Common Name

Botanical Name

Story of their Common Names Index

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WILD FLOWER GALLERY
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INDEX LINK TO WILDFLOWER PLANT DESCRIPTION PAGE
a-h
i-p
q-z

Wildflower Poisonous Plants

Wildflower Garden Use page from Evergreen Perrennial Shape Gallery.

Superceeded Wildflower Indices
Botanical Name
Common Name
by
BROWN WILD FLOWER GALLERY PAGE MENUS
and
CREAM WILD FLOWER GALLERY PAGE MENUS
detailed above in this table

Wildflower Index
A, B, C, D, E,
F, G, H, I, J,
K, L, M, N, O,
P, Q, R, S, T,
U, V, W, XYZ

FLOWER COLOUR
(o)Blue
(o)Brown
(o)Cream
(o)Green
(o)Mauve
(o)Multi-Coloured
Orange
(o)Pink 1
(o)Pink 2
(o)Purple
(o)Red
(o)White1
(o)White2
(o)White3
(o)Yelow1
(o)Yelow2
(o)Shrub or Small Tree


SEED COLOUR
(o)Seed 1
(o)Seed 2

BED PICTURES
(o)Bed

HABITAT TABLES
Flowers in
Acid Soil
Flowers in
Chalk Soil
Flowers in
Marine Soil
Flowers in
Neutral Soil
Ferns
Grasses
Rushes
Sedges

See Explanation of Structure of this Website with User Guidelines to aid your use of this website.

WILD FLOWER FAMILY
PAGE MENU 1

(o)Adder's Tongue
Amaranth
(o)Arrow-Grass
(o)Arum
(o)Balsam
Bamboo
(o)Barberry
(o)Bedstraw
(o)Beech
(o)Bellflower
(o)Bindweed
(o)Birch
(o)Birds-Nest
(o)Birthwort
(o)Bogbean
(o)Bog Myrtle
(o)Borage
(o)Box
(o)Broomrape
(o)Buckthorn
(o)Buddleia
(o)Bur-reed
(o)Buttercup
(o)Butterwort
(o)Cornel (Dogwood)
(o)Crowberry
(o)Crucifer (Cabbage/Mustard) 1
(o)Crucifer (Cabbage/Mustard) 2
Cypress
(o)Daffodil
(o)Daisy
(o)Daisy Cudweeds
(o)Daisy Chamomiles
(o)Daisy Thistle
(o)Daisy Catsears (o)Daisy Hawkweeds
(o)Daisy Hawksbeards
(o)Daphne
(o)Diapensia
(o)Dock Bistorts
(o)Dock Sorrels

WILD FLOWER FAMILY
PAGE MENU 2

(o)Clubmoss
(o)Duckweed
(o)Eel-Grass
(o)Elm
(o)Filmy Fern
(o)Horsetail
(o)Polypody
Quillwort
(o)Royal Fern
(o)Figwort - Mulleins
(o)Figwort - Speedwells
(o)Flax
(o)Flowering-Rush
(o)Frog-bit
(o)Fumitory
(o)Gentian
(o)Geranium
(o)Glassworts
(o)Gooseberry
(o)Goosefoot
(o)Grass 1
(o)Grass 2
(o)Grass 3
(o)Grass Soft Bromes 1
(o)Grass Soft Bromes 2
(o)Grass Soft Bromes 3 (o)Hazel
(o)Heath
(o)Hemp
(o)Herb-Paris
(o)Holly
(o)Honeysuckle
(o)Horned-Pondweed
(o)Hornwort
(o)Iris
(o)Ivy
(o)Jacobs Ladder
(o)Lily
(o)Lily Garlic
(o)Lime
(o)Lobelia
(o)Loosestrife
(o)Mallow
(o)Maple
(o)Mares-tail
(o)Marsh Pennywort
(o)Melon (Gourd/Cucumber)
 

WILD FLOWER FAMILY
PAGE MENU 3

(o)Mesem-bryanthemum
(o)Mignonette
(o)Milkwort
(o)Mistletoe
(o)Moschatel
Naiad
(o)Nettle
(o)Nightshade
(o)Oleaster
(o)Olive
(o)Orchid 1
(o)Orchid 2
(o)Orchid 3
(o)Orchid 4
(o)Parnassus-Grass
(o)Peaflower
(o)Peaflower Clover 1
(o)Peaflower Clover 2
(o)Peaflower Clover 3
(o)Peaflower Vetches/Peas
Peony
(o)Periwinkle
Pillwort
Pine
(o)Pink 1
(o)Pink 2
Pipewort
(o)Pitcher-Plant
(o)Plantain
(o)Pondweed
(o)Poppy
(o)Primrose
(o)Purslane
Rannock Rush
(o)Reedmace
(o)Rockrose
(o)Rose 1
(o)Rose 2
(o)Rose 3
(o)Rose 4
(o)Rush
(o)Rush Woodrushes
(o)Saint Johns Wort
Saltmarsh Grasses
(o)Sandalwood
(o)Saxifrage
 

WILD FLOWER FAMILY
PAGE MENU 4

Seaheath
(o)Sea Lavender
(o)Sedge Rush-like
(o)Sedges Carex 1
(o)Sedges Carex 2
(o)Sedges Carex 3
(o)Sedges Carex 4
(o)Spindle-Tree
(o)Spurge
(o)Stonecrop
(o)Sundew
(o)Tamarisk
Tassel Pondweed
(o)Teasel
(o)Thyme 1
(o)Thyme 2
(o)Umbellifer 1
(o)Umbellifer 2
(o)Valerian
(o)Verbena
(o)Violet
(o)Water Fern
(o)Waterlily
(o)Water Milfoil
(o)Water Plantain
(o)Water Starwort
Waterwort
(o)Willow
(o)Willow-Herb
(o)Wintergreen
(o)Wood-Sorrel
(o)Yam
(o)Yew

WILDFLOWER INDEX

See Wildflower Common Name Index link Table ON A PAGE for more wildflower of the UK common names - from Adder's Tongue to the Goosefoot Family - together with their names in languages from America, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
See Wildflower Botanical Name Index link table ON A PAGE for wildflower of the United Kingdom (Great Britain) botanical names, from Adder's Tongue to the Goosefoot Family.
Neither of the above 2 pages will be further updated, due to 1. Running out of space on each of the pages and 2. being replaced by the Botanical Names and Common Names Galleries from July 2020:-
Botanical Names with Common Name, Wild Flower Family, Flower Colour and Form Index of each of all the Wildflowers of the UK in 1965 are in PAGES IN THE GALLERY Brown Wildflower Gallery with page links in the top row.
Common Names with Botanical Name, Wild Flower Family, Flower Colour and Form Index of each of all the Wildflowers of the UK in 1965 are PAGES IN THE GALLERY in Cream Wildflower Gallery with page links in the top row.
Plant description, culture, propagation and photos/illustrations will be provided for every wildflower plant (from February 2021) in these 2 galleries.

