Explore:
Threatened Species
Mammals
Birds
Reptiles
Amphibians
Fish
Invertebrates - terrestrial
Invertebrates - marine
Plants & algae
Fungi & lichen
British Species
Mammals
Birds
Reptiles
Amphibians
Fish
Invertebrates - terrestrial
Invertebrates - marine
Plants & algae
Fungi & lichen
Species
Video
Images
All
Search
Home
>
British Plants and algae
List by common name
List by scientific name
Click on the first letter of the common name.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
British Plants and algae
Species
1
-
50
of
203
[
next
]
Adder's-tongue spearwort (
Ranunculus ophioglossifolius
)
Adder's-tongue spearwort is related to the buttercup, and an alternative name for it is the 'Badgeworth buttercup'. The Latin name...
More
11 Images
0 Videos
Alchemilla (
Alchemilla minima
)
This plant has no common English name but belongs to the well-known lady's mantle family. It was only recognised as a separate...
More
1 Image
0 Videos
Ash (
Fraxinus excelsior
)
The ash is one of our tallest native trees. It has a fairly open crown, becoming oval or spherical in shape as it ages. The bark...
More
11 Images
1 Video
Atlantic lejeunea (
Lejeunea mandonii
)
This very small, rare plant is one of the 'leafy' liverworts, which forms thin yellow-green patches on rocks and other...
More
1 Image
0 Videos
Baltic bog moss (
Sphagnum balticum
)
This rare moss can grow whilst completely or partly submerged in water. It resembles several other members of the sphagnum moss...
More
1 Image
0 Videos
Beaked beardless moss (
Weissia rostellata
)
Beaked beardless moss is a small moss that grows in tufts on damp soil and drying...
More
1 Image
0 Videos
Beech (
Fagus sylvatica
)
The beech is a magnificent large tree with a broad crown, and very smooth greyish bark. There are typically many branches, which...
More
21 Images
2 Videos
Bell heather (
Erica cinerea
)
Bell heather is a feature of dry heaths where it grows to heights of 60 centimetres. The small leaves are dark green in colour, and...
More
9 Images
0 Videos
Bird's-foot-trefoil (
Lotus corniculatus
)
The humble and diminutive bird's-foot-trefoil goes by a plethora of local names; Geoffrey Grigson, in ‘The...
More
10 Images
2 Videos
Black poplar (
Populus nigra
)
Black poplar, thought to be Britain's most endangered native timber tree, has a wide, rounded crown and dark grey fissured bark...
More
9 Images
0 Videos
Blackthorn (
Prunus spinosa
)
Blackthorn is a deciduous shrub that has long been popular in hedgerows because of its thorns. The beautiful white blossom tends...
More
9 Images
2 Videos
Bladder wrack (
Fucus vesiculosus
)
Bladder wrack is a familiar large olive-brown coloured seaweed, which attaches to rocky substrates by means of a small disc. The...
More
8 Images
1 Video
Bluebell (
Hyacinthoides non-scripta
)
The bluebell, popularly thought of as Britain's national flower, is a bulbous spring flowering plant. When growing en masse...
More
7 Images
4 Videos
Bog asphodel (
Narthecium ossifragum
)
Bog asphodel produces bright yellow star-like flowers on leafless stems. On the damp heaths and peatbogs in which it is found, this...
More
8 Images
0 Videos
Bogbean (
Menyanthes trifoliata
)
Bogbean is an aquatic or bog plant, hence the common name. The bean part of the name refers to the smooth-edged shiny leaves, which...
More
8 Images
2 Videos
Bracken (
Pteridium aquilinum
)
Bracken is a well-known deciduous fern; most experts consider that there is only one member of the genus Pteridium, and the species...
More
12 Images
3 Videos
Bramble (
Rubus fruticosus agg.
)
Brambles form a complex group known as Rubus fruticosus agg. (short for aggregate), containing around 320 individual species known...
More
12 Images
0 Videos
Branched bur-reed (
Sparganium erectum
)
Branched bur-reed is an aquatic emergent plant that grows rooted in the mud at the margins of waterbodies. The narrow, smooth and...
More
7 Images
1 Video
Broad-fruited corn salad (
Valerianella rimosa
)
The Latin name Valerianella means 'little valerian', and refers to the fact that this genus is affiliated with the valerians....
More
1 Image
0 Videos
Broad-leaved cudweed (
Filago pyramidata
)
Broad-leaved cudweed is a somewhat taller and more substantial plant than its close relative, red-tipped cudweed. It, too...
More
8 Images
0 Videos
Brown galingale (
Cyperus fuscus
)
Brown galingale is a small tufted sedge, with three-angled stems that bear narrow, dull grey-green leaves. The flowers are tiny and...
More
9 Images
0 Videos
Bugle (
Ajuga reptans
)
Bugle is a common herb that often grows in large clumps. The flowers are deep purplish blue, rarely pink or white, and are arranged...
More
6 Images
1 Video
Bulrush (
Typha latifolia
)
The bulrush was termed 'reedmace' by botanists until the 1970s, but the common English name 'bulrush'has since been accepted. This...
More
7 Images
2 Videos
Butterbur (
Petasites hybridus
)
Butterbur is so called as the huge rhubarb-like leaves with their downy undersides were used to wrap around butter in the days...
More
10 Images
1 Video
Butterfly-bush (
Buddleja davidii
)
This large shrub is so called because it is visited by large numbers of butterflies and moths, as it is an extremely good source...
