Abraham, Isaac and Jacob

Flower: Violet-blue flowers in leafy clusters. The mauve-coloured stamens are prominent. Flowers measure between 9 and 12mm across. Fruit: Ridged nutlets. Leaves: A hairy, creeping perennial with upright stems and rough, heart-shaped leaves. The large leaves are stalked and have a sandpaper-like texture. A garden escape species which sometimes naturalises in th...

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False Acacia

Flower: Cream-white, pea-like flowers. The flowers hang down in a loose spike and are similar in appearance to Laburnum but creamy-white and not yellow. Fruit: Brown pea-like pods, up to 4 inches long. Leaves: Deciduous. Dark green, pinnate leaves, up to 25cm in length. 3 to 9 pairs of blunt, oval leaflets. Leaflets are untoothed.

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Two-spined Acaena

Flower: Globular flowerheads. Flowers are without petals. Each flower has 2 spines. White stamens. Fruit: The fruit is globular and spiny. The spines are purplish-red. Fruits measure up to 3cm in diameter. Leaves: A mat-forming perennial with bright green, pinnate leaves, up to 12cm long. The toothed leaflets are in 6 to 8 opposite pairs, plus a terminal leaflet. The young stems are hairy and often tinged red. ...

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Spineless Acaena

Flower: Globular, petalless flowers. Fruit: Globular fruits usually spiny but often without spines. Leaves: A mat-forming perennial garden escape species. The pinnate leaves are purplish and feathery. Leaflets are toothed.

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Winter Aconite

Flower: Cup-shaped flowers, up to 3cm wide. The flowers have large, deeply cut, leafy bracts at their bases. Fruit: Follicles which contain the seeds. Leaves: A perennial with deeply cut, glossy, hairless basal leaves. Throughout the British Isles, Winter Aconite is most common in the east of England and Scotland.

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Common Agrimony

Flower: Yellow, spiked, 5 petals. Fruit: Rough, burred fruit with hooks that clings to clothing easily. Leaves: Soft hairs present. Pinnate, in pairs of 3-6 toothed leaflets.

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Bastard Agrimony

Flower: The yellow flowers appear together in clusters. Each flower measures from 7 to 10mm across. Fruit: A roundish fruit. Unlike Common Agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria) and Fragrant Agrimony (Agrimonia procera), the fruit is without bristles. Leaves: A sprawling perennial. The leaves are trefoil and toothed. Scotland only, mainly around Glasgow and Edinburgh.

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Fragrant Agrimony

Flower: The inflorescence is a long flower spike. The flowers are about 1cm across with notched tips. 12 stamens. 2 pistils. Fruit: Bell-shaped, burred fruit with hooks that are down-turned. The fruit is about 1cm long. Leaves: No basal leaves. The stem leaves are stalked and alternate up the stems. They are pinnate leaves with 3 to 7 pairs. Leaflets are lance-shaped and large toothed. The leaves are more deeply toothed than...

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Common Alder

Flower: Yellow and pendulous (male catkins). Green and oval (female catkins). Male and female catkins present on same tree, and grouped in clusters of 3-8 on each stalk. Fruit: In winter the catkins turn into hard, dark, cone-like fruit which eventually release the seeds. Leaves: Deciduous. Round, dark green, leathery, smooth, serrated edges.

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Grey Alder

Flower: Pendulous, red-brown and becoming yellow later (male catkins). Red, erect and cylindrical (female catkins). Male and female catkins present on same tree. Fruit: Wooded cones which persist on the tree throughout winter months. Leaves: Deciduous. Hairy, ovate and pointed, glossy, grey beneath.

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Italian Alder

Flower: The male and female flowers appear on separate trees. The yellowish-brown male catkins are pendulous and borne in clusters of 3 to 6 and are up to 10cm long. The male catkins appear before the leaves ... Fruit: The female flowers become woody and turn into the cone-like fruit. The fruit are overwintering. The cones are larger than most other Alder cone species, up to 2.5cm long. Leaves: A deciduous tree with dark green, alternate, glossy, heart-shaped leaves and finely serrated margins. Cordata (see Botanical Name) means 'heart-shaped'.

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Alexanders

Flower: Yellow-green umbel. Fruit: Globular, ridged, turning black on ripening. Leaves: Yellowish-green bluntly toothed, divided and glossy.

