FLOWER GUIDE - Lancashire Wildlife

1 FLOWER GUIDEAN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO 65 COMMON PLANTS IN THE UKIllustrations from The Wild FLOWER Key by Francis Rose Copyright Frederick Warne & Co., 1981 Reproduced with kind permission of Frederick WarneUnless indicated otherwiseCover photograph by Bob Gibbons/Natural ImageDesign by International14 Rollestone StreetSalisburyWiltshireSP1 1 DXTel: 01722 342730 Fax: 01722 illustrated GUIDE to 65 common flowers has been produced to help people completethe Common Plants 65 species are chosen to be easy to identify and to be indicator species representativeof a wide range of habitats. These are the species which form the basis of the CommonPlants Survey.

2 The list includes such familiar plants as traveller s-joy from woodland edges,red dead-nettle and common poppy from arable field margins; heather from moorland,buck s horn plantain and thrift from the coast; and yellow flag and marsh-marigold TO USE THIS GUIDEThe flowers have been arranged by colour and strips on the edge of the page should helpyou to find groups of flowers of the same colour. Both the English and Latin names for eachplant are given along with further information about when the plant flowers , its size, habitat,and key features which help you distinguish it from other plants. The bar on the picture ofeach plant shows a 1cm scale.

3 You may find it helpful to take with you a small ruler, markedwith millimeters. FURTHER READINGFor more information about these and other British flowers we recommend The Wild FlowerKey by Francis Rose and Clare O Reilly and published by Warne. Alternatively we suggest TheWild flowers of Britain and Northern Europe by Fitter, Fitter and Blamey, published by Collins(the fifth edition costs and the ISBN is 0723251754). FLOWER GUIDEINTRODUCTIONANEMONE, WOOD Anemone nemorosa FLOWERING TIME March AprilSIZE 10 30cmHABITAT Woodlands, old hedge banks, uplandmeadowsCOMMENTS A distinctive plant with 5 8 white petalsoften pink on the back, making a flowerabout 3 4cm across when fully of cultivated ones that haveescaped from gardens with bigger flowersand/or more Menyanthes trifoliata FLOWERING TIME April JulySIZE 10 30cm above water, more belowHABITAT In shallow ponds or pools, marshes, fens orbogsCOMMENTS Spikes of fringed white flowers (often tingedpinkish) and the leaves all crowd togetherjust above the water surface.

4 Unlike anyother , COMMON Stellaria media FLOWERING TIME All year, but mainly in spring and summerSIZE 10 50cm, usually sprawlingHABITAT Ubiquitous on cultivated, open wasteground, hedge banks, gardens COMMENTS A notoriously variable plant, sometimesrather like others in its family. flowers 1cm in diameter, with petals cleft tothe base, green sepals equal in length to thepetals. Leaves hairless, but a fine line ofhairs down each rounded (not angled) FLOWER has 3 7 stamens with reddish-brown anthers (carrying pollen).CLEAVERS Galium aparineFLOWERING TIME All year, but mainly May September SIZE 5 300cm, sprawling, trailing or scramblingHABITAT Cultivated and arable land, waste-ground,woodland, beaches, scrub, open ground,gardensCOMMENTS Readily distinguished by its very sticky hairswhich stick on to soft clothing.

5 Othermembers of the family are not sticky,though they may be , OXEYE Leucanthemum vulgare FLOWERING TIME May SeptemberSIZE 10 80cmHABITAT Grassy areas, especially nutrient-rich soils COMMENTS The simple, undivided but toothed leavesdistinguish it readily from the Mayweedsand relatives. The individual flowers are 3 5cm in diameter, which is larger thanmost of the Mayweeds. Beware the gardenescape Shasta Daisy, which has flowersnearly 8cm across and forms Crataegus monogyna FLOWERING TIME May JuneSIZE Shrubs or trees to about 5mHABITAT Hedgebanks, woods and wood margins COMMENTS Spiny tree/shrub with bunches of flowersappearing after the bright green leaves,which are deeply divided.

