Garden Arabis

Flower: Clusters of small white, pink or purple flowers. Each flower is about 1.5cm across. Pollinated by bees, butterflies and moths. Fruit: A long slender capsule. The seeds ripen from April to June. Leaves: A low mat-forming perennial flower with hoary, long-stalked, oblong leaves. The leaves are slightly toothed. The upper leaves clap their stems and have arrow-shaped lobes. Evergreen.

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Chinese Barberry

Flower: Yellow or orange flowers, tinged with red. In clusters of up to 25 flowers. Fruit: Purplish-black, elliptical berries, up to 6mm long. In fruit from July to November. Leaves: A dense bush with glossy, dark green, spiny, obovate leaves. The leaves are pale beneath. The branches contain long spines. The Gagnepain's Barberry (Berberis gagnepainii) is a similar looking shrub but that grows to about half the height and has narrower, matte leaves. The distinguishing feature of...

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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 similar in appearance but that has glossy, wider leaves and fluted branches. The leaves of Gagnepain'...

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Meadow Barley

Flower: Compact, purple-tinted, flower spikes with long awns. The spikes are a maximum of 5cm long. The rough, bristle-like glumes are shorter than those of the similar looking Wall Barley (Hordeum murinum). Fruit: The fruit is a caryopsis. Leaves: A perennial grass which is shorter than the similar looking Wall Barley. Flat, rough, mid-green leaves, 5mm wide.

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Wall Barley

Flower: Bristly flower spikes reaching up to 10cm in length, although seldom that long. Wind pollinated. Fruit: A flattened, globular caryopsis. A caryopsis is a type of one-seeded, dry fruit, typical of grasses and cereal crops. Leaves: An annual species of grass with long, stiff awns. The awns reach 3cm in length. The leaves also have long basal auricles. The sheaths are flat and hairy. This is the commonest species of Barley which grows wild in the UK.

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Sea Barley

Flower: The spike is a maximum of 5cm in length. It has stiff, strongly spreading awns, up to 2.5cm long. Fruit: The fruit is a caryopsis. A caryopsis is a type of dry, one-seeded fruit. Leaves: An tufted, erect, annual species with glaucous, velvety leaves.

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Wall Bedstraw

Flower: The minute flowers are pale green or whitish on the inside and purple tinted on the outside. The flowers measure only 1mm in diameter. Fruit: A smooth, almost black nutlet. The surface of the fruit is covered in many slender hooked bristles. Leaves: An annual sprawling flower with minute curved prickles on its many-branched stems. The leaves appear in whorls of 5 to 7 up the stem. Leaves are down-turned with minute forward pointing prickles along the edges.

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Trailing Bellflower

Flower: The Trailing Bellflower is adorned with charming violet or blue-hued flowers, forming a bell-like structure with five delicate petals. These star-shaped blossoms create a visual symphony during the late spring to early summer months. The heart-shaped, bright green foliage serves as an elegant backdr... Fruit: The Trailing Bellflower does not produce conventional fruits; instead, it reproduces through seeds. After the flowering season, the plant forms seed capsules. These capsules contain small seeds, contributing to the plant's reproductive cycle. The seeds are typically dispersed when the capsules dry a... Leaves: The leaves of the Trailing Bellflower are heart-shaped, displaying a vibrant shade of green. This foliage serves as an attractive backdrop to the plant's elegant violet or blue-hued flowers. The leaves are relatively small and have a smooth texture, contributing to the overall visual appeal of the p...

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Adria Bellflower

Flower: Many violet blue, bell-shaped flowers, each is 2cm in diameter. Adria Bellflower looks quite similar to Trailing Bellflower (Campanula poscharskyana) but is darker in colour. The flowers of Adria Bellflower also form a deeper bell. Pollinated by insects. Fruit: The fruit of Adria Bellflower typically consists of a dry, spherical capsule that contains tiny seeds. This capsule, when mature, will split open to release the seeds, allowing them to disperse and propagate the plant. Leaves: The leaves of Adria Bellflower are typically lance-shaped or elliptical, with a smooth, dark green appearance. They have a simple, alternate arrangement along the stem and may feature a slightly serrated or wavy edge. The leaves are typically medium-sized and are often covered in fine hairs, giving ...

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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 are also sometimes red or white. They each measure about 2cm in size. Pollinated by bees. 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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Narrow-leaved Bittercress

Flower: Clusters of tiny, 4-petaled, white flowers. 6 stamens. The similar looking Hairy Bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) usually only has 4 stamens. Pollinated by bees, flies, butterflies and months. Fruit: The fruit is a cylindrical pod. The seeds ripen from May to September. Leaves: A biennial plant wit pinnate leaves. There are several pairs of deeply toothed, lance-shaped leaves. The leaves clasp their stems. Hairless with straight stems. The similar Wavy Bittercress (Cardamine flexuosa) has often got zigzagged stems. Often found growing on limestone pavements.

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Hairy Bittercress

Flower: Tiny and forming clusters at the top. 4 white petals with 4 yellow stamens. Counting the number of stamens is perhaps the most reliable way to distinguish this flower from the almost identical Wavy Bittercress which has 6 yellow stamens. Fruit: Long and slender seed pods that split open when ripe. Leaves: Basal rosette, anything up to 9 inches long. Compound leaves with alternate leaflets that have one leaf per node along the main upright stem. The leaves persist throughout the winter months.

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Ladder Brake

Flower: Ferns do not have any flowers. They reproduce by means of spores. Fruit: The spores ripen in April and May. Leaves: The 1-pinnate leaves (fronds) are composed of paired linear leaflets. Ribbon Fern (Pteris cretica) is a similar-looking species but that has 4 to 7 pairs of leaflets whereas Ladder Brake has got 10 or more pairs of leaflets. Also, the lowest leaflet is never forked.

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Ivy Broomrape

Flower: Cream-coloured, up to 2cm, sometimes hairy, yellow stamens. Fruit: An egg-shaped capsule. Leaves: Without any leaves. The plant has no green pigment and is parasitic on Ivy. However, the stems bear many large and pointed fleshy scales.

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Buddleia

Flower: Dense spikes of purple flowers, sometimes white. Fruit: A small capsule which is about 1cm long and up to 2mm wide. The capsule is filled with many seeds. Leaves: Deciduous shrub with long, narrow, elongated leaves. The leaves are borne together in pairs along its long arching woody stems.

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