The Fenland Flora - Survival against the odds webinar 17 November 1-2pm Join renowned botanist Owen Mountford, co-author of the soon to be published Fenland Flora, to find out about the fascinating history and present status of wild plants in Fenland. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-fenlan...

A selection of September bloomers for #wildflowerhour

Wavy Hair-grass, Avenella flexuosa. Photos taken at same place, 3 months apart, July (left) & September (right). Up to 80cm. Tufted. Dark, smooth, bristle-like leaves. Blunt ligules, 0.5-3mm. Loose, open panicles, up to 15cm long. Crinkled branches. 2-flowered spikelets.

Water-lily ID tip

Interesting thread on Wild Strawberry and its associated species

Camouflage 2: Grey/Dark Dagger, Acronicta psi/tridens. Wide range of larval food plants including Hawthorn and Blackthorn

Botanical Society of Scotland’s Plant of the week: Knotgrass botsocscot.wordpress.com/2025/09/21/p...

Himalayan Knotweed, Persicaria wallichii. Up to 180cm. Smooth stem. Leaves up to 20cm, veins can be reddish. Leaf base cordate or truncate. White or pinkish flowers, 5 lobed, in loose leafy inflorescence.

The Botanical Society of Scotland’s plant of the week is Pink Purslane botsoc.scot/2025/09/14/c...

Last call for any images of multiple moths on egg cartons before the season is over! Can you help us reach our target? Please repost!

For #FavouritePlant for #wildflowerhour I’ve picked Hairy St. John’s-wort, Hypericum hirsutum with its funky black stalked glands. It was my first ever ‘first county record’ here in Carmarthenshire 🥳🤓

For the last weekly challenge, we want to know what was your favourite plant that you’ve spotted from across Britain and Ireland this year? Share your pics for #wildflowerhour this Sunday 8-9pm using the hashtag #favouriteplant and we’ll celebrate it with you! 🥳🌿🌸

The answer to today’s earlier post is a Comfrey species

Anyone fancy guessing the plant? I have never noticed it like this before

Not had a close look to see how relevant to UK species but may be worth a look

For the #seedheads challenge for #wildflowerhour Strawberry Clover, Trifolium fragiferum. Seed pod is enclosed by the swollen, downy, net-veined calyx tube

Common Fleabane, Pulicaria dysenterica. This one isn’t following the rules and hasn’t read the books! Who needs damp and wet when you can grow on the kerb! (Text info from BSBI Online atlas)

Some wildflowers have seed heads that are truly spectacular! The challenge this week is to find some and then share your lovely pics for #WildflowerHour this Sunday 8-9pm using the hashtag #SeedHeads! Any wild or naturalised blooms you find too are of course always welcome!

Camouflage 1: Oak Hook-tip, Watsonalla binaria. Flies May to June then second generation from late August-September. Larval food plants: Pedunculate and Sessile Oak

BMS started in 2021 as an unfunded project to record plants & has evolved into trying to help with plant ID as well as highlighting plant associations. It would be very helpful to get your feedback (good or bad). You can comment here, message or email [email protected] Thank you

That’s it for the BMS 2025 recording period. Thank you to everyone who has taken part. You can enter your species list on line at bigmeadowsearch.co.uk/submit or you can send to me on [email protected] The posts will stop popping up on a daily basis and will become more sporadic.

The smallest Eyebrights I have ever come across. I’m presuming it’s due to the harsh conditions and a substrate of road planings rather than it being due to particular species characteristics 🤔

Shan’t be wandering through here to do my final BMS of 2025!

Tufted Vetch, Vicia cracca. Up to 200cm, scrambling. Hairy. 5-12 pairs of leaflets. Branched tendrils. Flowers bluish-mauve, up to 12mm long with 10-40 forming the inflorescence. Pods up to 25mm and glabrous

Penultimate day of BMS 2025 & a lovely wander round fabulous, varied habitats nr Llansadwrn. Swathes of Devil’s-bit Scabious but wrong time of year to see the Marsh Fritillaries. If you fancy waking up to this beautiful spot on your holidays, check out understarryskies.co.uk

Skullcap, Scutellaria galericulata (2 of 2). Keep a look out for the Skullcap Leaf Beetle. More info can be found here: arthropodafotos.de/dbsp.php?lan...

