Elder - Sambucus nigra

Elder tree growing in my back garden. I love the smell that these flowers give off. Everywhere i go there seems to be elder bursting into flower. Apparanly rabbits hate this plant so you can often find it growing close to their warrens.

I'm tempted to try and pick some elder and make some cordial out of it but i'm worried it would be too polluted coming from a city garden. Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall had a recipe in last week's guardian showing you how to make battered elderflowers... sounds a bit greasy to me! Find the recipe here: Guardian

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.

Bee Orchid - Ophrys apifera

I couldn't believe it when i came across this flower. There i was happily walking along admiring all the other orchids growing at Anchor Bottom when suddenly i spied this beauty in the long grass. I've never seen one of these growing in the wild before. I think they're just incredible. I posted this picture of the bee orchid because it's an angle you don't usually see in photos. For example, I'd never noticed the small spur at the lip of the flower before because it can't be seen very easily from straight on. You might also be able to make out the flower bud ready to break open slightly higher up the stem. Apparantly the flowers open from the bottom of the stalk upwards so the flowers at the top are the last to open.

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.

Kidney Vetch - Anthylllis vulneraria

This plant has flowers that look like they have been covered in a fluffy wrapping. They almost look like they have fluffy trousers or bloomers! The leaves are long and thin and curved slightly. There seems to be loads of it growing at Anchor Bottom at the moment

Common rock rose - Helianthemum chamaecistus

I really love the way the petals of this flower look like they have been crumpled up. Like old washing or a paper bag. The leaves are quite hairy underneath and long stipules at their base. I found this growing on chalk grassland but it can also be found on acid soils and in scrub.

Yellow wort - Blackstonia perfoliata

This is such a fantastic plant. I love the way it looks like someone has taken a spike and threaded it through the leaves. Like a floral kebab! I wonder what evolutionary advantage those leaves have? This was found growing at Anchor Bottom, near Shoreham, Sussex

Dropwort - Filipendula vulgaris

I love the contrast between the pink tips of the flower buds and the white petals

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

Amphibious bistort - Polygonum amphibium

Sorry about the rubbish photo, i couldn't get any closer to the plant and then my camera died. I love the name of this species. This plant is either found in freshwater or growing close to it on banks. When it grows out of the water the leaves are much more rounded.

Yellow water lily - Nuphar lutea

I don't think there's much that you could mistake this species with. There's a similar species called least water lilly but this plant has flowers that are less than 4cm whereas N.lutea has flowers larger than 4cm. I found this growing in the lake at Wood's Mill.

Just took this picture (16Jun07) and thought i'd include it in this post as you get a much better shot of the picture. This flower was seen at the lake in Abbot's wood.

Quaking grass - Briza media

This is probably one of the first grass species i ever learnt to identify. This grass is only just opening up, i'll try to post another picture of it later in the season looking more typical.

The individual flower heads seem to resemble little woodlice to me! And they are said to quake and shake in the wind.

Bird's foot trefoil - Lotus corniculatus

Found in a field

Scarlet Pimpernell - Anagallis avensis

Yet another tiny little flower that when viewed from close up looks so spectacular

Liverwort - Marchantia polymorpha

Ok, It's not a flower... but the male sexual parts that you can see in this picture look a bit like flowers. And i really like this plant so i stuck it in anyway! I found it growing in the pavement cracks at Sussex University

White Clover - Trifolium repens

Found growing in an improved pasture field

Grass species

another unknown species, it's an agricultural crop though, i think

Green Field Speedwell - Veronica agrestis

not sure which one this is, the one that has one petal paler than the others. will check the species asap

Unknown fritillary species

Found in a field

Poppy people

these are some poppy people my friend Tracy made out of poppy flower heads

Salad Burnett - Sanguisorba minor

Apparantly the leaves of this plant are quite tasty in a salad, hence it's name. But they're so small i'm not sure it would be worth the bother of collecting them. This plant was seen on Castle Hill but it's a pretty common plant and i tend to see it fairly regularly.

Hound's tongue - Cynoglossum officinale

Sainfoin - Onobrychis viciifolia

Bulbous buttercup - Ranunculus bulbosus

Bulbous buttercup found at Castle Hill

Mouse ear Hawkweed - Pilosella officinarum

I found this flower growing at Castle Hill but it's quite common in chalk grassland. The underside of the petals usually have a red tinge to them and the leaves of the plant are very white, soft and felty on their underside.

Toad Reed? - Juncus bufonius?

Small reed found growing at Castle Hill. I think it might be the toad reed Juncus bufonius but i'm not too sure

Milkwort - Polygala species

milkwort at Castle Hill

Yellow rattle - Rhianthus minor

Yellow rattle has got to be one of my favourite plants. It's so tactile, it's leaves look so scaly and almost dragon like and it develops these massive seed pods that rattle in the wind. Yellow rattle is a parasitic plant that gains its nutrients from perennial grasses. I've found it growing at Castle Hill and Beedlands Nature Reserve.

Dogwood

Dog's mercury at Stanmer Park