After clicking on the WILD FLOWER Common Name INDEX link to Wildflower Family Page; locate that Common name on that Wildflower Family Page, then
Click on Underlined Text in:-
Common Name to view that Plant Description Page
Botanical Name to link to Plant or Seed Supplier
Flowering Months to view photos
Habitat to view further Natural Habitat details and Botanical Society of the British Isles Distribution Map
 

The Children's Book of Wild Flowers and the Story of their names by Gareth H. Browning. Published by W. and R. Chambers, Limited in 1930 provides the details for the plants below:-

Common Name

Botanical Name

Story of their Common Names Index

The Greater Celandine and The Lesser Celandine

Chelidonium majus is
Greater Celandine

Poppy Family

Ranunculus ficaria is
Lesser Celandine

Buttercup Family

The meaning of Celandine, in the language of those people of Greece, was 'a swallow'. 'But', you will ask, 'why are these 2 flowers called after the swallows? The swallows fly tous from across the sea in the early spring, and, when the summer is almost over, and the days are getting short again, and the sun is losing its warmth, they return to their old homes in a warmer climate. Well, the Greek people who named these 2 flowers noticed that they bloomed when the swallows arrived in their country and withered when they flew away; and they called the plants 'Swallows' because both the flowers and the birds came to them and left them at the same seasons.
It is said that the Greater Celandine was called after the swallows because the mother and father birds used to fly to this plant and carry a branch of it back to their nests to bring sight to the eyes of the little ones. The orange-coloured juice of the Greater Celandine is used, even by men and women, to strenghten their eyes.

The Colt's-Foot
(Son-before-the-father)

Tussilago farfara

Daisy Family

The flowers appear before the leaves, so the people who gave this name to the Colt's-Foot thought this a very strange habit, almost as strange as it would be if children grew up before their parents, and so they called the plant Son-before-the-father. After the flowers have disappeared, then the leaves appear. They are cut up at the edges into irrefular curves, set with dark-coloured teeth; but on the whole they are like the foot of a colt, or some other animal, in shape.

The Wood Anemone
(Cuckoo-flower, Candlemas-caps)

Anemone nemorosa

Buttercup Family

It fills the woods and copses with its starry blooms as the fresh winds of March blow. Anemone is a foreign word which means 'wind-flower' or 'daughter of the wind'. The ancient Greeks thought that it was only when the wind blew that the flower opened its petals, as though it were pleased to receive the soft caresses of the breeze.
Country people call it Cuckoo-flower, because when the they are in bloom, people begin to say to one another, 'Ah! the cuckoo will be here soon'. For the cuckoo flies to us from foreign countries when the spring days are growing longer, and it stays in the woods until the summer is begginning, and then it flies away again until next year. Candlemas-caps is a feast which used to be held on the 2nd of February in honour of the Virgin Mary, the mother of our Lord, and it was probably because the Anemone was soon afterwards to appear, and because its petals were so pure and white, like the Virgin Mary, that the name was chosen.

The Wild Strawberry
(Stray-berry)

Fragaria vesca

Rose Family

Some think the Wild Strawberry should really be Stray-berry, because the runners stray over the surface of the ground. Others say that the runners look like pieces of straw lying on the ground, and that the name was given for that reason. Many people think the name just came about because, when you grow Strawberries in your garden, you place layers of straw between the rows to discourage the snails and stop the fruit from rotting. Then others say that the seeds which are scattered over the fruit are like tiny bits of straw, blown there by the wind perhaps, and they tell us that the name Strawberry means the berry with straw on it.

The Dog Violet
(Common Dog Violet)

Common Dog-violet is
Viola riviniana

Violet Family

The word 'Dog', although you use it only when speaking of your household pet, is often used to point out inferior or worthless things. One kind of Violet has a beautiful odour, and is therefore called the Sweet Violet; another kind is centless, and, because it is inferior in this particular way, it is called the Dog Violet.
2 stories about Violet -
Long ago there was a false god called Jupiter, whom the heathens used to worship. This false god was very fond of a beautiful maiden, and, in order to potect her from the jealousy of a cerain woman who, like a wicked fairy, would have done her great harm, he changed her into a beautiful little cow. Then, in order to honour the maiden, and also to provide her with a delicate food, the god commanded the earth to bring forth a flower which had never grown before, and immediately this purple flower sprung up in the fields and the woods. The name of the beautiful maiden was Io, and the god called the flower Ion in memory of her. In time, the name became changed to Viola, and then at last it grew into Violet.
The other tale which is told is that there was a far country called Ionia, and that the maidens who lived there offered up some of these lowers to the same false god Jupiter. Because of this, and because the maidens were known as Ionians, the flowers were ever afterwards called by a name which grew into the word Violets.

The Primrose
(Butter-rose)

Primula vulgaris

Primrose Family

It is because the Primrose is one of the early signs of spring that it receives its name, for really it means 'the first rose'. It is not altogether a fitting name for the plant, because it is NOT the first of the spring flowers, and it is NOT a Rose. But it is a very early visitor, for, although it does not spread at large over the fields and banks and woods until April and May, still we do often chance upon a plant or 2 that shyly opens its pure and lovely eyes much earlier in the year. In parts of the West of England, they still call the Primrose, the Butter-rose, because the colour of the flowers is so like that of the farm butter which they make there.

