July Wildflowers

Chicory, Cichorium intybus

Daisy Family

Erect, stiff branched stems 30 – 100 cm. Leaves lanceolate and pointed. Flowerheads 2.5 – 4 cm wide on thick short stalks. Florets bright blue. 2 rows of bracts, inner bracts longer, erect, outer row shorter.

Flowering Season: July to October

Habitat: Grassland, roadsides and banks. Calc. soils.

Common Poppy, Papaver rhoeas

Poppy Family

Bristly erect annual, 20 – 60 cm tall. Pinnate leaves. Flower heads 7-10 cm across with scarlet petals, often with a dark basal blotch. Capsule globular.

Flowering Season: June to August

Habitat: arable, wasteland, roadsides and bare ground.

Hogweed, Heracleum sphondylium

Carrot Family

Robust, roughly hairy perennial plant growing up to 250 cm. Hollow, ridged stems with downward pointing hairs. Grey-green leaves 15 – 60 cm. Flowers white or pinkish.

Flowering Season: May – August

Habitat: roadsides, hedge banks, grassland, waste places and open woodland.

 

Wild Parsnip, Pastinaca sativa

Carrot Family

Erect, downy, branched perennial growing up to 100 cm. Hollow, furrowed and angled stems . Grey-green leaves 15 – 60 cm. Flowers yellow

Poisonous – sap causes severe blisters due to skin becoming hyper sensitive to sunlight.

Flowering Season: June – August

Habitat: roadsides, grassland, waste places and scrubland especially on dry calc. soils. Widespread in S Britain, rare in the North.

 

 

 

Ragwort, Senecio jacobea

Daisy Family

Stout, erect, leafy furrowed stems 30 -100 cm.  Stems branch towards top. Leaves pinnately lobed with large blunt end lobe. Flower heads 15 -25 mm in diameter aggregated into flattish-topped umbel-like clusters. Bright yellow.  12 – 15 ray florets.

Highly poisonous.

Flowering Season: June – October

Habitat: Very common on neglected grassland, roadsides, wasteland and dunes.

Mallow, Malva sylvestris

Mallow Family

Robust plant, stems 45 – 90 cm, erect or spreading. Leaves sparsely hairy, palmately lobed, the lobes shallowly toothed. Flowers stalked, in axillary clusters up the stem. Petals 12 – 30 mm, rose purple with darker veins. Petals are 2 – 4 times the length of the sepals.

Flowering Season: June – September

Habitat: Roadsides, wasteland and hedgebanks.

Spear Thistle, Cirsium vulgare

Daisy Family

Erect stems 30 – 150 cm. Stems branched above with spiny wings. Basal leaves 15 – 30 cm long, shortly stalked, deeply pinnatified, wavy edged and toothed. Lobes and teeth with long stout spines. Stem leaves are stalkless, smaller, with long terminal lobes. All leaves are prickly-hairy above and not shiny. A few flower-heads are in loose clusters. Others are solitary. The heads are 2 – 5 cm long and 2.5 – 4 cm wide. The outer bracts are green with long, arched-back yellow spine-tips. The florets are pink-purple. The pappus are feathered. `Pappus’ are the tuft of hairs on each seed of thistles, dandelions, and similar plants, which assists dispersal by the wind.

Flowering Season: July – October

Habitat: Very common on neglected grassland, roadsides, wasteland and open woodland.

Creeping Thistle, Cirsium arvense

Daisy Family

Creeping perennial with erect, branched, furrowed, spineless stems 30 – 90 cm tall. Leaves are oblong-lanceolate, with strong slender spines on their wavy and toothed edges. The upperside is usually hairless and grey-green in colour. The leaves are cottony beneath. The lower leaves are stalked, the upper spines clasp the stem. The flower-heads are in open clusters, 1.5cm – 2.5 cm long  and 1cm wide. The flower bracts are purplish and oval in shape, with spreading spine-tips. The florets are mauve or white.

Flowering Season: July – September

Habitat: Very common on neglected grassland, roadsides, wasteland and arable field margins.

Oxeye Daisy, Leucanthemum vulgare

Daisy Family

Erect, slightly hairy little branched perennial. Basal rosette of long-stalked spoon-shaped, toothed leaves. Stem leaves are stalkless, clasping, alternate, deeply toothed and dark green in colour. The flower-heads are long-stalked, daisy-like, 2-5 – 6 cm across. The ray-florets are white and the disc-florets are yellow.

Flowering Season: May – September

Habitat: Meadows, roadsides, grassland, on fertile soils.

 

 

Buttercup, Ranunclus

Buttercup Family

Buttercups are plants with alternate leaves and yellow flowers. They have 5 or 3 green sepals, 5 petals, many stamens, and many tiny carpels.

Flowering Season: May – August

Habitat: Very common in most habitats

Lady’s Bedstraw, Galium verum

Bedstraw Family

Perennial with creeping stems at base. Flower stems erect, 15 – 60 cm tall. Leaves linear. Corollas 2 – 3 mm across, golden-yellow with pointed lobes.

Flowering Season: July – August

Habitat: grassland, hedge banks and dunes.

