Come and be part of a global voice for wild plants and fungi
This year on National Meadows Day, we are campaigning for the protection of irreplaceable meadows – and we need your help!
Our wildflower meadows are a powerful ally in the fight against climate change – but they are in trouble!
“Will you help protect and restore irreplaceable habitats?”
Our corporate partners benefit from 35 years of experience in nature restoration so they can achieve real impact.
Become a Plantlife member today and together we will rebuild a world rich in plants and fungi
Platanthera chlorantha
You’re most likely to find Greater Butterfly-orchid on old or recently restored hay meadows, particularly on well drained calcareous soils. You can also find them on pastures, open scrub and woodland.
They look very similar to their close cousins the Lesser Butterfly-orchid but have slightly larger flowers that are green tinged rather than pure white. You can also look for the pollen bearing structures on their petals called pollinia. These sacs of pollen are V shaped on the Greater Butterfly-orchid but parallel shaped on the Lesser Butterfly-orchid.
This is found across Britain particularly in the south. It’s has steadily declined across the UK over the past 100 years. The reasons are varied but in woodlands where they need dappled sunlight, they have suffered from conifer plantation planting and changes to traditional woodland management.
In grasslands, farming changes, such as too much or too little grazing, or early hay cutting before the plant has chance to flower and set seed, have had a particularly negative effect. The use of chemical fertilizers have also disrupted the delicate soil fungal network that orchids rely on for survival.
Plantlife owns and manages two reserves in Wales that are rich in Greater Butterfly-orchid – Caeau Tan y Bwlch on the Llŷn peninsula in the north, and Cae Blaen-dyffryn above Lampeter in mid Wales. The latter also contains Lesser Butterfly-orchid, so giving you a great opportunity to see the subtle differences between these two beautiful orchid species.
Carolyn Thomas MS, is currently working with us as a Species Champion to raise awareness of Greater Butterfly-orchid and its causes of decline. Find out more about Species and Nature Champions here.
Hygrocybe citrinovirens
Find these distinctive waxcaps in low-nutrient grassland habitats – they are equally at home in upland sheep-grazed pastures as they are in urban cemeteries with mown grass.
There are several other species of yellow waxcaps in the UK – keep an eye out for the light yellow or almost green tinge of this species.
The Latin name “citrinovirens” comes from “citrinus” meaning lemon yellow, and “virens”, meaning green!
These are both good descriptions of the colour of this waxcap species.
Glechoma hederacea
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.
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.
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.
Platanthera bifolia
The best time to see the Lesser Butterfly-orchid is spring into summertime with June to July being the peak flowering time.
The Lesser Butterfly-orchid is a sweet-smelling plant, which grows across the UK. It can be found in a range of habitats, such as grasslands, meadows, bogs, woodlands, calcareous fens, and scrub, although it may be difficult to spot as it has declined in recent years.
Unfortunately, the Lesser Butterfly-orchid has been lost from much of its habitat in the UK, and is now endangered. One of the reasons for this decline is an increased use in agricultural chemicals which eradicate the soil fungi necessary for the plant to survive.
Carolyn Thomas MS, is currently working with us as a Species Champion to raise awareness of Lesser Butterfly-orchid and its causes of decline.
Find out more about Species and Nature Champions here.
Anthoxanthum oderatum
Thin, wiry grass with short leaves and a spike of flowers at the top of the stem. Where the leaf meets the stem, there is a fringe of hairs which look like eyelashes.
On old meadows and grasslands that are often rich in wild flowers. Here, it’s one of the first meadow grasses to come into flower in the spring.
Red Fescue – another grass with a narrow stem and pointy flower spikes, but which is bigger and lacks the scent.
It gives out a scent that is THE distinctive smell of a hay meadow – somewhere between vanilla and almond. Some people like to chew the grass to get the taste of the scent.
Poa trivialis
At first glance, this looks like a typical grass. Quite tall, with its flat flowers hanging from the ends of short stalks, arranged along the stem like a Christmas tree. But rub your fingers along the fresh stem and you’ll notice it is slightly rough. Pull the leaf away from the stem a little bit and you’ll see a membrane-like triangle – known as a ligule, this is distinctly long and pointy on Rough Meadow Grass.
Rough Meadow Grass not only grows in all kinds of grassland, but also in marshes, ditches, wastelands and woodland glades. It’s also found on lawns but struggles to survive if mown regularly.
Don’t mistake it with
Smooth Meadow Grass looks very similar but lacks the roughness of the stem, and its ligule, that membrane at the junction of the stem and leaf, is not pointy in shape.
Just one plant of Rough Meadow Grass can produce up to 29,000 seeds, providing food for worms and ground beetles.
Lolium perenne
Its glossy dark green leaves shimmer as they waft in a breeze. Closer up, their spikey flowers cling close to the stem, barely overlapping. The stem turns a lovely burgundy red colour near the base of the stem.
For those with a keen eye, the leaves clasp around the stem with what look like a pair of hooked claws, known as an auricle.
Widespread across the UK, it’s particularly abundant in parklands, sports fields and freshly laid lawns. It is also the most commercially sown grass on farmland, cut a few times a year to provide winter food for cattle and sheep.
Couch Grass has spikey flowers that also cling close to the stem, but unlike Rye Grass, these overlap. Its leaves are grey-green and rather rough rather than the smooth feeling, dark and glossy leaves of Rye Grass.
As Rye Grass grows fast and is eagerly eaten by livestock, it was the first grass in Britain to be sown commercially on farmland, probably more than 400 years ago. Modern varieties are bred to be able to tolerate trampling, mowing and heavy grazing.
Holcus lanatus
This is easy! It has a soft, tall, hairy stems – just run your fingers along it. No other grass feels like this. The bottom of its stem looks like pink stripey pyjamas – no other grass looks like this. There are pink flushes too in its long flower head which look beautiful when swaying in the wind.
The most widespread of all grasses in the UK, it’s found on all kinds of grasslands, from meadows to wastelands. On lawns, it flowers a little bit later than other grasses during No Mow May.
Creeping soft-grass – its nearest relative is only hairy on its nodes, the lumpy bits along the stem that look like knees.
It can be a dominating grass as it produces huge amounts of seed which can germinate almost immediately, and buried seed remains viable for many years.
Dactylis glomerata
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.
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.
False oat grass – another tall, bulky grass which flowers slightly later.
Cock’s-foot grass is a surprisingly good plant for wildlife.
We will keep you updated by email about our work, news, campaigning, appeals and ways to get involved. We will never share your details and you can opt out at any time. Read our Privacy Notice.