The Cowslip
(Keys, Our Lady's Keys, Keys-of-heaven, Herb Peter, St Peter's-wort, Peter's-keys, Fairy-cups)

Primula veris

Primrose Family
 

Cowslips hang out several drooping blooms on each stalk. These clusters of flowers are thought to resemble a bunch of keys, and so the plant was often called Keys, or Our Lady's-keys, or the Keys-of-heaven. So, too, they were deciated to St Peter under the name of Herb Peter, St Peter's-wort and Peter's-keys, because St Peter was supposed to keep the keys of heaven, and a bunch of keys is generally adopted as his badge.
The Cowslip is a favourite flower with the fairies, and it is said that they are in the habit of running up the stems and nestling in the blooms. That is why the plant is often called by such a names as Fairy-cups.

The Marsh Marigold
(Mary-gold, Mary's-gold, Mary-bud)

Caltha palustris

Buttercup Family

It grows in marshy places and by the sides of rivers, so you will very likely get your feet wet if you try to pick the flowers. The name Marigold means Mary-gold, and it is quite likely that the flower was called after the Virgin Mary. In some parts they are called Mary's-gold and Mary-bud.

The Creeping Buttercup

Ranunculus repens

Buttercup Family

The Creeping Buttercup gets the first part of its name from the long runners which it sends creeping along the ground. These runners throw out rootlets which take hold of the soil wherever they go, and in this way the plant soon manages to spread over the fields and fill them with the golden blossoms which everyone (except the farmer) so loves to see. At one time farmers used to think that, if their cows fed on Buttercups, the butter which was afterwards made from their milk would be greater in quantity, or else yellower in colour; but this is a mistaken notion, for cows, finding that the plants are bitter in taste, do not eat them at all. Long ago there used to be a kind of cup made for holding butter, and it was called a butter-cup, so possibly that is where the idea of name first came from.

The Daisy

Bellis perennis

Daisy - Cudweeds Family

This is the children's flower. It blooms everywhere and at every season of the year. All children love to gather it for posies and for making daisy-chains. In the morning we see it opening to the light of the day, and in the evening it folds up its white petals again as if it were going to sleep. The word Daisy means the 'day's eye', or the 'eye of day'; and, indeed, the flower is just like a bright and beaming eye that opens with the sun and goes to sleep at twilight.
Once upon a time the people of Wales told a pretty story about the Daisy. They said that each new-born baby taken away from the earth became an angel which sent some new kind of flower to take its place in the world; and the Daisy was sent by a litltle one who had been called away from its loving parents directly it was born.

The Red Clover and
The White Clover

Red Clover is Trifolium pratense

Peaflower - Clover Family

White Clover is Trifolium repens

Peaflower - Clover Family

They form one of the chief honey supplies of the bees for the White Clover and the longer tongue of the bumble-bees can reach the juice of the Red Clover. Both plants form a favourite food for sheep and cattle.
The name Clover is a very old one. The Anglo-Saxons called it by the same name. Some people say that the word meant 'cleave' and referred to the 3 leaflets, meaning, I suppose, that they appeared as if cloven, or cut, out of 1 big leaf; but I am afraid that is only a guess. Then others say that the name came from a foreign word meaning 'a club', and that it had to do with an enormous three-headed club which was carried long ago by a very strong and celebrated hero called Hercules.

The Ox-Eye Daisy
(Moon Daisies, Moons, Moon-flowers)

Chrysanthemum leucanthemum

Daisy - Chamomiles and Mayweeds Family

The flowers of the Ox-eye Daisy are so large and bright that some people fancy they are lke the moon, and they call them Moon Daisies, Moons, and Moon-flowers. The names of animals, such as 'horse', 'dog' and 'ox' are o ften given to flowers which are big or coarse.
Ox-eye as a name was made up because people thought the big staring flowers looked like the eye of an ox, or some other large eye.

The Wild Arum
(Lords-and-Ladies, Cuckoo-pint, Starch-root, Starch-wort)

Arum maculatum

Arum Family

Most of the common names were made up on account of the quaint little figure which the flower-spike presents as it stands up with such a dignified air within the protecting sheath. The plants with the darker-coloured spikes are the Lords, and those with the lighter ones are the Ladies. Some people say that the name Lords-and-Ladies was given to the plant from the stately appearance of the spike, which looks as it it were a very important person indeed riding in a state chair or carriage!
The Wild Arum is another of the flowers which are called after the cuckoo, because it appears at the season when the bird is with us. In fact, it is almost as well known by the name of Cuckoo-pint as it is by that of Wild Arum.
Long ago the Wild Arum was made to serve a useful household purpose. That was in the days when the fine ladies and gentlemen who went to Court wore stiff and elaborate ruffs around their necks. The use of starch was not common then, and, when it was discovered that the root of the Arum contained a lot of starchy matter, it was employed in stiffening ruffs and other linen. The servants who did the starching did not like the work at all, for the root of the Arum is very hot and burning, and it chapped and blistered their hands so much that they had hardly time to heal before the next batch of linen had to be starched. From this use of the roots, the Wild Arum came to be called Starch-root or Starch-wort.

The Wood Sorrel
(Fairybells, our-clover, Sour-sabs, Sour-suds, Sour-sap, Sour-Sally, Wood-sour, Alleluia)

Wood-Sorrel
Oxalis acetosella

Wood Sorrel Family

In Wales these beautiful white flowers are called Fairybells, and the people say that, at night-time, they ring out little silvery peals to call the fairies into the woods to dance and play beneath the trees when you are fast asleep.
If you chew one of these leaves you will find it a very sour morsel. That is the reason why the plant is called Sorrel, for 'sorrel' comes from a French word which means 'sour'. Many other names have been given to the plant on account of this sourness, such as Sour-clover, Sour-sabs, Sour-suds, Sour-sap, Sour-Sally, and Wood-sour.
Once, long ago, the people of Ireland were heathens. They had never heard the story of Our Lord, and they worshipped false gods. When the Christians heard of this, they sent a very holy man, St Patrick, to go and preach to them and tell them all about the Holy Trinity of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. But the Irish would not believe his teaching because they were quite unable to understand how there could be Three Persons in One, and for a long time the good missionary, St Patrick, could not think of a way to explain the mystery to them. Then, looking down on the ground, he saw a plant growing at his feet with one of its single leaves divided up into 3 leaflets. In great joy he picked a leaf of the plant, and he showed it to the Irish who were standing all around him and trying to understand his teaching. 'Look at this leaf,' said St Patrick. 'Do you see that there are 3 leaflets in it, and yet the 3 leaflets together form only 1 leaf? So, in the Holy Trinity, there are Three Persons, but together form only One Godhead.' Then the Irish understood his message, and they were baptised and became Christians.
Do you not think it very strange to call a plant by the name of Alleluia? Well, that is what people called it hundreds of years ago, and in some country parts they use the name today. I expect you have often sung the word Alleluia, or Hallelujah, in church without quite knowing what it meant. The meaning is 'Praise the Lord', and these words appear in many psalms and anthems especially the psalms from 113 to 118, which are called Psalms of rejoicing. It is said that it was because the Wood Sorrel was in flower at that season of rejoicing that people named it with the word Alleluia, or Praise the Lord, which they were then singing so often in church.

