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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.
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
Rhinanthus minor
An erect plant with longish stems without many leaves. When the yellow tubular flowers fade, the calyx behind them becomes a silvery sphere in which the seeds ripen – the rattle.
On nutrient-poor grasslands, including permanent pastures hay meadows and dunes. Also on roadsides and waste ground.
In flower from May to July
Yellow rattle underwent a marked decline in Britain throughout the 20th century, thought to be a result of changes in farming practices.
Yellow rattle in a meadow, image by Lucia Chmurova
Yellow rattle close up, image by Lucia Chmurova
Lotus corniculatus
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.
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.
This wild flower is common through out the UK.
A meadow full of Birds-foot-trefoil
Birds-foot-trefoil, image by Gavin Duley
Olaxis acetosella
A low, creeping herb, with long-stalked, light green, trefoil-shaped leaves. The flowers have five white petals, veined in lilac or purple.
In woodland, on hedgerows, banks and in other moist, usually shaded, habitats throughout the British Isles.
In flower April to May, and sometimes a second time in summer.
Remaining widespread throughout the U.K., it is one of the few species able to survive the deep shade of conifer plantations.
Alium ursinum
If you don’t immediately see it, you can usually smell it – wild garlic has a strong oniony scent that becomes stronger if you crush the leaves. It is a favourite with foragers but be sure not to eat the roots: eating them can have an unpleasant effect on the stomach.
Common across the UK apart from north-east Scotland.
Damp woodland
When in bloom, April to June.
‘Ramsons’ is an evolution of the plant’s Old English name: hramsa. The plural of hramsa was hramsan – so ‘ramsons’ is actually a double plural!
Wild Garlic Dorset roadside, image by Joe Costley
Wild garlic in Old Sulehay woods, image byDonna Radley
Wild Garlic, image by Lizzie Wilberforce
Veronica chamaedrys
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.
Found throughout the UK, but rare on the Outer Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland.
Generally grows in grassy places like meadows, pastures, verges and lawns, as well as in woods, hedgerows and waste ground.
When in flower, from March to July.
Like other speedwells found in the wild, it was believed that Germander speedwell was good luck for travellers, and wearing it in your buttonhole would “speed you well” on your journey.
Image by Matt Prosser
Image by Andrew Gagg
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