Although this little perennial wildflower is incredibly common and abundant throughout Britain, it’s often overlooked as its flowers are rather small and inconspicuous.

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.

Distribution

Found throughout the UK.

Habitat

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.

Best time to see

When in flower, from April to late summer.

Distribution

Very common. Found on grassy areas across the UK.

Known as ‘eggs and bacon’ because of the yellow and orange hue of the pea-like flowers, this is a food plant for several caterpillar species.

This is a low-creeping, perennial plant with clusters of deep, yellow flowers tinged with red. The leaves have five narrow oval leaflets and the lower two of these are bent back by the stem so that the leaves appear trefoil (3-lobed).

Although disagreeable to humans, Bird’s-foot-trefoil is an important source of food for other creatures. Pollinating insects find it a perfect source of nectar and it is used as a forage plant for livestock. The ‘Bird’s-foot’ of its name refers to the shape of its seed pods.

Where to find Bird’s-foot-trefoil

This is one of our most common meadow wild flowers and is found throughout the UK. It grows in meadows, roadsides and other grassland areas.

How’s it doing?

This wild flower is common through out the UK.

A low, creeping plant, germander speedwell spreads with thin stems that creep over the surface of the ground, forming distinct mats or patches amongst the grass or hedgerow.

Its small leaves are triangular in shape and deeply toothed.

The beautiful bright blue flowers – which can be a centimetre across and have a white eye – are carried on small spikes in the axils of the leaves. Note that if the flowers are not on spikes but each one comes directly from the leaf axils then you might be looking at slender speedwell, Veronica filiformis instead.

Distribution

Found throughout the UK, but rare on the Outer Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland.

Habitat

Generally grows in grassy places like meadows, pastures, verges and lawns, as well as in woods, hedgerows and waste ground.

Best time to see

When in flower, from March to July.

Often arriving with the bluebell, the flowers of this early orchid make a handsome sight in spring.

The classic colour is magenta however occasionally white and pale pink flower spikes can be found. The leaves are are shiny with dark purple blotches. When first in bloom it has a wonderful scent, not dissimilar to Lily-of-the-valley tinged with blackcurrant but as the flowers fade, it starts to reek! As its name suggests, this is one of the first orchids to bloom, only the Early Spider-orchid flowers earlier.

Where to find Early Purple Orchid.

It adapts to a variety of habitats and can be found in hay meadows, woodland and often on roadside verges. It occurs mostly on non-acidic soils, and is also found in ancient woodland (especially coppice), chalk downland, grassy banks, limestone pavements and cliff-top grassland. It is widely distributed across the UK and Ireland.

How’s it doing?

The Early Purple Orchid was once a common plant, found in a variety of habitats. Sadly, these have also been places where urban development and modern farming methods have taken their toll. Although it is still found at sites throughout the UK it is by no means as abundant as it once was.

Often known as ‘lady’s smock,’ the pretty lilac flowers open around the time the cuckoo starts to call.

The flowers are usually veined with darker violet but in some areas pure white forms can be found. It is an important food plant for the caterpillars of the orange-tip and the green-veined white butterfly. In his Flora Britannica, Richard Mabey shows how the first full blooming of the Cuckooflower is a remarkably accurate predictor of the first hearing of the bird itself.

Where to find Cuckooflower

This wild flower is commonly found throughout the UK. It grows wherever there is damp ground – wet grassland, damp meadows, pond margins and along the banks of streams. It is may also found on road verges and in ditches.

How’s it doing?

Cuckooflower is commonly found in its preferred habitats.