The Greater Stitchwort

Greater stitchwort is
Stellaria holostea

Pink Family

If you had lived 2 or 3 hundred years ago, and you had told your mother that you had a pain in the side, or 'the stitch,' she would probably have tried to cure the pain with a drink made from this bright little flower. Many people thought that the flower would cure 'the stitch', and that is why they gave it the name of Stitchwort.

The Germander Speedwell or Bird's-Eye (Birdseye Speedwell)

Birdseye Speedwell is
Veronica chamaedrys

Figwort Family

If you pluck the flowers you will find that they quickly fall off, and, for that reason, it is difficult to bring home a bunch of them. Perhaps that is why the plant is called Speedwell. Long ago, when friends were bidding each other good-bye, instead of saying 'Farewell', as we might do today, they would say 'Speed well', which meant the same thing. So perhaps it was because of the way in which the flowers of this plant fell off and left you when you took them in your hand that people fancied it was like saying good-bye to a parting friend, and so called the plant Speedwell.

The Lady's Smock
(Bread-and-milk)

Lady's Smock is
Cardamine pratensis

Crucifer Family

You would be very much surprised, I expect, if you were given a plateful of Lady's Smocks for your supper and told that it was Bread-and-milk. That is the name by which some children call the flower, and it is said that, long ago, country people used to give up their winter mornings' breakfast of chicken-broth about the season of the flower's arrial and eat bread and milk instead.

The Early Purple Orchis
(Gethsemane, Early Purple Orchid)

Early Purple Orchid is Orchis mascula

Orchid Family

This name describes the time of the flower's appearance, which is from April to June, and the colour of the blooms.
You will remember that, whilst Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He suffered an agony so great that the perspiration broke out on His forehead in drops of blood. In the place where He knelt in prayer, one of those flowers was growing, and, as the blood ran down His forehead, some drops of it fell on to the plant and stained it for ever afterwards. This is how the Early Purple Orchis came to be called Gethsemane.

The Bluebell or Wild Hyacinth

Bluebell is
Hyacinthoides
non-scripta

Lily Family
 

Long ago there was a race of people, called the Greeks, who worshipped a number of heathen gods. Amongst the various gods which these people worshipped was one called Apollo and another called Zephyrus. The Greeks beleived that, when each day they saw the sun rise in the east and move across the sky, it was Apollo driving a golden chariot, drawn by a team of splendid horses, acoss the heavens. Now, Apollo was very fond of a beautiful youth called Hyacinthus, and often he would descend to the earth and play with his friend.
Zephyrus was the god who caused the West wing to blow. He too was fond of Hyacinthus, and he was furiously jealous of Apollo because he had won the boy's affection. One of the games which Apollo and Hyacinthus played together consisted of throwing a heavy circular disc as far as they could, the one who threw it farthest being the winner. When I tell you that these discs were made of iron or stone you will understand that they were exceedingly heavy, and that you had to be very strong to throw them any distance.
One day Apollo and Hyacinthus were playing this game and the sun-god was preparing to hurl his disc as far as possibly could. Then Zephyus, who was watching them from the sky, became seized with a wicked plan of revenging himself on Apollo for winning the love of the boy. Hyacinthus was standing some way in advance of Apollo as he hurled the disc, and, just as it left his hand, Zephyrus blew on it and caused it to veer out of its course and strike Hyacinthus a terrible blow on the head. Instantly the poor boy fell to the ground --- dead.
Apollo was filled with uncontrollable grief at the dreadful tragedy, and he wept bitterly over the unhappy death of the youth whom he loved so well. Then, in the midst of his sorrow, he declared that he would produce from the dead body of the beautiful boy a living flower that should be even more beautiful. Thereupon a lovely flower sprang up from the blood of the prostrate Hyacinthus, and, wonderful to relate, its petals were streaked with letters which, in the language of the Greeks, meant 'Alas! Alas!' Thus did Apollo cause the memory of his friend to live on after his death in the form of a flower which bore the marks of his grief. That flower was ever afterwards called the Hyacinth.

The Dandelion

Dandelion comes from 3 French words --- dent-de-lion --- which means 'lion's tooth'

The Milkwort

There were some customs, a long time ago, which people observed during the season known as Rogation Week. This season commences with the Sunday before Ascension Day, when our Lord ascended into heaven. During the first part of the week the people, led by the clergy, used to join together and walk in procession. They went out into the fields, and the priests prayed for a blessing on the growing crops so that they might produce a rich harvest. They also walked all around the parish where they lived, following the line of the boundaries which separated their parish from the neighbouring ones. Often they would take little boys with them, and, when they had reached a boundary mark, the poor little boys would receive a whipping. This was not because they had been naughty, but simply because the people that the boys would always rembember the boundary mark where they had received their whipping, and so, if the older people forgot which were the boundaries of the parish, the boys would be able to tell them. I think this was a very unkind thing to do to the little boys, though the people did sometimes give them a penny for their pains.
Now, those who walked in these processions used to carry nosegays, and wear garlands of flowers on their heads, while the folk who watched them go by from their houses would deck their windows with flowers as well. The Milkwort was then coming into flower, and it was always chosen to make up the nosegays and garlands and to put in the windows. For this reason it was called the Procession-flower, or Rogation-flower.

The Cinquefoil

The name Cinquefoil is made up from 2 French words, 'cingue' and 'foil', or 'feuille'. 'Cinque' means 'five', and 'foil' means 'leaf'; so you will see that thename means 'Five-leaf'. Some people preferred to use English names instead of foreign words, and they called this plant Five-leaf, Five-leaved -grass, Five-finger-grass, Five -fingers, Herb-five-leaf, and other such names. When you look at the leaves of the plant, you will see that they grow mostly in five leaflets. The leaflets are cut up at their edges into rather large teeth, and they are spread out like the fingers and thumb of your hand. That is how these 'finger' names came to be given.