 

Field Scabious, Knautia arvensis

Basal leaves roughly-hairy, usually unlobed, but often blunt-toothed. Stem leaves deeply pinnatified, with course hairy segments. Flower heads 3 – 4 cm wide, stalks stout (2 – 3 mm), 8 calyx-teeth, corollas blue-violet with 4 unequal lobes.

Flowering Season: July – September

Habitat: roadsides, dry grassland and meadows.

 

Meadow Cranesbill, Geranium pratense

Geranium Family

Erect hairy perennial 30  – 80 cm. Basal leaves 5 – 7 times palmately lobed. Saucer- shaped flowers in pairs. Petals 15 – 18mm, violet-blue to sky blue, unnotched, veins paler.

Flowering Season: June – September

Habitat: roadsides, meadows, grassland, especially on calc soils.

Corn Mint, Mentha arvensis

Dead-Nettle Family

Downy perennial 10 – 30 cm tall. `Peppery’ mint scent when bruised. Leaves are rounded to elliptical, blunt-tipped and hairy. Flowers in separated dense whorls in leaf axils. Corolla mauve, stamens projecting.

Flowering Season: May – October

Habitat: Common but possibly declining in meadows, woods and arable.

Water Mint, Mentha aquatica

Dead-Nettle Family

Downy, erect perennial, 15 – 60 cm tall. Leaves opposite, oval with bunt tips and teeth. Leaves fresh mint scented. Terminal rounded flower-head often with extra whorls below. Calyx tube hairy. Corolla mauve, stamens projecting from flowers.

Flowering Season: July – October

Habitat: Very common in marshes, fens, wet woods and by fresh water.

Marsh Woundwort, Stachys palustris

Dead-Nettle Family

Odourless bristly perennial, with creeping rhizome and erect stems, 30 – 80 cm. Leaves lanceolate or oblong, 5 – 12 cm long. Flowers are pink-purple in colour with a white pattern on the lip. Hybridizes with Hedge Woundwort.

Flowering Season: July – September

Habitat: Riverbanks and marshes

Hedge Woundwort, Stachys sylvatica

Dead-Nettle Family

Harsh smelling bristly perennial, with creeping rhizome and erect stems, 30 – 80 cm. Leaves oval-cordate, 4 – 9 cm long. Calyx has rigid triangular teeth.Flowers are beetroot-red in colour with a white pattern on the lip.

Flowering Season: July – September

Habitat: Woods and hedgebanks.

Purple Loosestrife, Lythrum salicaria

Purple-Loosestrife Family

Downy erect perennial, up to 1.5m. Stems bearing 4 or more raised lines. Leaves oval-lanceolate, 40 – 70 mm long, unstalked, pointed and untoothed, in opposite pairs, or whorls of 3 below and alternate above. Flowers 10 – 15 mm in diameter, in long terminal spike. 6 red-purple petals and 12 stamens.

Flowering Season: May – August

Habitat: Water- margins, fens and damp grassland.

Great Willowherb, Epilobium hirsutum

Willowherb Family

Tall perennial up to 2m. Round stems, densely downy with spreading hairs. Leaves opposite, oblong-lanceolate up to 12 cm long. Large flowers, strong purplish-pink colour up to 25 mm in diameter, in loose, leafy terminal inflorescence. Stigma with 4 arching creamy lobes.

Flowering Season: July – August

Habitat: Damp places often amongst tall vegetation.Fens, marshes, river banks and damp wasteland.

Indian Balsam, Impatiens glandulifera

Balsam Family

Tall annual up to 2 m. Can be branched or unbranched, with reddish stem. Leaves lanceolate to elliptical up to 18 cm long. Opposite or in whorls of 3. Flowers purplish-pink or white, up to 40 mm long, with short curved spur. Fruit club-shaped. Naturalised from the Himalayas.

Flowering Season: July – October

Habitat: Riverbanks and damp or shady wasteground.

Meadow Sweet, Filipendula ulmaria

Rose Family

Perennial up to 1.2 m. Pinnate leaves, oval, pointed and sharp toothed, 30 – 60 cm long. The leaves are dark green and hairless above  and white-woolly or pale green and downy below. Leaf stalks smell strongly of germoline. Flowers in dense irregular umbel-like inflorescence consisting of dense showy panicles of many creamy, fragrant flowers, each 4 – 8 mm in diameter. There are usually 5 sepals, 5 petals and many stamens.

Flowering Season: June – September

Habitat: Widespread in a variety of damp and wet habitats including marshes, fens, stream sides, ditches, wet open woodland and by rivers on less acid soils.

Bristly Oxtongue, Picris echoides

Daisy Family

Annual or biennial with furrowed bristly branched stems up to 90 cm. Basal leaves oblong, narrowing into stalk. Upper stem leaves narrower with clasping leaves covered with swollen bristles. Thickly covered with blister-like bristles with swollen white bases. Bright yellow flower heads 20 – 25 mm in diameter in loose groups.  Outermost 3- 5 bracts leaf-like and triangular, much broader than inner bracts.

