Mothers - is this wishful thinking on my part that this is an early instar Emperor Moth caterpillar? Feeding on Purple Loosestrife at the edge of my local pond, not a million miles from an area of lowland heath. #TeamMoth

Something I have been long dreaming of finding - Bog Beacon, Mitrula paludosa, in Keston Bog yesterday. 🧡 #MushroomMonday

Thank you @trisnorton.bsky.social for pointing out this is in fact Clustered Clover, Trifolium glomeratum! #WildflowerHour. *red face*

Knotted Clover, Trifolium striatum, in short, roadside grass in LB Bromley. #TinyPlants #WildflowerHour

The plant itself isn't tiny, but the flowers certainly are, so I think that qualifies it for this week's #TinyPlants challenge. Sticky Willy, Cleavers, Goosegrass (or whatever you know it by) - Galium aparine. #WildflowerHour

Woohoo! It’s Sunday & it’s 8pm so it must be time for #wildflowerhour! Please share your pics of the wild & naturalised blooms you have found in the last week from across Britain & Ireland especially if they are #tinyplants the theme of this week’s challenge!

Ooh, this sounds amazing!

#Spider Spies needed! foragingecology.com/spider-spies/ #Arachnids Please Repost

So happy to see that Turtle Doves have once again safely returned to the Maxey Cut and its surrounding landscape of former gravel workings that now support a rich mix of open water, flowery grassland, reed beds, scrub and willows... www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Some of our #wildflowers are so incredibly minuscule they are very easy to miss! This week’s challenge is to get your specs 🤓 on & see if you find any #tinyplants in bloom. Share your finds for #WildflowerHour this Sunday 8-9pm! Happy teeny flower spotting! 🧐🌸🌿

I have been fascinated by Birthwort, Aristolochia clematitis, ever since first seeing it in my books. I was therefore excited to see it in cultivation at the Chelsea Physic Garden yesterday. herbaria.plants.ox.ac.uk/bol/plants40...

I was very taken with lots of the plants at the Chelsea Physic Garden yesterday, but I was particularly taken with this Utricularia sandersonii, a terrestrial Bladderwort from South Africa. Look at its bunny ears! 🐰 powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:ls...

After months of work my Norfolk Pseudoscorpion guide for @norfolknats.bsky.social is now on the website free to see/download. Covers 20 species recorded in Norfolk so hopefully useful for other areas of UK. norfolknaturalists.org.uk/wp/wp-conten...

If anyone wants to listen to me wibbling about a book I may have written, do listen in to the lovely @batability.bsky.social Neil Middleton. It was a real pleasure being interviewed by Neil 💚🪲🌱🪲💚

Taking part in the Big Meadow Search project has taken me to some fabulous sites that I wouldn’t have otherwise seen. I’ve explored far and wide, driven down previously unexplored local roads and seen loads. In my (biased) view, it’s good for you! Runs 1st June to 31st August.

Is anyone else noticing an increase in the abundance of Star-of-Bethlehem, Ornithogalum umbellatum? It's spreading year on year along a local road verges and the other day I was surprised to see quite a lot in one of the Ravensbourne Meadows. The bulblets being perhaps spread by cutting machinery?

Beautiful Meadow Cranesbill, Geranium pratense, on Mitcham Common. I only saw one open flower, but there are plenty more to come. 💜

False Oat Grass, Arrhenatherum elatius on a road verge beside Micham Common. #GrapplingWithGrasses #KeepingUpWithThePoaceae

Pignut, Conopodium majus, at Ravensbourne Meadows for the #CarrotsAndPeas challenge, with a supporting cast of Bugle, Ajuga reptans. #WildflowerHour

Sainfoin, Onobrychis viciifolia, looking pink and dazzling on Mitcham Common. 😎This area of grassland on the common has been seeded in the past. #WildflowerHour #CarrotsAndPeas

Bithynian Vetch, Vicia bithynica, on Mitcham Common. I feel this may well originally have arrived with imported soil. Check out it's fabulous stipules. 😍 #WildflowerHour #CarrotsAndPeas

Petty Whin, Genista anglica, one of Mitcham Common's special plants. 💛 #WildflowerHour #CarrotsAndPeas

Common Vetch, Vicia sativa. The black spots (ooh, aaarr) at the base of flowers are extra-floral nectaries, which are particularly common in members of the Fabaceae. These attract Ants, which may then help protect the plant from herbivory.🐜 Also some white flowers. #WildflowerHour #CarrotsAndPeas

Plenty of Hairy Tare, Ervilia hirsuta, scrambling through the grassland vegetation on Mitcham Common like unruly toddlers running amok. Its hairy seed pods contain two seeds. #WildflowerHour #CarrotsAndPeas

Huge patch of Fodder Vetch aka Hairy Vetch, Vicia villosa, on Mitcham Common with some Cow Parsley, Anthriscus sylvestris vainly trying to get a look-in in the background. #WildflowerHour #CarrotsAndPeas plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9...

