – 10mm in diameter and 5cm – 10cm tallIt is hollow, tough and fibrous, often twisted and sometimes flattened; deep purple at first, but becoming paler as the caps fade
SporesWhite

 

Where to find them?

Often occurring in large, crowded groups and usually found growing amongst leaf litter in coniferous or deciduous woods, commonly with Beech, Silver Birch or Oak.   

Don’t mistake it with

  • Older specimens with their pale caps are easily mistaken for the Deceiver Laccaria laccata, but the Amethyst Deceiver can be distinguished by the purple colouring that remains on the gills and the stipe
  • The Lilac Bonnet Mycena pura is another purple-lilac tinged mushroom, but has pale gills, more of a pink appearance, and the stem is not fibrous
  • The Lilac Fibrecap Inocybe geophylla var. lilacina is also similar, but is paler overall and does not have the purpley gills

Did you know?

The name ‘amethyst’ refers to the purple colouring of the young mushrooms and Laccaria means ‘lacquered’, referring to the shiny appearance of the fresh caps. 

Other Species

Water Mint

Mentha aquatica

A collection of Water Mint growing by a woodland stream, pretty purple flowers stand out against the green leaves

How to identify:

Annual/Perennial/BiennialPerennial
Height90cm
Flower typeRounded flower spikes
LeavesHairy, oval and toothed
StemsSingle or double stemmed, hairy

 

A collection of Water Mint growing by a woodland stream, pretty purple flowers stand out against the green leaves

How to Spot

Water Mint can grow up to 90cm tall. It has pretty, pale purple flower heads and hairy leaves and stems. The leaves can be between 2cm and 6cm and grow in whorls around the stem.

Peppermint shares a resemblance, but has darker flowers, leaves and often has a purple stem.

Where to Spot

This pretty, aromatic plant is common all over the UK. You can find it growing in wet meadows, fens and marshes, streams, ponds, riversides and damp woodlands.

Things you might not know

It is said that Water Mints pleasant scent was used during the medieval era, to make their dining halls smell fresh.

Reportedly the plants were laid on the floor so that guests would step on them upon entering, and release the sweet smell of mint.

Other Species

Bluebell
Bluebell close-up.

Bluebell

Hyacinthoides non-scripta
Bugle
A close up of a blue bugle plant.

Bugle

Ajuga reptans
Cowslip
Cowslip Close Up.

Cowslip

Primula Veris

Cock’s-foot Grass

Dactylis glomerata

Close-up photos of Cock's-foot grass
Cock's-foot pictured at Cannon Hill Park

How To Spot

It’s one of the bigger lawn grasses which can grow over 1m. Its most distinguishing feature is its flattened lower stems which you can feel with your fingers as easily as you can see. Forming dense tussocks, it also has distinctive heavy-looking flower heads.

Where to spot

It’s found across the UK in all kinds of places but it’s most commonly found in meadows and roadsides. On lawns, it often grows on the lesser mown edges.

Don’t mistake it with

False oat grass – another tall, bulky grass which flowers slightly later.

Cock's-foot pictured at Pebble Mill

Things you might not know

Cock’s-foot grass is a surprisingly good plant for wildlife.

  • Honey bees gorge on its pollen
  • Caterpillars eat its leaves
  • Finches feed on its seed
  • Its tussocks provide safe places for nesting mammals and bees

 

Other Species

Ground Ivy
A photo showing the bright blue flowers of Ground Ivy against it's green leaves and blades of grass.

Ground Ivy

Glechoma hederacea
Lesser Butterfly Orchid

Lesser Butterfly Orchid

Field Pansy

Viola arvensis

Field Pansy is a delicate flower from the Violet family, and is the wild relative of the Garden Pansy. It’s a small low-growing perennial which can be easily confused with the Wild Pansy, however it has much smaller flowers. It is self-fertile and attracts butterflies such as the Queen of Spain Fritillary which will lay its eggs on the plant.

How to spot it

The flowers of Field Pansy are solitary and 15mm across. They have creamy yellow petals which are sometimes bluish-violet. Its sepals are pointed, and often longer than or the same length as the petals. Its stipules look like lobed leaves, and the leaves are oblong in shape. The plant grows up to 20cm tall.

Where to spot it

While Field Pansy can be found throughout the UK, it is more common in the East half of the UK and SE Ireland. It’s most commonly found in dry arable field margins and waste spaces.

Things you might not know

  • Pansies take their name from the French ‘pensee’ meaning thought.
  • Field Pansy’s flowers are edible and the leaves and flowers are rich in vitamins A and C.

Other Species

Ground Ivy
A photo showing the bright blue flowers of Ground Ivy against it's green leaves and blades of grass.

Ground Ivy

Glechoma hederacea
Lesser Butterfly Orchid

Lesser Butterfly Orchid

Bladder Campion

Silene vulgaris

This pretty flower is named after the inflated bladder-like sac behind the petals. Growing between 60cm and 1m tall this white wildflower is also known as ‘Maidens Tears’, ‘Cowbell’, and ‘Common Bladder Catchfly’ even though it doesn’t technically catch flies!

How to spot it

Bladder Campion is a perennial wildflower with a green bladder-like calyx with purple veins make it easily identifiable. The ragged looking white flowers, which grow at the end of the bladder, have five two-lobed petals and are roughly 2cm wide with long protruding stamens. It is said they have an aroma similar to that of cloves. Many flower heads can be found on one medium height plant. Its stalkless bluish-green leaves are long and thin on mature plants.

Where to spot it

It is fairly common in Britain, but is mostly found in the south of England in meadows and fields, and along roadside verges, dry banks, and hedgerows.