6 Deep red fruits(haws) appear from Filipendula ulmariaFLOWERING TIME June SeptemberSIZE To 120cmsHABITAT Wet, damp places of all kinds COMMENTS Very distinctive with its fluffy rounded headsof small, creamy-white flowers . Has heavyscent. Each FLOWER is only (another scarcer species has biggerflowers about 1 2cm). Do not confusewith the species in the umbellifer family likeHogweed or Cow Parsley. PARSLEY, COW Anthriscus sylvestris FLOWERING TIME April JuneSIZE 60 100cmHABITAT Hedgerows, woodland edges, roadsides,except very poor soils COMMENTS Not very unlike lots of other medium-sizedumbellifers. Look for open FLOWER -heads withno green bracts on main stem, but severalunder each small FLOWER bunch.

7 Furrowedstems usually with purple blush (not spots)and hairy, large cut leaves that are matt greenand later fruits that are oval and slightly ridgedbut smooth, about long when Sorbus aucuparia FLOWERING TIME May June (berries September) SIZE Up to about 15m, but usually 3 10mHABITAT Woods, moors, rocky places except heavysoils, and also common roadside tree or inparks (planted) COMMENTS The leaves are distinctive and combinedwith the umbel-like bunches of whiteflowers, each FLOWER only about 1cmacross, it is unlike anything else. TRAVELLER'S-JOY Clematis vitalba FLOWERING TIME August SeptemberSIZE Stems to 10m or more, climbing over othertrees or shrubsHABITAT Scrambling climber in hedgerows, scrub,woodland, especially on limestone areasCOMMENTS Leaves very similar to more familiar gardenClematis types, but small, fragrant,greenish-white flowers .

8 The long, grey,hairy plumes with seeds attached areconspicuous in autumn and , COMMON Alisma plantago-aquaticaFLOWERING TIME June AugustSIZE 20 100cmHABITAT In or beside ponds, ditches, canals, slow-moving rivers COMMENTS Distinguish from its close relatives by thelarge, broad leaves, rounded at base, andthe small pale pinky-white flowers 1cm across with 3 Achillea millefolium FLOWERING TIME June AugustSIZE 15 90cmHABITAT Grassland, banks and waysides, often aweed in lawns COMMENTS Like no other plants with its umbel-likeheads of small white (rarely pink) flowersand very dissected feathery leaves. 7 ASPHODEL, BOG Narthecium ossifragum FLOWERING TIME July AugustSIZE To 45cmHABITAT Bogs, wet heaths, moors and mountains COMMENTS Very distinctive with its narrow flattenedleaves (like Iris) and deep golden yellow ororange flowers with 6 petals.

9 BIRD'S-FOOT-TREFOIL, COMMON Lotus corniculatus FLOWERING TIME May SeptemberSIZE 10 40cmHABITAT Well-drained grassland, roadsides except onvery acid soils COMMENTS A familiar creeping, mat-forming plant withdeep yellow pea- flowers often with reddishparts, held in small clusters on the thin are no tendrils, leaves with only 5narrowly oval leaflets, the lower 2 bent backby stem. Each FLOWER is 1 long andgive rise later to long straight pod of seeds, sothe dead head looks rather like a bird s , LESSER Ranunculus ficaria FLOWERING TIME March AprilSIZE 2 20cmHABITAT Damp woods, meadows, stream-sides,hedge banks COMMENTS A familiar mat-forming plant with shinyleaves and shiny yellow starry flowers eachwith 5 to 12 petals, often different lengthsin one 'S-FOOT Tussilago farfara FLOWERING TIME AprilSIZE 10 30cmHABITAT Open or disturbed habitats incl.

10 Arable land,maritime sand and shingle, landslips,roadsides and waste places COMMENTS Very distinctive early spring FLOWER , theleaves only appearing as the flowers droopand go over. Later the head of seeds is likea small dandelion clock . 9 COWSLIP Primula veris FLOWERING TIME April MaySIZE 10 30cmHABITAT Open woods, grassy places, meadows,roadside banks COMMENTS Easily distinguished by the nodding head ofcup-shaped deep yellow, scented flowers . GOLDEN-SAXIFRAGE, OPPOSITE-LEAVED Chrysosplenium oppositifoliumFLOWERING TIME April MaySIZE 5 15cm, creeping, sometimes mat-formingHABITAT By streams, in boggy woods, on wetmountain ledges COMMENTS Look for its square stem, paired leaves upthe stem and flowers only Distinguish it from the alternate-leaved golden-saxifrage which has atriangular stem, and larger flowers .