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Green Alkanet

Flower: Bright blue, 8-10mm, 5 petals. Fruit: 4 nutlets per flower, each having a ridged surface. Leaves: Hairy, broad, alternate leaves with deep veins and pointed tips. Leaves are smaller and without stalks towards the top.

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Yellow Alkanet

Flower: Small clusters of pale yellow flowers. The flowers are tubular in shape. Pollinated by bees. Fruit: The fruit is a nutlet. Leaves: Simple, hairy, oval to lance-shaped leaves. The leaves have untoothed margins. Perennial.

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False Alkanet

Flower: Small clusters of bright blue flowers with white centres. Fruit: The fruit is a nutlet. Leaves: A very hairy perennial plant with erect stems and alternate, lance-shaped leaves.

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Alkanet

Flower: Tight clusters of purplish-blue flowers. Roundish petals. Densely hairy. 5 stamens. Pollinated by bees. Fruit: Brown, 4-parted fruit, about 4mm long. The seeds ripen from July to October. Leaves: The leaves and stems are very hairy. The leaves are elliptic and wavy-edged. Not toothed. The leaves are alternate along both sides of the stems. Biennial or perennial.

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Allseed

Flower: The small white flowers are short-stalked and appear inside branched clusters. The 4 petals are about as long as the toothed sepals. Fruit: The fruit is a globular seed capsule. Leaves: A well-branched annual with very small, pointed oval leaves. The leaves are in opposite pairs along the stems. Greyish-green, stiff, thread-like, forked, reddish stems.

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Four-leaved Allseed

Flower: The flowers are very small and appear inside forked heads. Fruit: The fruit is a near spherical capsule, just over 1mm in size. Leaves: A many-branched, hairless, winter annual plant with small oval to spoon-shaped leaves, in groups of 4 along the stems. Grows in sandy soils. In Britain, Four-leaved Allseed is most likely to be encoun...

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Sweet Alyssum

Flower: White, occasionally pale purple, 5-6mm, 4 petals. Fruit: Flattened, oval seed pods bearing two seeds each. Leaves: Narrow, greyish-green, untoothed and lanceolate, usually having many whitish-silvery hairs.

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Green Amaranth

Flower: The flowers appear inside erect, terminal spikes, tassel-like in appearance. 5 pink sepals. Wind pollinated. Fruit: The fruit is a dry seed. Leaves: A hairless, yellowish-green plant similar in appearance to Common Amaranth (Amaranthus retroflexus) but with shorter, looser tassels. The leaves are oval and pointed. Annual. A garden escape, infreque...

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Common Amaranth

Flower: The inflorescence is a dense, tassel-like terminal spike. 5 sepals, no petals. Wind pollinated. Fruit: The fruit is a capsule, up to 2mm long. Black seeds. Seeds ripen from August to October. Leaves: A downy, greyish-green annual plant with pointed oval leaves. Short-stalked. Leaves measure up to 15cm (6 inches) long.

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Garden Anchusa

Flower: Tiny clusters of tubular, violet-blue flowers. Pollinated by bees. Fruit: The fruit is a small nutlet, 2 to 4mm across in size. The seeds ripen from July to September. Leaves: A clump-forming, bristly perennial plant with hairy, lance-shaped leaves. The stems are erect and branching. Garden escape species.

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Yellow Anemone

Flower: Saucer-shaped, rich yellow flowers, each being 2 to 2.5cm in size. Similar in appearance to Wood Anemone (Anemone nemorosa) but with yellow flowers, not white. Fruit: The fruit is a winged nut. Leaves: A perennial flower with finely divided leaves, segmented into 3 leaflets. The margins of the leaflets are toothed.

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Blue Anemone

Flower: Large, blue daisy-like flowers. Similar in appearance to Wood Anemone (Anemone nemorosa) but the flowers are larger, (usually) blue and have more petals. The petals are narrow. Rarely specimens have w... Fruit: The fruit is a winged nutlet (achene). Leaves: The dark green leaves are divided into 3 toothed leaflets. Perennial.

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Balkan Anemone

Flower: The flower has many blue narrow petals. Balkan Anemone is much like Blue Anemone (Anemone apennina) but the petals are narrower and hairless underneath. Flowers measure 3 or 4cm in diameter. Sometimes... Fruit: The fruit is a winged nutlet called an achene. An achene is a type of dry, one-seeded fruit. Leaves: The leaves are palmate and dark green. They are 3-lobed and each lobed is toothed around the margins. A compact perennial flower. Garden escape species.

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