Skullcap, Scutellaria galericulata (1 of 2). Up to 50cm. Hairy. Leaves up to 7cm, heart-shaped base, weakly toothed, wrinkled and with blunt tip. Bright bluish-purple, paired flowers at leaf bases. Corolla up to 20mm, curved upward from the base

A lovely array of fence post and baler twine ecosystems today

A beautiful day (in between the showers!) for doing roadside Big Meadow Searches 😊 Eyebright and Harebells are today’s treats….so far

It’s looking a bit like autumn! Plump, luscious fruits are brightening the hedgerows like vibrant jewels, beautiful, but can you identify them? This week find the fruits of wild plants, snap away & post your lovely pics for #wildflowerhour this Sunday 8-9pm using #fruits 🍒

Diplolepis rosae wasp lays eggs in rose bud in spring and a bedeguar or Robin’s pincushion gall develops in response. Females lay fertile eggs without mating (males are rare). The gall has a woody core surrounded by branched red or green hairs. Multiple larval chambers in core

Best display of Common Fleabane and Water Mint I have ever seen, although photo doesn’t do it justice. >60 plant species found on a short walk. Salem, Carmarthenshire Thanks @lowcarbonlewis.bsky.social for the location tip 👍

Spear Thistle, Cirsium vulgare. Take a close look for the Spear Thistle Lacebug, Tingis cardui. 3-4mm long with black-tipped antennae. Further info on this and Tingis ampliata, (more often found on Creeping Thistle) can be found here www.britishbugs.org.uk/heteroptera/...

Dot Moth, Melanchra persicariae. Larval food plants include Broom, Field Bindweed and Common Toadflax.

I’m pretty sure this odd looking Wild Angelica is displaying fasciation or cresting. Abnormal growth where growing tip elongates perpendicular to direction of growth rather than producing cylindrical tissue. The result is flattened or contorted tissue. More info below

Watercress, Nasturtium officinale. Up to 60cm. Sprawling. Hairless. Usually roots at nodes. Leaves dark green to purple, glossy, 1-5 pairs of leaflets. White petals, yellow anthers. Short pods with seeds in 2 parallel rows.

A comparison of Perennial and Italian Rye-grass spikelets

Water Horsetail, Equisetum fluviatile. Up to 150cm. Finely grooved stems, vary between unbranched and sparsely & irregularly branched. Stem sheath teeth small and black tipped. Large central stem cavity occupying at least three quarters of stem diameter. Terminal cones up to 15mm

Lady’s Bedstraw, Galium verum (2 of 2). Food plant for Bloody-nosed Beetle and larvae of at least 19 moth species including Green Carpet, Barred Straw and Flame Shoulder

The Weird & Wonderful World of Irish Wasps Come join me for this webinar, next Monday, 1st September. Tickets are Pay What You Can: irish-wasps-2025.eventbrite.ie

Lady’s Bedstraw, Galium verum (1 of 2). Up to 60cm. Indistinct 4-angled stem. Leaves in whorls of 6-12, down-rolled margins, strap -shaped with finely pointed tip. Bright yellow flowers up to 4mm across with 4 petals

For #GentianFamily for #wildflowerhour it’s a past it’s best Common Centaury but in true Blue Peter style, here’s ’one I made earlier’ too 😉

Another day and another Tortoise Beetle. This time the less common Cassida vibex on Common Knapweed. Not seen this colour variant before

Common Purple & Gold, Pyrausta purpuralis. Flight season early March to late September. Main larval food plant is Thyme species.

Feeding signs and an adult Thistle Tortoise Beetle, Cassida rubiginosa on Creeping Thistle today.

Tansy, Tanacetum vulgare. Usually up to 100cm. Flat clusters of yellow flower heads up to 1cm across, made up of disk florets. No ray florets. Strong smell from scent glands on leaves. Leaves finely cut, up to 25cm, upper leaves clasp stem and lower stalked.

Just over a week to go until the end of the Big Meadow Search 2025. With the long weekend ahead for many of us, why not take a look at a local road verge, churchyard, amenity grassland, woodland ride, meadow etc. You don’t need to be an expert, just jot down what you know.

Speckled Bush-cricket: Feed on a variety of plants including Wood Sage*, Bramble, Traveller’s Joy*, Common Nettle, Cleavers and Hedge Woundwort

On first glance this road verge doesn’t look very interesting for a Big Meadow Search but there were 34 species just in this small patch. Highlights were Water Pepper, Redshank, Red Bartsia and Marsh Cudweed.