The Tomentil

In the Shetland Islands the people called the roots Earth-bark, because they used them in tanning leather. Iwill tell you what 'tanning' means. Leather is made from the hide of cows and other animals. But, before it is fit to use for making our boots and other things, it has to be soaked in a liquid obtained from the bark of the oak or some other tree, and this soaking is called 'tanning'. The people who live in the Shetland Islands found that they could use the roots of the Tormentil for tanning leather, instead of the bark of trees, and that is why they named these roots Earth-bark.

The Ivy-Leaved Toad-Flax

The leaves, with their 5 divisions, or 'lobes' are more like Ivy leaves, and that is how the plant got the name of Ivy-leaved Toad-flax, and also Ivy-wort.
The flowers are very numerous, and each one produces a little nobby ball full of the seeds of future plants. The stems trail all over the wall where the plant has made its home, and they throw out tiny roots as they creep along, and so make their hold al the more secure.

The Yellow Iris

Iris is a very ancient name, and it was given to the Family of flowers to which theYellow Iris belongs by the Greek people who lived on the shores of the Mediteranean Sea. In those days the Greeks worshipped a number of false gods and goddesses, for our Lord had not yet appeared on the earth. One of these goddesses was called Iris, and she was supposed to act as messenger to the other gods. She appeared to the eyes of people on the earth in the form of a rainbow, and, whever they saw a rainbow in the sky, they said that the goddess Iris was carrying a message. The Greeks called the rainbow, as well as the goddess, by the name of Iris, and it is from the rainbow that the name of the flower comes. You know what a beautiful range of colours you can see in a rainbow. Well, many kinds of Irises, especially those which grow in foreign countries and in our gardens, have the same varied tints, and so they were likened to the brilliantly coloured arc which you see in the sky.

The Forget-Me-Not

Story 1 -
Once upon a time, a knight in armour was walking with his lady along the banks of a broad river. As they sauntered along, the lady espied a bright expanse of these flowers growing on the edge of the water, and she exclaimed how lovely they looked, and longed for her knight to gather a handful for her. The knight, being only too willing to please the maiden, scrambled down the bank and stretced out his hand towards the flowers. But alas! they were growing just out of his reach, and, in straining to gather them, he slipped into the river. He tried to swim ashore again, but his armour was so heavy that he could not do so. The sift stream carried him away from the spot where his lady stood weeping on the bank, and, as he was swept past her, he cried out to her to remember her lover. 'Forget-me-not!, Forget-me-not!' he exclaimed, and drifted out of sight. The maiden never forgot her lost sweetheart, and ever afterwards she called the flowers which had cost him his lfe 'Forget-me-not'.

Story 2 -
There was once a very poor shepherd who lived in the mountains. One day, when he was tending his sheep, a fairy came to him with one of these blue flowers in her little white hand and said, 'My poor man, I am very sorry for your misfoetunes, and here is a gift which will make you rich. Press this little flower against the mountain-side and the rocks will open into a cavern full of gold and precious stones. When you are inside the cave you may take away as many of those treasures as you can carry, but on no account must you leave behind the most precious thing of all.'
The poor man was greatly rejoiced at the good fairy's gift. He took the flower and pressed it against the mountain-side, and immediately a huge stone rolled back, revealing a dark cave within, gleaming with the reflection of gold and glittering with the light of thousands of jewels. The man eagerly entered the cave and, throwing down the flower, began to stuff the gold and jewels into his pockets, and his boots, and his stockings, and, indeed, into every one of his garments that would hold them. When he had collected as much as he could carry, he remembered the fairy's warning not to leave behind the most precious thing that was there. So he looked carefully round the cavern until, presently, he espied a particularly big and sparkling jewel. 'This is evidently the most precious thing here', he said, and he put it into his hat and turned to leave the cave.
As he walked towards the opening, he heard a tiny little voice calling out piteously, 'Forget me not! Forget me not!' and it seemed to come from the little flower which he had thrown down on the ground. 'Well,' he thought, 'I can't stop to pick you up, so youmust just stay where you are.' Then he walked on quickly with his heavy load of gold and jewels, and was just about to pass out of the cave when --- What do you think happened? Suddenly, with a loud noise, the great stone rolled back into the opening, and he was shut in. The flower which had admitted him into the cave was what the fairy had meant as the most precious thing, and, for neglecting its helpless appeal to be remembered, the poor man was shut in the cavern and never came out again.

Story 3 -
It is about Adam and the Garden of Eden. You will have read in the Bible how adam gave names to all the flowers that were growing in the Garden. After he had named them, God walked with him round the Garden to see if the flowers remembered their new names. They went from flower to flower and God bade them repeat the names which Adam had just given to them. All the flowers reeated their names quite correctly until they came to this blue flower. Now the Forget-me-not has another name, which is used in dry, learned books. This name is Myosotis and, as you will see, it is very hard name to remember. When God asled the flower to pronounce its name, it hung its head for shame and mumured, 'I forget'. Then God, seeing how unhappy the poor little flower was because of its forgetfulness, said gently, 'Never mind if you have forgetten your name, little flower; but see that you forget ME not'. And everafterwards (the story goes) the flower was known as the Forget-me-not.

Stories 4 and 5 follow on from Flower Legend.

The Red Campion

Red Campion is
Melandrium dioicum, Silene dioica and Lychnis dioica

Pink Family

Long ago there was a race of people, called the Greeks, who were very fond of holding public contests in running, wrestling, and other sports and games. It was their custom to crown the victors in these contests with wreaths made of a particular kind of flower. Later on, when these games or sports were held in another country, the victors came to be known as 'campions', which, of course, is very much like our word 'champions', and means the same thing. In this way it came about that whever the people saw this flower growing in te fields, they thought of the champions who had been crowned with it. Then, in time, they began to give the name of champion or campion to the flower itself.

The Herb Robert

Geranium robertianum

The name has been explained as a reference to abbot and herbalist Robert of Molesme.

