BSBI Botany

In French, we say "manger les pissenlits" (eating dandelions) rather than "pushing up daisies" when we talk about shuffling off this mortal coil!
This #FreeWillsMonth, please consider what you can leave to loved ones, including a future for wildflowers in the years ahead: bsbi.org/about/suppor...

Find out more about how @bsbiscotland.bsky.social found 4 species of clubmoss in Dunbartonshire inc 1st Marsh Clubmoss spotted at this location since 1854!
Press release here: bsbi.org/about/news/p...
Blogpost with more details: bsbi.org/about/news/l...
Thanks @markavery.bsky.social for sharing!

Garden joyfulness today. Coltsfoot Tussilago farfara, White Ramping-fumitory Fumaria capreolata, and Sweet Violet Viola odorata var imberbis. None of these planted. @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Had a walk at Weston (Herts) today following a picture from @phil-wildlife.bsky.social in our flora group and saw the Giant Butterbur Petasites japonicus. Mentioned in Trevor James’s Flora but presumably a relict of cultivation. Last seen by me in 1987 in Glos. Very nice @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Great take on my Marsh Clubmoss find, by Scotland’s Poet Lycopodiate - thanks Ben! 🥰

A great plant! Now common in Glasgow, and establishing in towns across the central belt eastwards towards Edinburgh #UrbanPlants

Delighted to be contributing to @scicommsuwe.bsky.social's talk programme in a couple of week's time. One of the ideas I'll be exploring is... Does (or could) narrative #naturewriting widen understanding of ecology & conservation science? & how I've tried to do that in my book, Wild Pavements.

Important work!

Primrose Primula vulgaris, 8 feet up a plant-festooned wall at Winchester College. Not a species I usually associate with walls, so a pleasant surprise. @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Whether it’s a first Lesser Celandine flower of the year or Elder leaves unfurling. The first #WildflowerHour challenge of the year is to spot #SignsOfSpring! Share your finds this Sunday 8-9pm. Below is the link if you would like to record your #NaturesCalendar sightings ⬇️ @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Yes! That slide is coming up tomorrow ;-)

Brits talk about 'pushing up the daisies' when we end our days but did you know that in Polish, it's 'smelling the flowers from underneath'!
This #FreeWillsMonth, we encourage you to consider what you can leave to loved ones, including a future for our wildflowers in the years ahead.

📢 Science Communication Seminar

📅 Tues 17 March 12-1pm

💻 Online

@amandatuke.bsky.social - Wild Pavements: Exploring Britain’s Cities with an Urban Naturalist

✍ Register for the seminar ⤵️ events.teams.microsoft.com/event/1a6503...

#scicomm #sciencecommunication

lnk.to/WildPavements

The first wild plum to flower in SE London is this one - Cherry or Myrobalan Plum (Prunus cerasifera) - native of the Balkan Peninsula but now widely naturalised in Britain. #blossom #pavementplants #urbanplants #WildPavements #streettrees

An early 7 am vist yesterday to the Tower mustard site at Bromsberrow heath me Brian Laney and Tim Rich have been keeping habitat open with seasonally opening up bare soil areas the last few years ,various rossettes showing nicely,always good to natter along to each other as we work.

A cluster of whitish flowers surrounded by broad, pale whitish-green leaf-like bracts. On bare ground by a wooded river

Mid-green, three part lobed leaves, forming a mat of frilly shapes in grassland

Narrow bright green leaves, with toothed margins, blunt tips, incipient pairs of leaflets at the base, and a reddish-green petiole. On a river bank

**QUIZ ALERT**
Basal rosettes! New in Spring or overwintering leaves, they're everywhere... but can you identify them?!

Test yourself on these six beauties, spotted in the last week 😍

Coltsfoot Tussilago farfara has unexpectedly appeared under the rhubarb in the garden. Also a Peacock nectaring on Primrose. Well and truly spring today here in central Hampshire. @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Wood Anemones were responding to the early March sunshine in many Dorset Hazel coppices today.
Just wonderful.
#Dorset #Spring #Nature
@bsbibotany.bsky.social

You're already in there 🥰

Beautiful forget me nots with their easy way for pollinators to see if there is any food left!

#TuesdayBlue A local wander when I got home yesterday saw lots more forget-me-nots in flower, already they have had visitors! Even through the raindrops you can see 3 of the flowers have lost their yellow pollen ring @wildflowerhour.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social #bloomscrolling #DailyFlowers

Opposite Leaved Golden Saxifrage in flower today (Mar 3) #CuerdenValleyPark Lancashire @plantlifeuk.bsky.social @bsbibotany.bsky.social

Brits talk about 'pushing up the daisies' when we end our days.
In Polish, it's 'smelling the flowers from underneath' & in Spanish, it's 'raising mallows'!
This #FreeWillsMonth, we encourage you to consider what you can leave to loved ones, including a future for our wildflowers in the years ahead.

Urban botany at its sweetest!

Sweetly fluffy flowers of Great Woodrush (Luzula sylvatica) just starting to emerge after a few mild days at #Hazelwood, #Sligo @bsbibotany.bsky.social @wildflowerhour.bsky.social #wildflowerhour #WBYeats @irishwoodlandtrust.bsky.social @irishwildlifetrust.bsky.social #wildatlanticway

3 days until publication of 'Wild Pavements - Exploring Britain's Cities with an Urban Naturalist' on 5 March. I've kept a record of each step as a #1stBookDiary in 7 chapters, and I'm planning to share one each day before 'P-day'. #writing #creativewriting #naturewriting #urbannature #nonfiction

Rustyback Fern Asplenium ceterach on a 19th century brick wall. It has pinnately-divided, tongue-shaped leaves growing as a tuft.

Rustyback Fern growing next to Wall-rue Fern on a brick wall.

Out recording Spring flower activity today at Bungay (Suffolk) @wildflowersociety.bsky.social. Agreeable company with impressive skill-set. My top find was Rustyback Fern (Asplenium ceterach) - not much of a flower but a first for me.

Cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera) in full white bloom at Little Paxton today. Noticed marked variation, this specimen had flowers with very short anthers, and petals distinctly more pointed than others. Given how widely the species is planted, perhaps there’s been some crossing with cultivated forms.

This plant used to be used to flavour beer! Not sure I'd fancy drinking that, though ;-)

Great to see so many much-loved wildflowers coming into bloom again, now Spring is here. At last!
Huge thanks to everyone who shared pix for #WildFlowerHour tonight.
Remember to keep an eye on @wildflowerhour.bsky.social to see what the 1st challenge of 2026, set by @botanybeck.bsky.social, will be!

Primroses, hedge bedstraw, ivy, grass, leaf litter - in the bank of a hedgerow, Dartmoor, Devon

Primroses, hedge bedstraw, ivy - bank of a hedge #Dartmoor #Devon #WildflowerHour