Things you might not know

  • The young leaves are sometimes added to salads in the Mediterranean where it grows much more abundantly.
  • During the summer months, Bladder Campion can often found covered in ‘Cuckoo Spit’ as this is a favourite food-plant of the Froghopper. The early English botanist John Gerard called it ‘Spatling Poppie’ for this very reason.
  • In Roman mythology the Goddess Minerva turned the young boy Campion into this plant after he fell asleep instead of catching flies for her owls. The bladder represents the bag he should have filled.

Other Species

Ground Ivy
A photo showing the bright blue flowers of Ground Ivy against it's green leaves and blades of grass.

Ground Ivy

Glechoma hederacea
Lesser Butterfly Orchid

Lesser Butterfly Orchid

Fritillary

Fritillaria meleagris

How to spot it

Serpentine and glamorous, Fritillary is a dark purple (and sometimes white) wildflower is also known as the “Snake’s-head”.

Where to spot it

Fritillary grows in wet meadows, particularly traditional hay meadows that often flood in winter months. Some of the best-known Fritillary fields are in Oxfordshire, along the flood-meadows of the Thames including Magdalen Meadow in the heart of the university city.

How’s it doing?

Once thousands of Fritillary filled flooded hay meadows across middle and southern England. However, modern agricultural practices – particularly draining land in order to grow crops – has led to a sharp decline.

Things you might not know

  • Fritillary is the County Flower of Oxfordshire.
  • In the Language of Flowers it symbolises persecution.
  • Fritillaries were only officially recorded growing in the wild in 1736, so there is some debate as to whether they are native or not. It may be that they spread from foreign plants in the Tudor or Jacobean garden. It is therefore worth scrutinizing the neighbourhood of Fritillary fields for evidence of large gardens at some time in the past.
  • The names show how the Frillary has suggested blood, death, snakes and sorrow. Besides Snake’s head Fritillary, other evocative names are Bloody warrior, Doleful bells of sorrow, Drooping tulip, Five-leaved grass, Guinea-hen flower, Toad’s head, Turkey’s eggs and Weeping widow.
  • Fritillaries are fertilised by bumble-bees.
  • These snaky beauties are in fact poisonous containing an alkaloid called Imperialine.

Other Species

Ground Ivy
A photo showing the bright blue flowers of Ground Ivy against it's green leaves and blades of grass.

Ground Ivy

Glechoma hederacea
Lesser Butterfly Orchid

Lesser Butterfly Orchid

Lizard Orchid

Himantoglossum hircinum

Lizard Orchid is usually rare in the UK but in the right location it can be found in great numbers. It grows up to a metre in height but can nonetheless be difficult to spot when growing in long grass on roadside verges.

How to spot it

The long, tail-like lip is usually spiralled and dotted with pink or purple in the centre. Lizard Orchid’s flowers have a rather foul smell, said to be similar to the smell of goats.

How is it distributed?

The largest British population of the Lizard Orchid is amongst the golf links and sand dunes at Sandwich Bay in Kent, where there are reportedly many hundred plants. A large population can be found in East Anglia, along the stretch of the Devil’s Dyke that runs through Newmarket Racecourse.

Where to spot it

Lizard Orchid grows on calcareous soils and likes sunny positions on the edges of open woodland and on roadside verges. This orchid also grows in dry meadows, rocky areas, and open woods.

Things you might not know

  • The scientific name (Himantoglossum) derives from the Greek for ‘strap-tongue’ Hircinum is Latin for ‘goat-like’, and refers to the strong, foul smell of the flowers.
  • In most European languages it is known as ‘(Billy or male) goat orchid’.
  • The Lizard Orchid is pollinated by insects particularly bees.

Other Species

Ground Ivy
A photo showing the bright blue flowers of Ground Ivy against it's green leaves and blades of grass.

Ground Ivy

Glechoma hederacea
Lesser Butterfly Orchid

Lesser Butterfly Orchid

Basil Thyme

Clinopodium acinos

Basil Thyme used to be picked as a substitute for thyme, but it is now too rare to pick. Its distribution closely follows that of underlying chalk and limestone rock.

How to spot it

Like other members of the dead-nettle family, Basil Thyme is popular with bees and insects. At only 15 cm high, it produces whorls of violet flowers with white markings on the lower lip. Common Calamint and Wild Basil are closely related but are larger and with taller more dense flower spikes.

Where to spot it

Basil Thyme grows mainly in southern and eastern England and is very rare in Wales, Scotland and northeast England. It is also present in eastern Ireland where is it considered an alien species. It grows in open habitats in dry grassland, especially around rock outcrops and also in arable fields, where it is now rare. It can be found in quarries and waste ground where calcareous rocks and lime-rich soil has been exposed and roads and railways where lime has been applied. In Ireland, Basil Thyme grows on sandy and gravelly soils.

How’s it doing?

Basil Thyme is unfortunately in decline because of more efficient methods of weed control almost causing its complete extinction in arable habitat. Basil Thyme is only present on less intensively used arable land and in chalk and limestone grassland. Threats to grassland populations include the lack of bare ground which is required by this species to aid seed germination. In Ireland, sand and gravel extraction are the main causes of decline.

It is classified as ‘Vulnerable’ and is included as a species “of principal importance for the purpose of conserving biodiversity” under Sections 41 (England) and 42 (Wales) of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. Basil Thyme is also noted on the Scottish biodiversity list of species of principal importance for biodiversity conservation in The Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004.

Other Species

Ground Ivy
A photo showing the bright blue flowers of Ground Ivy against it's green leaves and blades of grass.

Ground Ivy

Glechoma hederacea
Lesser Butterfly Orchid

Lesser Butterfly Orchid