The Mouse-Ear Hawkweed

The Ground Ivy

The Cudweed

The Fumitory

Common Fumitory , Fumitory

Common Fumitory is
Fumaria officinalis

Fumitory Family

Native plant, which if seen in quantity at a distance the greyish foliage has the faint smoky appearance that gives the plant its name.

The Goose-Grass or Cleavers

The Shepherd's Purse

The Foxglove

The Cow Parsnip or Hogweed

The Wall Pennywort

The Yellow, or Biting, Stonecrop

The House-Leek

The Common Avens or Herb Bennet

The Eyebright

The Sun Spurge

The Ribwort Plantain

The Musk Thistle

The Devil's-bit Scabious

The Teasel

The Bird's-Foot Trefoil

The Wild Pansy

Heartsease or Wild Pansy is
Viola tricolor

Violet Family

The Basil

The St John's Wort

The Centaury

The Lady's Bedstraw

The Scarlet Poppy

The Yellow Loosestrife

The Great Mullein

The Woody Nightshade

The Honeysuckle

The Scarlet Pimpernel

Scarlet Pimpernel is
Anagallis arvensis

Primrose Family

The Carline Thistle

The Lesser Knapweed

The Yellow Toad-Flax

The Yarrow or Milfoil

The Clematis or Traveller's Joy

Traveller's Joy
Old Man's Beard is Clematis vitalba

Buttercup Family

UKButterflies Larval Foodplants website page lists the larval foodplants used by British butterflies. The name of each foodplant links to a Google search. An indication of whether the foodplant is a primary or secondary food source is also given.

Please note that the Butterfly you see for only a short time has grown up on plants as an egg, caterpillar and chrysalis for up to 11 months, before becoming a butterfly. If the plants that they live on during that time are removed, or sprayed with herbicide, then you will not see the butterfly.
 

Plants used by the Butterflies follow the Plants used by the Egg, Caterpillar and Chrysalis as stated in
A Butterfly Book for the Pocket by Edmund Sandars.
Published by Oxford University Press London: Humphrey Milford in 1939.

and

The Butterflies of Britain & Ireland New Revised Edition by Jeremy Thomas & Richard Lewington.
Published by Bloomsbury Natural Hstory in 2016. ISBN 978 0 95649 026 1.
 

Plant Name

Butterfly Name

Egg/ Caterpillar/ Chrysalis/ Butterfly

Plant Usage

Plant Usage Months

Alder Buckthorn

Brimstone

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg under leaf.

Eats leaves.
---

10 days in May-June
28 days.
12 days.

Aspen

Large Tortoiseshell

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant.
Feeds on leaves.
Hangs suspended from stem.

Hatches after 18-22 days in April.
30 days in May
9 days in June.

Black Medic

Common Blue

Egg,

Caterpillar


Chrysalis

Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf.
Eats buds and flowers.


Base of food plant.

-
-
Spend winter at the base of the food plant. They resume feeding in March.
2 weeks

Common Birdsfoot Trefoil

Chalk-Hill Blue

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg at base of plant.
Eats leaves.
---

Late August-April
April-June
1 Month

Common Birdsfoot Trefoil

Common Blue

Egg,

Caterpillar


Chrysalis

Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf.
Eats buds and flowers.


Base of food plant.

-
-
Spend winter at the base of the food plant. They resume feeding in March.
2 weeks

Common Birdsfoot Trefoil

Wood White

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg laid on underside of leaflets or bracts.
Eats leaves.
---

7 days in June.

32 days in June-July.
July-May.

Bitter Vetch

Wood White

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg laid on underside of leaflets or bracts.
Eats leaves.
---

7 days in June.

32 days in June-July.
July-May.

Borage

Queen of Spain Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar


Chrysalis

1 egg laid under the leaf or on top of the flower.
Eats leaves, then before pupating it eats the bloom and leaves of the pansies.
---

7 days in August.

23 days in August-September.

3 weeks in September

Bramble

Holly Blue

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

 

1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk.
Eats flower bud.
---

 

7 days.

28-42 days.
18 days. Early September to Late April for second generation.

Buckthorn

Holly Blue

Egg,


Caterpillar
Chrysalis

 

1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk.
Eats flower bud.
---


 

7 days.


28-42 days.
18 days. Early September to Late April for second generation.

Buckthorn -
Alder Buckthorn and Common Buckthorn

Brimstone

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg under leaf.

Eats leaves.
---

10 days in May-June.

28 days.
12 days.

Burdocks

Painted Lady

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf.
Eats leaves.
---

2 weeks
7-11days
7-11 days

Cabbages - ELarge White eats all cruciferous plants, such as cabbages, mustard, turnips, radishes, cresses, nasturtiums, wild mignonette and dyer's weed

Large White
 

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

40-100 eggs on both surfaces of leaf.

Eats leaves.
---
 

May-June and August-Early September. 4.5-17 days.
30-32 days
14 days for May-June eggs, or overwinter till April

Cabbages

Small White

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg on underside of leaf.

Eats leaves.
---
 

May-June and August. 7 days.
28 days
21 days for May-June eggs, or overwinter till March

Cabbages:-
Charlock,
Cuckoo Flower (Lady's Smock),
Hedge-Mustard,
Garlic-Mustard,
Yellow Rocket (Common Winter-Cress),
Watercress

Green-veined White

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis


 

1 egg on underside of leaf.

Eats leaves.
---


 

July or August; hatches in 3 days.
16 days.
14 days in July or for caterpillars of August, they overwinter till May.

Cabbages:-
Charlock,
Creeping Yellow-cress,
Cuckoo Flower (Lady's Smock),
Dame's Violet,
Hedge-Mustard,
Horseradish,
Garlic-Mustard,
Lady's Smock,
Large Bittercress,
Rock-cress (Common Winter-Cress),
Yellow Rocket (Common Winter-Cress),
Watercress,
Wild Turnip

Orange Tip

Egg,

Caterpillar

Chrysalis

1 egg laid in the tight buds and flowers.
Eats leaves, buds, flowers and especially the seed pods.
---

May-June 7 days.

June-July 24 days.

August-May

Cherry with
Wild Cherry,
Morello Cherry and
Bird Cherry

Large Tortoiseshell

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant.
Feeds on leaves.
Hangs suspended from stem.

Hatches after 18-22 days in April.
30 days in May.
9 days in June.

Clovers 1, 2, 3

Common Blue

Egg,

Caterpillar


Chrysalis

Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf.
Eats buds and flowers.


