The buttercup and the red campion are pretty common wildlfowers that many of you will know. As with anything there can be different varieties of species and there can always be exceptions to the rule! I think the buttercup is Ranunculus repens, which is the creeping buttercup but there is also the meadow buttercup and the bulbous buttercup. Any easy way to spot the creeping buttercup is the way the plant does branch out and 'creep'. The red campion, Silene dioica is a common hedgerow plant but an easy one to get confused with herb robert. Unfortunately I do not have a photo of herb robert, but there will be plenty around soon that I can update my blog with!
Buttercup, Ranunculus repens - Local Neighbourhood |
Red Campion, Silene dioica - Local Neighbourhood |
Common Foxglove, Digitalis purpurea - Local Neigbourhood |
White Clover, Trifolium repens - Local Neighbourhood |
Red Clover, Trifolium pratense - Local Neighbourhood |
Germander Speedwell, Veronica chamaedrys - Local Neighbourhood |
Wood Forget-me-not, Myosotis slyvatica - Local Neighbourhood |
Sheep's Bit, Jasione montana - Local coastal path |
Devil's Bit Scabious, Succisa pratensis - Mockerkin Tarn |
Cowslip, Primula veris - Local Neighbourhood |
This really is just a brief introduction to flowers. There are millions of flowers to go out and find. I discovered that when I spent more time out and about, I also began to learn which habitats certain flowers are found in. I also looked in more detail with my hand lens at the flower parts - always good fun, especially with little ones! And then I started to look at leaf shape and characteristic such as hairiness. As with anything the more time you spend out there in the field the better you get.....and the more addictive it becomes!
When I first started looking at wildflowers I used a small DK Pocket Nature Guide to Wildflowers and I also have a little old penguin book on plant communities, which is great for finding what plant lives where, for example it lists the common bog plants, such as Bog Asphodel and Sundew. I also looked at flower families and used the similarities to help with identification.
Then as I got better moved on to The Wildflower Key by Frances Rose - this is the wildflower bible and a book full of knowledge, but it is a tricky book to get started with. As soon as spring arrives I will be doing more wildflower posts with a bit more detail and hopefully with some more ID tips. In the meantime there are plenty of snowdrops around...roll on spring!
Books
Fetcher, K. (2004) " Pocket Nature Wild Flowers" Dorling Kindersley
Bulow-Olsen, A. (1978) "Plant Communities" Penguin Books Ltd
Rose, F. (1981, 2006) "The Wild Flower Key" Penguin Books Ltd
Grieve, M. (1980) "A Modern Herbal" Penguin Books Ltd
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