British Wild Flowers: A photographic guide to every common species. Paul Sterry

      Object to, and oppose, all major development in the countryside and support organisations that are critical of the way intensive farming and insidious urbanisation have changed the botanical face of the landscape. On a small scale, grow as much of your own food as you can, garden organically, and use local organic sources for your additional needs whenever possible. Another way that the individual can help safeguard the British countryside is to donate as much money as possible to conservation organisations for the purchase of land to remove it from the threat of intensive farming or development. Suitable recipients of donations would include organisations such as Plantlife International, the various county Wildlife Trusts, the Woodland Trust, the National Trust and the RSPB.

      Although walks in the countryside sometimes induce a sense of gloomy pessimism, budding botanists should not despair. Remarkably few flowering plant species have been lost entirely from Britain and Ireland in the last century and there are still plenty of wonderful botanically rich locations around the country. Nature reserves are thriving and, with your support and enthusiasm, things can only get better.

       Thankfully, it is still possible to find agricultural fields where Cornflowers and other arable weeds thrive alongside the desired crop plant, either by design or where non-intensive farming methods are used. Let us hope that sights such as this become more commonplace as enlightenment, or financial inducements, change the way some of the land is farmed.

Juniper to Nettle Families

       Juniper

      Juniper Juniperus communis (Cupressaceae) HEIGHT to 5m (sometimes prostrate)

      Dense shrub of well-drained soils, from chalk downland to mountains. FLOWERS On separate-sex plants; those on female plants are green and oval (much of year). FRUITS Ripening in second year to form blue-black berry-like cones. LEAVES Stiff, bluish green, needle-like, in whorls of 3. STATUS Widespread and locally common.

       Hazel catkins

       Hazel

      Hazel Corylus avellana (Betulaceae) HEIGHT to 12m

      Dense woodland shrub or small tree; often coppiced. FLOWERS Catkins (male) or small red, tufted structures (female) (Jan–Mar). FRUITS Hard-cased nuts, green, ripening brown in autumn. LEAVES Appearing after flowers, 6–8cm long, circular to oval, with double-toothed margins. STATUS Common and widespread.

       Bog-myrtle

      Bog-myrtle Myrica gale (Myricaceae) HEIGHT to 1m

      Woody, brown-stemmed shrub that is characteristic of boggy habitats, usually on acid soils. FLOWERS Orange, ovoid male catkins or pendulous brown female catkins; on separate plants (Apr). FRUITS Brownish nuts. LEAVES Oval, grey-green, smelling of resin when crushed. STATUS Widespread but local; sometimes locally dominant.

       Berries

       Mistletoe

      Mistletoe Viscum album (Viscaceae) DIAMETER to 1m

      Woody, evergreen parasite with evenly forked branches. Forms large, spherical clumps among branches of host trees, mainly apple (often in cultivation), lime and poplar. FLOWERS Inconspicuous (Feb–Apr). FRUITS White, sticky berries. LEAVES Oval, yellowish green, in opposite pairs. STATUS Widespread but local.

       Bastard-toadflax

      Bastard-toadflax Thesium humifusum (Santalaceae) PROSTRATE

      Low-growing plant of chalk grassland with sparse branches and a woody base. FLOWERS Cup-shaped, fused; white inside, yellowish green outside; 4 or 5 pointed lobes create a starlike appearance (June–Aug). FRUITS Greenish, ovoid. LEAVES 5–15mm long, oval, yellowish green. STATUS Extremely local and habitat-specific.

       Hop

      Hop Humulus lupulus (Cannabaceae) HEIGHT to 6m

      Twining, hairy hedgerow climber. Grows on a range of soils, often a relict of cultivation. FLOWERS Clustered; greenish yellow (male) or green and hop-like (female) (June–Aug). FRUITS Familiar hops, ripening brown in autumn. LEAVES Divided into 3–5 coarse-toothed lobes. STATUS Widespread, locally common only in the south.

       Common Nettle

       Common Nettle

      Common Nettle Urtica dioica (Urticaceae) HEIGHT to 1m

      The familiar stinging nettle. FLOWERS Pendulous catkins; borne on separate-sex plants (June–Oct). FRUITS Superficially resembling flowers. LEAVES Oval, with pointed tips, toothed, in opposite pairs; 8cm long and longer than stalks. STATUS Widespread and common, doing best on nitrogen-enriched and disturbed soils.