Base of food plant.

-
-
Spend winter at the base of the food plant. They resume feeding in March.
2 weeks.

Clovers 1, 2, 3

Pale Clouded Yellow

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf.
Eats leaves.

 

10 days in May-June.
July-August.
17 days in August-September.

Clovers 1, 2, 3

Clouded Yellow

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf.
Eats leaves.
 

6 days in May-June.
30 days.
18 days in July-August.

Cocksfoot is a grass

Large Skipper

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg under leaf.
Eats leaves.
---

11 Months
3 weeks from May

Cow-wheat

(Common CowWheat, Field CowWheat)

Heath Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar



Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves.
Feeds on leaves until end of August. Hibernates on dead leaves until March. Eats young leaves until June.
---

Hatches after 16 days in June.
June-April



25 days in June.

Currants
(Red Currant,
Black Currant and Gooseberry)

Comma

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf.
Eats leaves.
---

Devilsbit Scabious

Marsh Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar



Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves.
Feeds on leaves until late August. Hibernates on dead leaves until March. Eats leaves until May.
---

Hatches after 20 days in July.
July-May.



15 days in May.

Dog Violet with
Common Dog Violet,
Heath Dog Violet and
Wood Dog Violet

Silver-washed Fritillary

Egg,
Caterpillar



Chrysalis

1 egg on oak or pine tree trunk
Hibernates in a crevice in the bark of the tree trunk.
Moves out of tree to eat Dog Violet leaves.
On rock or twig.

15 days in July.
August-March.

March-May.

Late June-July

Dog Violet with
Common Dog Violet,
Heath Dog Violet and
Wood Dog Violet

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar



Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf or stem.

Feeds on leaves until July. Hibernates on dead leaves until March. Eats young leaves until May.
---

Hatches after 15 days in May-June.
July-May.



9 days in June.

Dog Violet with
Common Dog Violet,
Heath Dog Violet and
Wood Dog Violet

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar



Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf or stem.

Feeds on leaves until July. Hibernates in dead leaves until March. Eats young leaves until April.
---

Hatches after 10 days in May-June.
June-April



April-June.

Dogwood

Holly Blue

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

 

1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk.
Eats flower bud.
---

 

7 days.

28-42 days.
18 days. Early September to Late April for second generation.

Elm and Wych Elm

Large Tortoiseshell

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant.
Feeds on leaves.
Hangs suspended from stem.

Hatches after 18-22 days in April.
30 days in May.
9 days in June.

False Brome is a grass (Wood Brome, Wood False-brome and Slender False-brome)

Large Skipper

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg under leaf.
Eats leaves.
---

...
11 Months
3 weeks from May

Foxglove

Marsh Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar



Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves.
Feeds on leaves until late August. Hibernates on dead leaves until March. Eats leaves until May.
---

Hatches after 20 days in July.
July-May



15 days in May.

Fyfield Pea

Wood White

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg laid on underside of leaflets or bracts.
Eats leaves.
---

7 days in June.

32 days in June-July.
July-May.

Garden Pansy

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar


Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf or stem.
Feeds on leaves until July. Hibernates in dead leaves until March. Eats young leaves until April.
---

Hatches after 10 days in May-June.
June-April


April-June.

Gorse

Holly Blue

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

 

1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk.
Eats flower bud.
---

 

7 days.

28-42 days.
18 days. Early September to Late April for second generation.

Heartsease

Queen of Spain Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar


Chrysalis

1 egg laid under the leaf or on top of the flower.
Eats leaves, then before pupating it eats the bloom and leaves of the pansies.
---

7 days in August.

23 days in August-September.

3 weeks in September

Hogs's Fennel

Swallowtail

Egg,


Caterpillar


Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf. 5 or 6 eggs may be deposited by separate females on one leaf.
Eats leaves, and moves to stems of sedges or other fen plants before pupating.
---

14 days in July-August.


August-September.


September-May.

Holly

Holly Blue

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

 

1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk.
Eats flower bud.
---

 

7 days.

28-42 days.
18 days. Early September to Late April for second generation.

Honesty (Lunaria biennis)

Orange Tip

Egg,

Caterpillar

Chrysalis

1 egg laid in the tight buds and flowers.
Eats leaves, buds, flowers and especially the seed pods.
---

May-June 7 days.

June-July 24 days.

August-May

Honeysuckle

Marsh Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar



Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves.
Feeds on leaves until late August. Hibernates on dead leaves until March. Eats leaves until May.
---

Hatches after 20 days in July.
July-May.



15 days in May.

Hop

Comma

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf.
Eats leaves.
---

Horseshoe vetch

Adonis Blue




Chalk-Hill Blue


Berger's Clouded Yellow

Egg,
Caterpillar

Chrysalis

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

Egg,


Caterpillar

Chrysalis

1 egg under leaf.
Eats leaves.

---

1 egg at base of plant.
Eats leaves.
---

1 egg on leaf.


Eats leaves.

---

1 then
June-March or September to July
3 weeks.

Late August-April.
April-June
1 Month

8-10 days in Late May-June or Middle August-September
June-July or September to October
8-15 days

Ivy

Holly Blue

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

 

1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk.
Eats flower bud.
---

 

7 days.

28-42 days.
18 days. Early September to Late April for second generation.

Kidney Vetch

Chalk-Hill Blue

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis
Butterfly

1 egg at base of plant.
Eats leaves.
---
Eats nectar.

Late August-April.
April-June
1 Month
20 days

Lucerne

Pale Clouded Yellow



Clouded Yellow

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis


Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf.
Eats leaves.



1 egg on leaf.
Eats leaves.
---

10 days in May-June.
July-August.
17 days in August-September.

6 days in May-June.
30 days.
18 days in July-August.

Mallows

Painted Lady

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf.
Eats leaves.
---

2 weeks
7-11days
7-11 days

Melilot

Clouded Yellow

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf.
Eats leaves.
 

6 days in May-June.
30 days.
18 days in July-August.

Mignonettes

Small White

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg on underside of leaf.

Eats leaves.
---
 

May-June and August. 7 days.
28 days
21 days for May-June eggs, or overwinter till March

Milk Parsley

Swallowtail

Egg,


Caterpillar


Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf. 5 or 6 eggs may be deposited by separate females on one leaf.
Eats leaves, and moves to stems of sedges or other fen plants before pupating.
---

14 days in July-August.


