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

A few other odds and ends from Holy Island today with Lesser Clubmoss, Autumn Gentian, Seaside Centaury and Grass-of-Parnassus... #botany

Couldn't resist a few more fantastic Frog Orchids (Dactylorhiza viridis) from Holy Island today. Seems to be a good year for them! 🐸

The usual suspects scrutinised again today on Holy Island - Small Adder's-tongue (Ophioglossum azoricum) and Frog Orchid (Dactylorhiza viridis) #botany

Beyond chuffed to see my first Holy Island Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) on today's NHSN/Wildflower Society joint meeting. Not the best example but a very rare plant locally... #botany

Fern hunting in the hills again today! Minus a close call with an Adder and the sweltering heat, it was a good'un Having finally convinced myself I'd seen Northern Buckler-fern, it was nice to set about enjoying the other species present up the Bizzle Burn. #botany #northumberland

Lovely to spend an afternoon in the company of one of my all-time favourite wildflowers today in County Durham - Dark Red Helleborine (Epipactis atrorubens) #botany

Momentarily distracted from today's botany trip but a duo of rare butterflies - Marbled White and Durham Brown Argus out and about in the sun. #butterflies

I’ve been recording the garden bees for the #NorthEastBeeHunt run by @nenature.bsky.social but found plenty of other invertebrates out there. It’s amazing what you can find when you look. 🐡 #art #invertebrates

Latest BSBI Scotland blog post by John Grace. botsocscot.wordpress.com/2025/07/06/p...

Had to share a few of today's rather lush Lindisfarne Helleborines for the @wildflowerhour.bsky.social #HelleborineChallenge 😁

A few of the more photogenic Frog Orchids (Dactylorhiza viridis) spotted on Holy Island today with @bsbibotany.bsky.social members 😁 #botany

A cracking end to our @bsbibotany.bsky.social #Northumberland meeting with a day spent exploring Lindisfarne. A success, I'd say, with the Lindisfarne and Marsh Helleborines looking lovely, Frog Orchids found in abundance and plenty of other island rarities enjoyed 🌱 #botany

Day one of our three-day @bsbibotany.bsky.social #Northumberland meeting got off to a good start today with a trip to Newton Links. Now where's that pub... 🍺🌱

A new square for Small Toadflax (Chaenorhinum minus) on today's ramble. That takes it to a grand total of two (out of 190). A rather rare little plant locally! #urbanflora

Rather surprised to stumble across this apparently self-sown Cabbage-palm (Cordyline australis) today in North Shields. Growing in pavement crack by the dock. A new one for the #urbanflora and perhaps a new county record 👀

Great Burnet, Sanguisorba officinalis. Up to 120cm. Basal leaves with 3-7 pairs of stalked, toothed leaflets. Bisexual flowers with no petals and 4 dark crimson sepals. Flowers open in succession from bottom of dense terminal flower spike which is up to 3cm long.

Dark Red, Marsh, Dune, Green-flowered, Broad-leaved - can you find a flowering Epipactis species for #WildflowerHour this week? If you can, share your finds this Sunday 8-9pm using the hashtag #HelleborineChallenge! With special thanks to @thenewgalaxy.bsky.social for this week’s theme!

Fascinating to see the local adaptation of Green-veined White to living at 70° north in the Norwegian Arctic - their wings are distinctly darker than those we're used to further south, aiding absorption of heat from limited sunlight, allowing them to warm up and be active more readily. #butterflies

A little collection from a walk around @nenature.bsky.social Gosforth Nature Reserve yesterday featuring Melancholy Thistle, Marsh Cinquefoil, Great Burnet and Betony. #wildflowers