#Invasive aquatic plants increasingly cause havoc in aquatic ecosystems. Learn to identify introduced aquatics at @bsbibotany.bsky.social's free #AquaticPlantProject webinar, led by Nick Stewart & funded by @npwsireland.bsky.social. Book at www.tickettailor.com/events/botan... #waterplants

#Galanthus season is officially underway in the yarden! Galanthus rizehensis 'Lady Latife' right on cue ☺️

New #GBRedList for vascular plants is published today by a team led by @bsbibotany.bsky.social with partners @naturalengland.bsky.social @ukceh.bsky.social @naturescot.bsky.social @natreswales.bsky.social @nhm-london.bsky.social @plantlifeintl.bsky.social @rbgkew.bsky.social @thebotanics.bsky.social

1/11/25 Cumbria - The fruiting bodies of the brightly coloured Caterpillar Club #fungus (Cordyceps militaris) mark the grisly demise of the unfortunate insect pupa it is a parasite of, growing from the remains of its host beneath the soil #fungi

A colourful display of #waxcaps on today's @nenature.bsky.social fungi foray. Scarlet, Parrot, Butter, Blackening and Golden were recognisable, but several others, not so much! 🍄

About as urban as they come. Couldn't help but pause to admire this burly Oxford Ragwort (Senecio squalidus) on a neighbour's front step. #urbanflora

This morning I revisited the site where I found the Date Waxcaps (Hygrocybe spadicea) to take a better look and get more photos. There are more than I thought - they're well camouflaged - perhaps a dozen, some still just emerging brown bumps. Still buzzing from the find. 😍💚 #fungi @sewbrec.org.uk

Plymouth Thistle (Carduus pycnocephalus) at (where else?) Plymouth Hoe and Plymouth Thistle selfie with @janettem34.bsky.social on the way back from the SW. Thanks to @andymus.bsky.social for the quality gen. Three plants in flower in this area #wildflowerhour

A few more #waxcaps, this time from a rummage about Morpeth where we found Butter, Glutinous, Parrot and Blackening 🍄

Scarlet Caterpillarclub (Cordyceps militaris) growing among the Waxcaps on today's wander. #fungi

Officially waxcapped out... 😬🍄 I’m an absolute beginner when it comes to #fungi, but think we managed eight species today along Hadrian's Wall including Snowy, Crimson, Scarlet, Meadow, Parrot, Golden, Butter and Vermilion Waxcaps.

Chuffed to stumble across a troop of rather pristine Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) on today's woodland wander. Right on time for #UKFungusDay! 🍄

Pavement Parsley! Petroselinum crispum growing from the base of a wall during yesterday's @nenature.bsky.social Weed Walk. #pavementplants

Guernsey Fleabane (Erigeron sumatrensis) is a relatively new arrival in Newcastle but already seems to be replacing Canadian Fleabane in several parts. Wonder when the others will arrive! #urbanflora

Our annual membership special offer opens today! Join us this month & you'll enjoy 15 months of membership benefits for the price of 12. Those benefits are so numerous & fabulous you'll have to head over here to see them all: bsbipublicity.blogspot.com/2025/10/bsbi... Then join us! bsbi.org/join-us

A quick detour on the way home today turned up a new species for me in Rigid Buckler-fern (Dryopteris submontana). No need for a hand lens to see those glands! #ferns

A nice supporting cast of commoner ferns on today's wander, including heaps of Lemon-scented Fern (Oreopteris limbosperma). Matt trying and failing to be patient with me... 😅

Couldn't resist a later season visit to see the North East's only remaining population of Forked Spleenwort (Asplenium septentrionale). #ferns

Collared Earthstar (Geastrum triplex) today in Jesmond Dene 🍄

Coming soon: 'Wild Roses of Great Britain and Ireland'. This latest title, no.26 in the series of #BSBIHandbooks for tricky plant groups, has just gone to the printers! Available for #BSBImembers to pre-order now at the discount price of £16 (vs RRP £25). Sample pages here: bsbi.org/bsbi-handboo...

An interesting fern from today's wander in Throckley Dene - Dryopteris borreri morph. foliosum. A great big untidy looking thing with crimped pinnules. Certainly stood out! #ferns

Marginal veins of Nymphaea alba (left) and Nymphaea candida (right) for comparison.. Veins of candida join to form closed loops, those of alba end at the leaf edge. Of course there’s a hybrid too, which is common where they meet.