Flowering Season: June – October

Habitat: Hedgebanks, grassland, wasteground, disturbed ground and drier coastal habitats

Viper’s Bugloss, Echium vulgare

Borage Family

Roughly bristly biennial with an erect stem up to 80 cm, dotted with red bristles. Stem leaves stalk- less and rounded at bases. Flowers in curved clusters in bract axils up the stem, forming a large panicle. The buds are pink, resembling clusters of tiny grapes. The flowers are usually bright blue or blue-violet. Funnel shaped corolla, 5 stamens, 4 of them long and protruding from the flower. 5 somewhat unequal petal lobes. Fruit rough nutlets.

Flowering Season: June – August

Habitat: Open dry grassland often near the coast, sand and chalk, dunes and cliffs. Frequently on light or calcareous soils.

Bramble, Rubus fructicosus

Rose Family

Numerous microspecies of bramble. Differ in stem armament and hair distribution. Brambles are a genus of scrambling, erect or creeping shrubs, mostly spiny, leaves undivided, or usually with 3 – 5 pinnately or palmately arranged leaflets. 1 – 3 m, with usually arching and angled stems bearing hooked spines, prickles and hairs. Flowers are white or pink, in panicles on the ends of last year’s stems. Berries start green maturing to red then shiny black or purple-red.

Flowering Season: May – September

Habitat: Very common in scrub, woods, wasteland, hedgebanks. Often highly invasive if unmanaged.

Butterfly-bush, Buddleja davidii

Butterfly-Bush Family

Shrub up to 5 m. Opposite leaves lanceolate to ovate, usually toothed, white downy below. Small, fragrant, mauve-purple flowers in a dense spike-like panicle. 4 petals fused into a tube with 4 stamens.

Flowering Season: April – August

Habitat: Very common on wasteland, neglected grassland, railways, roadsides and urban areas. Prefers dry, disturbed ground. Introduced from China. Very invasive.

Rosebay Willowherb, Chamerion lutiana

Willowherb Family

Tall, erect perennial up to 120 cm. Nearly hairless. Lanceolate alternate leaves, spirally arranged up the stem. Flowers rose-purple, 2 – 3 cm across, borne in spikes. 2 upper petals are broader than the lower. Stigma is four lobed and stamens  bend down eventually.

Flowering Season: July – September

Habitat: Locally abundant on wasteland, woods and railway embankments.

Selfheal, Prunella vulgaris

Dead-Nettle Family

Sparsely downy perennial with creeping runners and erect flowering stems up to 20 cm tall. Oval leaves, widest at the base, untoothed and pointed. Inflorescence is a dense oblong head, with hairy purplish bracts, purplish calyx with 3 teeth. Very short flattened upper lip with bristles. Corolla 10 – 14 mm long, violet, rarely white or pink.

Flowering Season: June – October

Habitat: Very common on grassland, roadsides, wasteland and woods.

Old Man’s Beard, Clematis vitalba

Buttercup Family

Woody climber with peeling fibrous bark. Opposite, pinnate compound leaves with narrow oval pointed, usually toothed leaflets. Fragrant creamy-white flowers 2 cm across in loose clusters. Flowers in leaf axils, with 4 greenish-creamy sepals, hairy outside and inside and many stamens. Develop long white plumed styles.

Flowering Season: July – August

Habitat: Widespread and common in hedgerows, woodland and scrub on chalk and limestone.

Purple Toadflax, Linaria purpurea

Figwort Family

Toadflaxes have spurred corollas, with their throats closed by a 2 lobed swelling on the lower lip, called the palate. Erect grey-green leaved hairless perennial. Flowers are in long racemes, corollas violet, unstriped, 8 mm long, with long curved spur.

Flowering Season: June – October

Habitat: A garden escape on old walls and wasteland.

Teasel, Dipsacus fullonum

Teasel Family

Stout biennial, up to 2 m. In first year produces a leaf rosette of short-stalked, oblong-laneolate leaves with swollen-based prickles. In second year very prickly, branched stem with opposite, long narrow lanceolate leaves. The leaves join in a cup at the base of each pair that collects rainwater. Flowerheads 3  -8 cm long, egg-shaped. Bracts below head are linear, rigid and spiny, 5 – 9 cm long. Pink-purple corollas 5 – 7 mm long.

Flowering Season: July – August

Habitat: Wasteland, open woods, stream banks, roadsides and grassland especially on clay soils.

Hedge Bindweed, Calystegia sepium

Bindweed Family

Creeping and climbing plant, climbing to 3 m or more. Aternate leaves up to 15 cm long. Large white flowers, longer than calyx lobes.

Flowering Season: July – September

Habitat: Wasteland, hedgebanks, scrub, woodland borders and fens.

Field Bindweed, Convolvulus arvensis

Bindweed Family

Creeping and climbing perennial with hairless stems arising from stout fleshy underground stems. Alternate leaves 2 -5 cm long, oblong- arrow-shaped and stalked. White and pink trumpet-shaped flowers, 30 mm across. Calyx 5 lobed.

Flowering Season: June – September

Habitat: Wasteland, hedgebanks, arable, roadsides, grassland and near the coast. A serious weed in gardens.