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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Wild Angelica

Flower: White, often tinged with pink, umbels up to 15cm across. Fruit: Flattened, round, oval papery wings. Dispersed by the wind. Leaves: Alternate, long-stemmed. Triangular 3-pinnate leaves. Leaflets are sharp-tipped and have serrated margins. Not hairy.

Video: Wild Angelica filmed by the side of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal on the 30th July 2022.

 

Music credits
Guess Who by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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Garden Angelica

Flower: Yellowish-green flowers, appearing in rounded umbels measuring 5 to 7cm across. 5 stamens per flower. Pollinated by insects. Fruit: Oval, flattened fruits with corky wings, measuring 6 to 8mm long. The seeds ripen in August and September. Leaves: An erect perennial with 2 to 3-pinnate leaves. Each leaf measure up to 60cm (24 inches) in length. Hollow, green stems (occasionally purple). Biennial.

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Asarabacca

Flower: Pale yellowish-green bell-shaped flowers. No petals. 3 maroon sepals. The flowers are usually hidden beneath the leaves. 12 stamens. Pollinated by flies. Fruit: A 6-parted capsule. Leaves: The leathery, dark green leaves are glossy and kidney-shaped. The leaves measure about 3 inches (7.5cm) across. Evergreen perennial. Asarabacca has a preference for growing in Beech woodland.

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Scottish Asphodel

Flower: Small, greenish-white or yellowish-white flowers in a short but dense terminal spike. 6 petals (3 are actually sepals). 6 stamens. Fruit: A roundish, 3-parted, greyish capsule, up to 3mm long. The seeds are tiny. Leaves: Flattened, hairless, iris-like leaves. Most leaves are basal leaves. They are stalkless and toothless. Up to 3 alternate stem leaves. The leaves are 3 to 7-veined. The erect stems are flat and hairles...

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Himalayan Balsam

Flower: Pink-purple to white. Fruit: The seed pods explode spectacularly and unexpectedly upon reaching maturity. Each pod contains many seeds and individual seeds can be projected as far as 5 meters away. This plant is notorious for bei... Leaves: Green elliptical leaves with serrated margins. Up to 8cm in length. The toothed edges are red in colour.

Video: Himalayan Balsam filmed in Adlington, Lancashire on the 7th July 2022.

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Orange Balsam

Flower: Orange with many blood-red spots. Fruit: Oblong capsules which later become explosive when touched. When the capsules explode, the many seeds within them are scattered and the plant can soon become invasive and out of control. Leaves: Alternate, ovate and stalked. The margins of the leaves are toothed but the teeth are well spaced apart.

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Small Balsam

Flower: Pale yellow flowers. The 2 lowermost petals are partly fused together, forming a lip. The upper petals form a helmet. 5 stamens. Pollinated by insects. Fruit: A pod-like fruit capsule. Leaves: An annual plant of shady places. The leaves are alternate along the branches. The leaves are oval, dense-toothed and pointed. The upper leaves are the largest. Erect stems.

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Gagnepain's Barberry

Flower: Golden yellow flowers are produced in clusters of about 5 or 6 (but sometimes up to 12), borne on short shoots. Pollinated by insects. Fruit: Waxy, bluish-black, oblong fruit. 1cm in length. The seeds ripen in September and October. Leaves: A thorny shrub with simple, lanceolate, toothed leaves. The thorns on the branches are 3-spined. The teeth on the leaf margins are tipped by short spines too. Chinese Barberry (Berberis julianae) is s...

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Common Bent

Flower: Each plant has hundreds of tiny spikelets with only one flower per spikelet. Fruit: Seed heads are in open, loose clusters. Leaves: Very short grass despite often being called the tallest of the Bent species. Very flat, thin and ribbed leaves which taper to a point. Hairless.

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Paper-bark Birch

Flower: Inconspicuous male and female catkins which are borne on the same tree, usually present in clusters of 3. Fruit: Small nutlets appear in clusters. Leaves: Deciduous. Ovate with pointed tips, stalked and with serrated edges. Turns yellow in autumn. Up to 4cm long.

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Bird-in-a-bush

Flower: The inflorescence is a loose purple flower spike. The flowers are tubular with an almost straight spur and lobed bracts. The two innermost petals are slightly conjoined. 2 sepals. 6 stamens. Flowers a... Fruit: A 2.5cm long capsule. In fruit in May to June. Leaves: A perennial with greyish, alternate, stalked leaves. The leaves are 3 to 4-ternate. The leaves are fern-like in appearance. Deciduous, in leaf from March to July.

