Field scabious - Knautia arvensis

The field scabious has petals with four unequal sized lobes. It could be confused with Devil's Bit Scabious but this species has four lobes that are equal in length.

Black or Common Knapweed - Centaurea nigra

Autumn Gentian - Gentianella amarella

As it's name suggests this is a pretty little species that comes out in the Autumn. Right now is a great time to go looking for them, they can be found growing in chalk grassland all over Sussex.

Harebell - Campanula rotundiflora

Selfheal - Prunella vulgaris

Woody Nightshade - Solanum dulcamara

Lesser Burdock - Arctium minus

Red Star Thistle - Centaurea calcitrapa

The red star thistle is marked as vulnerable by the IUCN and it is apparantly confined to Sussex coastal areas in the UK although the NBN gateway shows a much wider distribution. The flower head has long yellowish spines and pink thistle like flowers. It can be found growing in distrubed habitats, particularly grassland. This plant was growing along a path way subject to a moderate level of disturbance

Enchanter's Nightshade - Circaea lutetiana

Yet again I couldn't get a very good snap of this, the flowers are tiny and tricky to photograph without shaking all over the place and i was in a bit of a rush as i was meant to be carrying out a plant survey. It's a really pretty little plant though. The colour is a little hard to define, it's such a pale purple that it's almost white. It has those little fruits with hooked bristles that always end up getting stuck on your clothes, hair and down your boots.

Stemless thistle - Cirsium acaule

God how i hate thistles! Especially when you're trying to do a vegetation survey on a bit of steep grassland. Oh, if only i had a pound for every thistle i sat on yesterday. Stemless thistles are the ones whose flowers have no stem to them - or only a very short stem. They look like little purple pom poms on the ground.

Vipers bugloss - Echium vulgare

This picture doesn't really do justice to the amazing shades of blues and pinks that this flower displays. I've not seen one quite so pink before as this, they're usually just a purplish blue, but this flower has streaks of almost neon colour in it. It was quite amazing. The flower stems grow quite tall. Apparantly it was once thought to cure the bites of vipers. If you want to know more about its medicinal uses check out this website: think natural

Yorkshire fog - Holcus lanatus

I'm back from Yorkshire! Thank goodness, it was quite chilly up there indeed! I thought i'd start with a photo of a grass for my first post back.

I never really took the time to stop and look at grasses. I certainly never considered that they have flowers. Being wind pollinated they don't need to be showy with big petals but their flowers can still be quite beautiful when examined close up. I thought posting Yorkshire fog would be apt seeing as how i've been visiting there for the past week. Yorkshire fog is one of my favourite grasses. It's quite easy to spot because its leaves are really soft and hairy and if you look at the base of the stem it usually has purple stripes or veins running vertically. They remind me of stripy pajama bottoms. The flower head also has a rather pleasant purplish tinge. It's definately going on the list of my top ten grasses of all time!

Ragged Robin - Lychnis flos-cuculi

This plant can also be found growing in damp meadows and fens. I found it along a woodland ride where there were large clumps of it growing. The small pearl bordered fritillary is said to be fond of this plant but sadly i didn't see any of them flying around. I did see a massive dragonfly hunting along the ride but it was too quick to identify.

Foxglove - Digitalis purpurea

These appear soon after a woodland has been cleared when light floods down to the ground layer. There were hundreds of these flowers in a recent clearing when I went to visit Abbott's wood.

Pencilled cranesbill - Geranium versicolor

Oh man, the picture isn't really in focus. Nevermind, you can get the picture. This species is a garden escape, and introduced species. Its veins are deep purple making it look as if it has been drawn on in pencil and the petals are notched at the end. The flower can be white to pink. I found it in growing in a scrubby wasteland area at the back of some gardens.

Common Spotted Orchid - Dactylorhiza fuchsii

There were so many purple spotted orchids at Anchor Bottom the other day, it was incredible. There were festoons of them. There were also fragrant orchids, some early pyramidal orchids poking up as well as the one bee orchid i spotted. This is a photo of a particularly large and fine looking specimen i came across. There are also green winged orchids present at the site but they flowered about a month earlier. I didn't have a chance to go out and have a look at them so sadly i missed them. Better luck next year.

Pyramidal Orchid - Anacamptis pyramidalis

Just starting to come into flower now. This species can be distinguished because it is a much brighter, deeper pink and the flowers are all compressed to the top into one pyramid shape - hence the name.

Fragrant Orchid - Gymnadenia conopsea

Seen at Anchor Bottom. These smell amazing right now. The whole grassland was blanketed in their scent. This flower has deeply keeled leaves that look like they have been folded in half.

Small scabious - Scabiosa columbaria

There are three different scabious species in the UK. This one is the small scabious because the petals on each individual flower consist of five unequal lobes

Ground Ivy - Glechoma hederacea