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Tuberaria guttata
A flower of the west coast, the largest colonies of Spotted Rock-rose lie on Anglesey’s Holy Island, where it is also the county flower.
Its distinct crimson-spotted flowers are matched by red-flushed leaves.
A handful of colonies on Ynys Mon (Anglesey), Ynys Gybi (Holy Island) and the Llyn Peninsula in Wales. The only location it can be found on the British mainland is at the very end of the Llyn Peninsula
Dry, rocky places.
Flowers from June to August
To see the spotted rock-rose in full bloom you have to catch it at just the right time. It flowers only once during its lifetime and sheds its vivid petals within hours of doing so.
The county flower of Anglesey (Cor-rosyn rhuddfannog) in Welsh is one of the priority species for the partnership project Natur am Byth!. Plantlife are working with the RSPB, Natural Resources Wales and a range of other organisations and individuals to ensure this species is protected and more fully understood. Through working with the RSPB to undertake a full review and baseline survey of the species in 2022 we now have the data at our fingertips to enable this species’ future conservation.
Orchis morio
Its Latin name, morio, means ‘fool’ and refers to the jester-like motley of its green and purple flowers.
It can sometimes be confused with the early-purple orchid – the difference is in the leaves, which are not spotted, and the sepals which have green veins.
Green-winged orchid was chosen as the County Flower of Ayrshire. It can also be seen growing at our Joan’s Hill Farm Reserve in Herefordshire.
Widespread in most of England but has become scarce in the south-west. It is also less common in the north of England. It is well known on the Welsh coast and can be found in one small area on the west coast of Scotland
The green-winged orchid has many names in Scotland, suggesting a lively folklore: hen’s kames (combs), bull’s bags, dog’s dubbles, keet legs and deid man’s thoombs!
Pilosella officinarum
Each plant has a small rosette of hairy ragged leaves that are dark green above but whitish and hairy underneath. They’re rounded at the tips and not toothed. The flowers are carried on long stems from the centre of these rosettes, up to 30cm tall. Each narrow and tightly packed bloom – one per stem – is like a dandelion but a paler lemon yellow in colour. They are followed by fluffy seed heads.
Found throughout the UK, but rarer in north-west Scotland.
Grows in dry grassy places like meadows, pastures, verges, lawns, heaths and dunes as well as waste ground.
When in flower, from May to August.
Mouse-ear Hawkweed at Brockles Field
Ranunculus repens
Also known as Common Buttercups, it’s long rooting runners help it to spread across damp areas of grass, which distinguishes it from other buttercup species. It has yellow flowers and hairy leaves divided into 3 lobes.
Creeping Buttercups are found in a variety of damp habitats such as pastures, roadside verges, lawns, tracks and paths.
Creeping Buttercups are widespread and stable throughout the British Isles.
Creeping Buttercup, image by Trevor Dines
Veronica serpyllifolia
It spreads to form small patches of plain green hairless leaves that are carried in pairs and look similar to a large version of Thyme, hence the name.
The tips of the shoots rise up and turn into short flower spikes, bearing a succession of tiny white or pale blue flowers, 5-6mm across. Look closely and you’ll see that their uppermost petal is usually veined with darker blue. Only a few flowers open at a time and their pale colour can make this plant hard to spot.
Found throughout the UK.
Grows in a wide range of dry and damp places including grassy pastures, lawns and verges as well as woodland rides, heaths and cultivated land and waste ground.
When in flower, from March to October.
Trifolium repens
Often found in parks, banks and lawns – any type of grassland habitat – White Clover is the commonest of the clovers.
The White Clover flowerheads are ball-shaped cluster on a long stem, made up of tiny individual white and sometimes very pale pink flowers. The leaves have the archetypal ‘cloverleaf’ shape: three rounded leaflets often with a pale band.
Common across the UK.
Almost any grassy habitat.
Flowers from June to September.
White Clover lawn, image by Archie Thomas
White Clover, image by Trevor Dines
Cerastium fontanum
It grows as a small tuft or matt with stems that are sometimes reddish in colour. These carry little hairy leaves in pairs, which give the plant its common name of mouse-ear. The stems rise up at their tips and carry a few white flowers at their tips. Each of these is 3-12 mm across and formed from five petals that are deeply notched at their tips, giving them a starry appearance. Often, only one or two flowers are open at a time.
A very wide range of grassy and disturbed habitats including meadows, pastures, verges, dunes and mountain grassland. Also in wetter places fens and mires and also on heathland. Survives mowing and therefore common lawns.
When in flower, from April to late summer.
Very common. Found on grassy areas across the UK.
Bellis perennis
‘The daisy is a happy flower, And comes at early spring, And brings with it the sunny hour, When bees are on the wing.’ – John Clare, “The Daisy”
A common sight across the UK, daisies are a delightful sign that spring has arrived and summer is on its way.
Each flower has a rosette of small, thin white petals surrounding a bright yellow centre. These are supported by a single stem which grows from a group of dark green rounded leaves. The petals can sometimes be tinged with pink.
Short grassland and meadows.
Never view the Daisy in the same way again! These often overlooked wildflowers that pop up everywhere from your lawn to roadsides, have an amazing story. From the meaning behind their Latin name, to the games that our ancestors created with them – join our Glaswelltiroedd Gwydn Project Officer Trainee Bryony Jenkins, to find out more.
Daisies in a clump
Common Daisy, image by Trevor Dines
Pulsatilla vulgaris
– Geoffrey Grigson, “The Englishman’s Flora”
One of our most magnificent wild flowers with feathery leaves and large purple blooms with a central boss of golden stamens.
The Pasqueflower blooms around Easter, hence the name “Pasque” (meaning “like Paschal”, of Easter). Its bell-like flowers open to track the path of the sun each day, nodding and closing at night. These are often followed by feathery seed heads. It’s a perennial plant, froming a neat clump of soft, hairy leaves.
A large purple bloom with a central boss of golden stamens and feathery leaves.
Dry calcareous grasslands, limestone banks and hillsides.
April when it flowers.
A rare wildflower which has been lost from many of the places it used to grow. Lack of grazing and scrub encroachment pose a serious threat to many of the remaining populations and it is considered “Vulnerable” in Britain.
Pasqueflower, image by Mark Schofield
Campanula rotundifolia
In fact, it’s incredibly tough and resilient. It needs to be given the environment it grows in: the harebell is a wild flower of dry, open places from the bare slopes of hills to the windswept coast.
Hanging blue bells on slender stalks. Grows 15-40cm tall. Roundish leaves at base, very narrow linear leaves up thin stem. (Source: the National Plant Monitoring Scheme Species Identification Guide).
Dry, grassy places. From mountain tops to sand dunes. Quite catholic in its choice of habitats: as happy on chalk grasslands as on acid heaths, and under tall bracken as on exposed cliff tops. However, damp is one condition that harebells cannot tolerate. It is distributed across the British Isles but not in the Channel Isles and most of south and east Ireland.
July to September.
Generally stable although there have been some local declines at the edges of its range.
Harebell flowers in a meadow
Harebell, image by Cath Shellswell
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