1. Liliaceae (Lily Family)
Fritillaria meleagris (Fritillary)
ID tips: Perennial herb with few narrowly linear stem leaves, solitary drooping flower forming an oblong parallel sided cup, chequered pink, brown, purple sometimes white.
Habitat: Winter flood meadows, flowers April-May.
2. Lamiaceae (Dead-nettle family)
Glechoma hederacea (Ground-ivy)
ID tips: Flowers two-lipped, square stem and opposite decussate leaves as in all Lamiaceae. G.hederacea is a softly hairy creeping herb with ascending leafy flower stems, leaves kidney-shaped, toothed and blunt tipped, flowers in 2-4 flowered whorls in leaf axils, lower lip 3-lobed upper lobe flat.
Habitat: Woods, scrub, hedgebanks, grasslands, flowers March-May.
3. Asparagaceae (Asparagus Family) (You may know this as Liliaceae, but this family has been radically reorganised recently, see e.g. the Book of Stace).
Hyacinthoides non-scripta (Bluebell)
ID tips: Iconic woodland plant in Britain. Leaves linear, hairless and glossy with hooded tips, inflorescence a one-sided raceme of wonderful sky-blue flowers, cylindrical, drooping and bell-shaped, with 6 perianth segments, parallel below and curled back at the tip, with cream anthers (there are two introduced bluebells: the Spanish Bluebell and the Hybrid Bluebell – both have blue anthers so can easily be told apart from native Bluebell when in flower).
Habitat: Woods, hedgerows everywhere and in grasslands and on sea-cliffs in the west, flowers April-May.
4. Brassicaceae (Cabbage Family)
Lunaria annua (Honesty)
ID tips: Erect hairy biennial, lower stem leaves opposite, basal leaves cordate (heart shaped), flowers purple (or white), fruit distinctive flat and circular membranous with flattened seeds in 2 rows.
Habitat: Introduced and naturalised on roads, waste ground, walls and woods, April-June.
5. Lamiaceae (Dead-nettle Family)
Lamium amplexicaule (Henbit Dead-nettle)
ID tips: Flowers two-lipped, square stem and opposite decussate leaves as in all Lamiaceae. L.amplexicaule is a downy annual, lower leaves rounded, blunt and long-stalked, bracts below flower whorls stalkless and clasping the stem in pairs, flowers pink-purple with a long tube.
Habitat: Dry arable and waste land, walls, flowers April-August.
6. Boraginaceae (Borage Family)
Borago officinalis (Borage)
ID tips: Bristly erect annual, lower leaves oval and stalked, upper leaves narrower and wavy edged and unstalked, flowers brightest blue, in loose branched inflorescences, petals spreading, narrow, stamens forming a purple column.
Habitat: Introduced and naturalised in waste ground, flowers June-August (March in 2014!).
7. Fabaceae (Pea Family)
Trifolium pratense (Red Clover)
ID tips: Hairy perennial, leaves grey-green, elliptical to ovate leaflets often with a crescent-shaped spot, stipules triangular and bristle-pointed and purple veined, flower heads oval or globose with a pair of leaves close below.
Habitat: Meadows, hedgebanks, flowers May-October.
8. Veronicaceae (Speedwell Family) (You may know this as Scrophulariaceae (Figwort Family), but this family has been radically reorganised recently, see e.g. the Book of Stace).
Veronica persica (Common Field-speedwell)
ID tips: Branched, spreading hairy annual, bright green, leaves, short-stalked, oval-triangular, coarsely toothed, flowers solitary in leaf axils on stalks longer than leaves, calyx lobes oval, corolla bright blue with lower lip white.
Habitat: Introduced from Asia and naturalised in arable and waste land, flowering all year.
9. Lamiaceae (Dead-nettle Family)
Lamium purpureum (Red Dead-nettle)
ID tips: Flowers two-lipped, square stem and opposite decussate leaves as in all Lamiaceae. L.purpureum is an erect downy annual, leaves oval, cordate and coarsely toothed, pink-purple flowers.
Habitat: Arable and waste land, hedgebanks, flowers March-October.
10. Violaceae (Violet Family)
Viola tricolor (Wild Pansy)
ID tips: Annual with pinnate stipules with narrow, un-toothed end lobes, flowers yellow and blue-violet.
Habitat: Weed of arable and waste land, flowers April-October.
11. Boraginaceae (Borage Family)
Myosotis ramosissima (Early Forget-me-not)
ID tips: Boraginaceae are often bristly-hairy all over with often blue flowers usually in curved inflorescences (scorpioid). This is a cute little Forget-me-not with spreading hairs on the calyx tube, corolla is blue with the tube shorter than the calyx.
Habitat: Dry open grasslands, flowers April-June.
12. Violaceae (Violet Family)
Viola riviniana (Common Dog-violet)
ID tips: The commonest violet in Britain, unscented with leafy shoots, long-stalked heart-shaped (cordate) leaves, flowers blue-violet but quite variable and strong purple veins, especially on the lower petal.
Habitat: Woods, hedgebanks and grassland, flowers March-May.
13. Boraginaceae (Borage Family)
Pentaglottis sempervirens (Green Alkanet)
ID tips: Erect bristly perennial, leaves oval, inflorescence very bristly, dense and long-stalked with a leafy bract below, calyx teeth narrow and corolla bright blue and wheel shaped with a short tube.
Habitat: Introduced naturalised from SW Europe now planted in gardens and naturalised in hedgebanks and waste ground, flowers April-July.
14. Geraniaceae (Geranium Family)
Geranium robertianum (Herb-Robert)
ID tips: Annual but often overwintering as a rosette, strong smelling when crushed, leaves palmate with pinnate leaflets, sparsely hairy and shining bright green and often reddish, petals pink and unnotched with a claw (this is an extension of the petal into the calyx, and you need to pull a petal out to see it!).
Habitat: Woods, hedgebanks, rocks, shingle and waste ground, flowers April-September.
15. Lamiaceae (Dead-nettle Family)
Ajuga reptans (Bugle)
ID tips: Flowers two-lipped, square stem and opposite decussate leaves as in all Lamiaceae. A.reptans is a perennial herb with long leafy runners, basal leaves shiny and in a rosette, erect flower stems, flowers blue with white streaks on lower lip.
Habitat: Damp woods, hedgebanks, meadows, flowers April-June.
NB ID tips etc modified from Rose & O’Reilly The Wildflower key.