More
4 Images
3 Videos
Chamomile (
Chamaemelum nobile
)
Chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile) is a low-growing plant with finely divided leaves, which are arranged alternately on the stem. The...
More
6 Images
0 Videos
Colt's-foot (
Tussilago farfara
)
Colt's foot is one of the earliest flowers each spring. The alternative name ‘son-before-father' refers to the fact that the bright...
More
11 Images
0 Videos
Common butterwort (
Pinguicula vulgaris
)
Butterwort is an insectivorous plant. It produces bright purple flowers that have earned the species the alternative names of bog...
More
8 Images
0 Videos
Common chickweed (
Stellaria media
)
Common chickweed is a very common weed. It is extremely variable in its appearance, but generally it has a very slender tap root...
More
4 Images
0 Videos
Common dandelion (
Taraxacum officinale agg
)
Dandelions are well-known, robust weeds; the common name derives from the French 'dent de lion', meaning 'lion's tooth', which...
More
11 Images
3 Videos
Common duckweed (
Lemna gibba
)
This duckweed is one of Britain's most common small water plants, which forms familiar green mats covering stagnant water bodies....
More
6 Images
0 Videos
Common holly (
Ilex aquifolium
)
With its bright red berries (found only on female plants), and shiny evergreen leaves, the native holly tree has been a symbol...
More
6 Images
1 Video
Common nettle (
Urtica dioica
)
The common, or stinging nettle is a well-known and highly successful 'weed' species. The roots are very tough and are yellow...
More
7 Images
4 Videos
Common poppy (
Papaver rhoeas
)
The common poppy is a familiar wild flower, which has long been a symbol of death and rebirth, and is worn in many countries...
More
12 Images
3 Videos
Common reed (
Phragmites australis
)
This common reed forms large beds in shallow water; it has round, hollow stems, which typically grow to 2m in height, but may reach...
More
4 Images
4 Videos
Common water-plantain (
Alisma plantago-aquatica
)
Common water-plantain is a stout aquatic herb with oval-shaped leaves, which may be rounded or heart-shaped at the base. The pale...
More
6 Images
0 Videos
Convergent stonewort (
Chara connivens
)
Stoneworts used to be classified as members of the plant kingdom, but it is now agreed that they belong, along with other green...
More
2 Images
0 Videos
Corn buttercup (
Ranunculus arvensis
)
Corn buttercup produces yellow flowers with shiny petals on an erect, leafy stem. The leaves are split into narrow lobes, and the...
More
4 Images
0 Videos
Corn cleavers (
Galium tricornutum
)
Corn cleavers is an endangered plant that has bristly stems and produces thin leaves in whorls of up to nine. The double fruits are...
More
3 Images
0 Videos
Corncockle (
Agrostemma githago
)
This attractive tall cornfield plant has purple flowers which occur singly on the top of long stalks, the leaves are long and...
More
6 Images
2 Videos
Cornflower (
Centaurea cyanus
)
The attractive flowers of the cornflower are a bright celebratory blue, distinctive enough to have given its name to a colour. The...
More
4 Images
2 Videos
Cornish path moss (
Ditrichum cornubicum
)
This extremely rare moss was first discovered in 1963 and only identified as a distinct species in 1976. It appears as dull-green...
More
1 Image
0 Videos
Cotswold pennycress (
Thlaspi perfoliatum
)
Perfoliate, or 'Cotswold' penny-cress is an unusual member of the cabbage family, with one or more smooth stems. It has a rosette...
More
9 Images
0 Videos
Cow parsley (
Anthriscus sylvestris
)
Cow parsley is one of the most familiar wild plants of the British countryside. Throughout the month of May, most roadsides are...
More
8 Images
0 Videos
Cowslip (
Primula veris
)
The cowslip is a well-known spring flowering plant, which was once much more common than it is today. The crinkled green leaves are...
More
7 Images
2 Videos
Creeping marshwort (
Apium repens
)
As its name suggests, creeping marshwort is a low-growing plant. The leaves are toothed with a single large cleft, and the plant...
More
3 Images
0 Videos
Cut-grass (
Leersia oryzoides
)
Cut-grass is a creeping perennial with flat, pale yellowish-green leaves that have rough edges. Its inflorescence is usually...
More
3 Images
0 Videos
Cut-leaved germander (
Teucrium botrys
)
Cut-leaved germander is a hairy plant that, as the common name suggests, has leaves that are cut into a number of oblong-shaped...
More
6 Images
0 Videos
Daisy (
Bellis perennis
)
The humble yet cheerfully attractive daisy is familiar to most as a 'weed' of lawns and a feature of many children's games. The...
More
6 Images
2 Videos
Deptford pink (
Dianthus armeria
)
The Deptford pink is an upright plant, not unlike its garden relative Sweet-William in appearance. The flowers are stalkless and...
More
6 Images
0 Videos
Species
1
-
50
of
203
[
next
]
In the news
ARKive Photographers Feature at UK’s Largest Natural History Photography Symposium
More
What's new in ARKive
Beautiful images of the Eurasian spoonbill.
More
Wild China
Wild Bactrian camels are well adapted to the harsh desert climate of the Gashun Gobi Desert.
More
Wild China
Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys feed primarily on the lichens growing in the forest of the Yunling Mountains.
More
Wild China
The black-necked crane breeds and overwinters on China’s high plateaus.
More
Wild China
The Chinese giant salamander can grow up to 1.8m, and is found in China's mountain streams.
More
Wild China
The red panda inhabits mountainous forests thick with bamboo, the main component of its diet.
More