It’s been a while since I went out looking for #ladybirds, but with the recent surge in Hieroglyphic Ladybird records from unusual spots across the North East, I felt obliged to try and find one myself... 🐞🔎

Black Nightshade, Solanum nigrum, with unripe berries (they will ripen to black). Seen on the approach path to Staines Reservoir. #WildflowerHour

Nine Nightshade family members from #Cambridge and #Suffolk: Woody, Black, Green, Small, Deadly & Tall Nightshades, …plus Thorn Apple, Henbane & Duke of Argyll's Tea Plant. Scientific names in ALT. #WildflowerHour #Fruits

A few healthy patches of Seaside Daisy (Erigeron glaucus) from coastal masonry at Tynemouth. #urbanflora

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) with a sea view at Cullercoats. A surprisingly frequent part of Tyneside's #urbanflora 😅

Sea Spleenwort (Asplenium marinum) from yesterday's stroll on the coast at Cullercoats 🌿 #ferns

Some rather large examples of Red Goosefoot (Oxybasis rubra) on today's #urbanflora ramble. Common elsewhere, this one is actually on the Rare Plant Register for VC67! 🌱

I’ve spent quite a bit of time observing ‘weeds’ while working on the #urbanflora, but this one might just take the biscuit… 😅 Presenting Hemp (Cannabis sativa) in all its glory, growing on a patch of dumped soil in Walker.

A good day for Autumn Gentian (Gentianella amarella) yesterday on Cronkley Fell. #botany

A few more fabulous #ferns from yesterday's Teesdale trip with Parsley Fern, Mountain Male-fern, Beech Fern and Brittle Bladder-fern. #botany

Plenty of Green Spleenwort (Asplenium viride) squirrelled away in nooks and crannies on today's yomp. I do like this one! #ferns #botany

A bonny example of Shrubby Cinquefoil (Dasiphora fruticosa) spotted while perusing lunch spots in Teesdale today. Makes a change from supermarket carparks... #botany

Some rather chonky examples of Fir Clubmoss (Huperzia selago) from Cronkley Fell today. Well worth the sore knees! #botany #teesdale

Lobed Maidenhair Spleenwort (Asplenium trichomanes subsp. pachyrachis) from today's @nenature.bsky.social trip. One of a slightly flumoxing 17 species seen at Hareshaw Linn 🌱

A Hummingbird Hawk-moth nectaring on Red Valerian in our Peterborough garden this morning - my third sighting in the last week or so. No sign of egg-laying yet, but I keep hoping! #mothsmatter #teammoth

Recently, the first sighting of the Silver-washed Fritillary was recorded at Havannah Nature Reserve by local Chris Barlow.📷 This butterfly has not been recorded in Northumberland since 1850! 🦋 They are now found in a few sites in County Durham with Rowland's Gill the most northerly location.

Check out our interview with the legendary Dr Brenda Harold! While volunteering with @the-wildlifetrusts.bsky.social, Brenda created #Identiplant, the online course helping 1000s of plant-lovers build up their #WildFlowerID skills: bsbipublicity.blogspot.com/2025/08/inte... identiplant.bsbi.org

A while back, I came across a small population of Cabbage-thistle (Cirsium oleraceum) growing in a patch of marshy woodland in a local park. Fast forward a few years, and it seems to be going from strength to strength. Just another quirk of the #urbanflora...

Chuffed to see that Small Teasel (Dipsacus pilosus) has reappeared in a local park following an absence of almost a decade. Might well be the only plant in the whole city! #urbanflora

Fish-plant (Houttuynia cordata) still growing happily in its favoured ditch in Byker. An odd sight among the Brooklime and other common plants. #urbanflora

The image for this week’s #wildflowerhour challenge post is one from W. Keble Martin’s classic wildflower guide, The Concise British Flora in Colour. Isn’t it a beauty? There’s some very lovely members of the Lamiaceae or #DeadNettlefamily can you find one for #wildflowerhour this Sunday 8-9pm?

A few out of place #pavementplants spotted heading to and from work the last few days. Little wonder we’re rapidly approaching 1,100 species recorded for the urban flora... 📸 Wormwood, Early Goldenrod, French Marigold, Tomato, Shaggy Soldier, Millet, Chia, Cockspur and Corn Marigold.

White Bryony, Bryonia dioica. Dioecious = having the male and female reproductive organs in separate individuals. #WildFlowerHour

So far, over 47,000 of you have taken part in the #BigButterflyCount - thank you!🦋 Over 615,000 butterflies and moths have been recorded, and the Large White is taking the lead🥇 Get out for the Count today 👉 bigbutterflycount.org 📷 Andrew Cooper

Hare's-foot Clover (Trifolium arvense) - a surprise today among the litter and commonplace plants adorning an unassuming roundabout in Lemington. A good one for the #urbanflora! 😄

Going full fungus to fight Himalayan balsam! 🍄 Yorkshire’s trial of a rust fungus is already sporing success—less balsam, more biodiversity. Our volunteers get a breather too! www.ywt.org.uk/news/trial-tackle-uks-prettiest-invasive-species-yorkshire-early-success #RustToTheRescue #INNSmanagement

Probably the last Marsh Helleborines (Epipactis palustris) I'll see this year. A handful still in flower with many hundreds now long over. #botany

Popped back for a few more 📷 of yesterday's Henbane on Holy Island. I really do like this one... #botany