Horseradish, Armoracia rusticana, beside Bidder's Pond on Mitcham Common. 🔥 #WildflowerHour

It’s Sunday & it’s 8pm so it must be time for #wildflowerhour! Please share your pics of the wild & naturalised plants you’ve spotted flowering in the last week from across Britain & Ireland, especially if they are #carrotsandpeas, the theme for this week’s challenge!

What do you get when you cross a Fly Orchid with a Bee Orchid? This little cutie, that’s what! 😍 So excited to see the Fly x Bee hybrid this weekend! #Wildflowerhour

Common Cow-wheat, Melampyrum pratense, starting to come into flower on Keston Common. A fascinating hemiparisitic plant (in this case growing on Oak) which uses ants to disperse its seeds. 🐜

🌱🌾🌍🌺🍄🌳🌲🌿🍃 🧪🐡 The crowdfunder for #BUC2026, specifically the 4th Student Botany Festival in August, is underway. This event has such an impact on UK & Irish students keen on botany. Look at reading.hubbub.net/p/botanicalu... Keep them smiling! Please donate or share!!

This Common Spotted Orchid was being looked after by some little green guardian angels.

The Orchids wot I saw today. Man, Common Twayblade, Fly, White Helleborine and Bird's-nest.

I saw this fabulous Wild Service Tree, Sorbus torminalis, in Cambridgeshire ancient woodland a few weeks ago and thought how beautiful it would look in full flower. Was too far for me to go back and see, so I visited the one at High Elms Country Park instead (next post) which was looking glorious.

Male flowers of White Bryony, Bryonia dioica, scrambling through Hawthorn on the edge of a path on Mitcham Common. Its clever tendrils spiral both clockwise and anti-clockwise.

An ant hill garden on Mitcham Common, starring Lesser Stitchwort, Stellaria graminea. #AntHill #AntGarden

The latest in my occasional series of satisfying clumps. A very cheerful and satisfying clump of Tormentil, Potentilla erecta, on Mitcham Common. I thought there must be an ant hill underneath, but there didn't appear to be. There were several similar clumps.

Find a member of the pea or carrot family, that’s the challenge this week from Wild Flower Hour! Don’t be tempted to eat them up though, as some members of the carrot family are extremely poisonous ☠️ Post your finds for #wildflowerhour this Sunday 8-9pm using #carrotsandpeas!

We're calling on all plant-lovers to take images of wonderful wildflowers this summer & enter them in our Botanical Photographer of the Year competition! There are 5 categories and (new for 2026) we are introducing a separate award for young photographers. Find out more: bsbi.org/take-part/ac...

A beautiful Painted Lady joined me for a while during my walk on Mitcham Common yesterday.

No, YOU nearly fell into this drainage ditch on Mitcham Golf Course while examining the Common Water-Crowfoot, Ranunculus aquatalis.

We have such a great FREE webinar for you 7-8pm tomorrow night 6 May! Legendary ecologist, author & pan-lister @graemelyons.bsky.social will be explaining why getting to know your plants facilitates recording of other species groups. Book here: bsbi.org/take-part/ev... Ideal for beginner recorders!

A very smart Cinnabar moth I had the pleasure to meet on Mitcham Common yesterday. ❤️🖤

My son and I spent lots of time chasing Butterflies at Samphire Hoe the other day. The mostly all led us a merry dance, and flew off laughing as soon as we got close enough for a photo. These ones stopped briefly. Wall, Dingy Skipper and Clouded Yellow.

Some birds seen on my walk from Brighton Marina to Rottingdean. I set off in sunshine, then the mist rolled in, only clearing as I finished! Kestrel, Fulmar and Rock Pipit. The little Rock Pipit sought refuge with me down on the ground while two Jackdaws squabbled loudly on the cliff face above.

Slender Thistle, Carduus tenuiflorus, alongside the England Coast Path between Brighton Marina and Rottingdean.

Tree Mallow, Malva arborea, seen beside the England Coast Path on my walk between Brighton Marina and Rottingdean.

Wild Mignonette, Reseda lutea, with its rocket-like flower spikes, beside the England Coast Path at Roedean.

Hoary Stock, Matthiola incana, naturalised on the cliffs above Brighton Marina. I'd love to see our own native Sea Stock, Matthiola sinuata, one day. 😍

Wild Clary, Salvia verbenaca, beside the England Coast Path between Brighton Marina and Rottingdean. As I was taking the pictures, a chap asked me the name of the plant, and was genuinely interested, so that was nice.

Cabbage, Brassica oleracea var. oleracea, at Samphire Hoe yesterday. Early for #WildflowerHour