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Common Bistort

Flower: Pink compact spike, 5 petals. Fruit: A black shiny nut. Leaves: Slender triangular-shaped leaves on long winged stalks. The leaves on the stem are arrow-shaped.

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Red Bistort

Flower: Red compact single or double spikes, 5 petals. Leaves: Heart-shaped leaves with a pointed tip, similar in appearance to Dock leaves. Upper leaves clasp the stem at the nodes.

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Wavy Bittercress

Flower: Tiny and forming clusters at the top. 4 white petals with 6 yellow stamens. Counting the number of stamens is perhaps the most reliable way to distinguish this flower from the almost identical Hairy B... Fruit: Long, thin, cylindrical seed pods which usually are lower than the topmost flowers. This is useful to know when trying to distinguish this flower from Hairy Bittercress which has seed pods that normal... Leaves: The basal rosette has alternate leaves. Stem leaves are compound with 3-6 pairs of leaflets and a terminal leaflet. Leaflets are wavy edged. The upright main stem upon which the leaves emerge from are...

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Bladder-seed

Flower: Flowers appear in umbels of 2 to 5cm across. Fruit: The fruits are inflated and bladder-like in appearance. Leaves: A slightly hairy biennial with solid stems. The leaves are dark green and 2-trefoil at their bases. Higher up the stems, the leaves are 1-trefoil and undivided. Well-toothed leaflets.

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Bleeding Heart

Flower: 2-spurred pinkish-purple, heart-shaped, pendant flowers (up to 2.5cm long) on a leafless stem. Flowers are in clusters of 5 to 15. Flowers have 2 sepals and 6 stamens in groups of 2's. Fruit: An elongated capsule. Leaves: Finely divided, alternate, greyish-green, fern-like leaves. A deciduous perennial.

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Sweet Briar

Flower: Bright pink flowers with erect sepals, up to 4cm wide. The flowers are stalked. There are numerous yellow stamens on each flower. Fruit: The red fruit are called hips and measure 1 or 2cm in diameter. The hips bear erect sepals which fall before the end of the season. Leaves: The leaves are toothed, pinnate and (stickily) hairy beneath. Each leaf measures 5 to 9cm in length and bears 5 to 9 leaflets. The stems have several unequally curved or hooked prickles mixed with hai...

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Willow-leaved Bridewort

Flower: Compact rosy-pink spike, each flower having 5 petals. Fruit: The flowers turn brown and develop into many seeded dry fruit. Leaves: Deciduous shrub. The leaves are alternate, narrow, oval, slightly toothed, blunt-tipped and slightly hairy.

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Thistle Broomrape

Flower: Yellowish-purple flowers with purplish-red anthers. Fruit: An egg-shaped capsule. Leaves: A parasitic plant hosting on either Creeping Thistle (Cirsium arvense) or Woolly Thistle (Cirsium eriophorum). The plant appears to be leafless but the leaves are actually scale-like and discrete.

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Viper's Bugloss

Flower: Pink buds which turn into a dense spike of funnel-shaped blue flowers. Downy sepals and 4-5 pink stamens. Fruit: Wrinkled nutlets, mossy in appearance. Leaves: The simple, rough, hairy, entire leaves are long and narrow with a prominent midrib. 1 alternate leaf per node.

Video: Viper's Bugloss filmed at Orford, Suffolk on the 28th June 2022.

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Great Burnet

Flower: Oval burgundy-coloured flower heads on long stalks. Fruit: An achene which is a small one seeded dry nut. Leaves: Alternate, long-stalked, compound leaves with up to 7 pairs of oval, stalked and toothed leaflets.

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Salad Burnet

Flower: Oval burgundy-coloured flower heads on long stalks. Fruit: An achene which is a small one seeded dry, ridged nut. Leaves: Pinnate, having up to 12 pairs of toothed leaflets.

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Fodder Burnet

Flower: Long-stalked, burgundy flowers, oval in shape. Fruit: The fruit is a winged nutlet. Leaves: A perennial flower with greyish, pinnate leaves. There are up to 12 pairs of toothed leaflets. Reddish stems, square in cross-section. The short-stalked leaflets are more deeply toothed than those of ...

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