eXtreme botany: beautiful cow munching grass, but can you hear which grass?

eXtreme botany reaches new heights… …as Dr M and his colleague identify a grassland to National Vegetation Classification (NVC) community by listening to the munching sounds made by a grazing cow! Amazed? Amused? You might be!    


Tools of the eXtreme botanists trade #3: Plant identification guides

The Natural History Bookstore (NHBS) tells Dr M there is a  new flora on the block called Wild Flowers of Britain and Ireland


Common British Plants: the top 30 vascular plant species – Caryophyllaceae

Which are the commonest plant species in Britain? Recently Dr M has investigated the 30 most common British plant species based on data in the New Atlas of the British and Irish Flora and the Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora. The top 30 include species from 10 plant families including nine of the top twenty plant families. The 30 commonest species includes eight species from the Poaceae, seven
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Common British Plants: the top 30 vascular plant species – Fabaceae

Which are the commonest plant species in Britain? Recently Dr M has investigated the 30 most common British plant species based on data in the New Atlas of the British and Irish Flora and the Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora. The top 30 include species from 10 plant families including nine of the top twenty plant families. The 30 commonest species includes eight species from the Poaceae and
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Common British Plants: the top 30 vascular plant species – Asteraceae

Which are the commonest plant species in Britain? Recently Dr M has investigated the 30 most common British plant species based on data in the New Atlas of the British and Irish Flora and the Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora. The top 30 include species from 10 plant families including nine of the top twenty plant families. The 30 commonest species includes eight species from
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Common British Plants: the top 30 vascular plant species – Poaceae

Which are the commonest plant species in Britain? Recently Dr M has investigated the 30 most common British plant species based on data in the New Atlas of the British and Irish Flora and the Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora. The top 30 include species from 10 plant families including nine of the top twenty plant families. The 30 commonest species includes eight species
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The Tribes of grasses 7: Nardeae

Cope & Gray (2009) refer to Nardeae as “an odd little tribe whose unusual spikelets give no clue as to its origin or affinities”.


Those elusive yellow composites!

We’ve all been there, gently identifying plants in the lawn and behold, a yellow Dandelion-like plant! The thought processes go something like this: Behold a yellow Dandelion-like plant. But IS it a Dandelion?  Perhaps it’s a Sow Thistle?  Or maybe a Hawkbit? Or do I mean a Hawk’s-beard? Oh no! is it a Cat’s-ear? Arrrgh! Perish the thought, could it be a Hawkweed?! There are
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Grass Identification: The Tribes of Grasses – 6 Meliceae

A small tribe with two genera – Melica and Glyceria – in Britain.


The top 30 vascular plant species in Britain?

Which are the commonest species in Britain? The answer to Dr M’s question depends on what Dr M means by “common” and what Dr M means by “Britain“!