August-September


September-May

Narrow-leaved Plantain (Ribwort Plantain)

Heath Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar



Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves.
Feeds on leaves until end of August. Hibernates on dead leaves until March. Eats young leaves until June.
---

Hatches after 16 days in June.
June-April.



25 days in June.

Narrow-leaved Plantain (Ribwort Plantain)

Glanville Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar



Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves.
Feeds on leaves until middle of August. Hibernates on dead leaves until March. Eats leaves until April-May.
---

Hatches after 16 days in June.
June-April.



25 days in April-May.

Nasturtium from Gardens

Small White

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg on underside of leaf.

Eats leaves.
---
 

May-June and August. 7 days.
28 days.
21 days for May-June eggs, or overwinter till March

Oak Tree

Silver-washed Fritillary

Egg,
Caterpillar



Chrysalis

1 egg on tree trunk
Hibernates in a crevice in the bark of the tree trunk.
Moves out of tree to eat Dog Violet leaves.
On rock or twig.

15 days in July.
August-March.

March-May.

Late June-July

Mountain pansy,
Seaside Pansy,
Field Pansy and Cultivated Pansy.
 

Queen of Spain Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar

 

Chrysalis

1 egg laid under the leaf or on top of the flower.
Eats leaves of borage, sainfoin and heartsease, then before pupating it eats the bloom and leaves of the pansies.
---

7 days in August.

23 days in August-September
 

3 weeks in September

Pine Tree

Silver-washed Fritillary

Egg,
Caterpillar



Chrysalis

1 egg on tree trunk.
Hibernates in a crevice in the bark of the tree trunk.
Moves out of tree to eat Dog Violet leaves.
On rock or twig.

15 days in July.
August-March.

March-May.

Late June-July

Plantains

Marsh Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar



Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves.
Feeds on leaves until late August. Hibernates on dead leaves until March. Eats leaves until May.
---

Hatches after 20 days in July.
July-May



15 days in May.

Poplar

Large Tortoiseshell

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant.
Feeds on leaves.
Hangs suspended from stem.

Hatches after 18-22 days in April.
30 days in May.
9 days in June.

Restharrow

Common Blue

Egg,

Caterpillar


Chrysalis

Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf.
Eats buds and flowers.


Base of food plant.

-
-
Spend winter at the base of the food plant. They resume feeding in March.
2 weeks

Rock-rose

Brown Argus

Egg,
Caterpillar

1 egg under leaf.
Eats leaves.

Sainfoin

Queen of Spain Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar


Chrysalis

1 egg laid under the leaf or on top of the flower.
Eats leaves, then before pupating it eats the bloom and leaves of the pansies.
---

7 days in August.

23 days in August-September

3 weeks in September

Common Sallow (Willows, Osiers)

Large Tortoiseshell

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant.
Feeds on leaves.
Hangs suspended from stem

Hatches after 18-22 days in April.
30 days in May.
9 days in June.

Sea Plantain

Glanville Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar



Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves.
Feeds on leaves until middle of August. Hibernates on dead leaves until March. Eats leaves until April-May.
---

Hatches after 16 days in June.
June-April



25 days in April-May.

Snowberry

Holly Blue

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

 

1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk.
Eats flower bud.
---
 

7 days.

28-42 days.
18 days. Early September to Late April for second generation.

Spindle-tree

Holly Blue

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

 

1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk.
Eats flower bud.
---

 

7 days.

28-42 days.
18 days. Early September to Late April for second generation.

Stinging Nettle

Comma




Painted Lady



Peacock

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

Egg
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

Egg,


Caterpillar

Chrysalis

Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf.
Eats leaves.
---

1 egg on leaf.
Eats leaves.
---

Dense mass of 450-500 eggs on the under side of leaves over a 2 hour period.
Eats leaves, and moves to another plant before pupating.
---

2 weeks in June.
7-11 days.
7-11 days.

14 days in April-May.


28 days.

13days.

Storksbill

Brown Argus

Egg,
Caterpillar

1 egg under leaf.
Eats leaves.

Thistles

Painted Lady

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf.
Eats leaves.
---

2 weeks
7-11days
7-11 days

Trefoils 1, 2, 3

Clouded Yellow

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf.
Eats leaves.
 

6 days in May-June.
30 days.
18 days in July-August.

Vetches

Common Blue

Egg,

Caterpillar


Chrysalis

Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf.
Eats buds and flowers.


Base of food plant.

-
-
Spend winter at the base of the food plant. They resume feeding in March.
2 weeks

Vetches

Wood White

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg laid on underside of leaflets or bracts.
Eats leaves.
---

7 days in June.

32 days in June-July.
July-May.

Violets:-
Common Dog Violet,
Hairy Violet,
Heath Dog-violet
Pale Dog violet
Sweet Violet

Dark Green Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar


Chrysalis

1 egg on underside of leaf or on stalk.
Hibernates where it hatches.
Eats leaves.

Base of food plant.

July-August for 17 days.

Spends winter on plant until end of March. Eats leaves until end of May.
4 weeks.

Violets:-
Common Dog Violet,
Hairy Violet,
Heath Dog-violet
Pale Dog violet
Sweet Violet

High Brown Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar

Chrysalis

1 egg on stem or stalk near plant base.
Feed on young leaves, stalks and stems
---

July to hatch in 8 months in March.
9 weeks ending in May.

4 weeks

Vipers Bugloss

Painted Lady

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf.
Eats leaves.
---

2 weeks.
7-11days.
7-11 days

Whitebeam
(White Beam)

Large Tortoiseshell

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant.
Feeds on leaves.
Hangs suspended from stem.

Hatches after 18-22 days in April.
30 days in May.
9 days in June.

Wild Angelica

Swallowtail

Egg,


Caterpillar


Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf. 5 or 6 eggs may be deposited by separate females on one leaf.
Eats leaves, and moves to stems of sedges or other fen plants before pupating.
---

14 days in July-August.


August-September.


September-May

Willow
(Bay Willow)

Large Tortoiseshell

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant.
Feeds on leaves.
Hangs suspended from stem.

Hatches after 18-22 days in April.
30 days in May.
9 days in June.

Wood-Sage

Marsh Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar



Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves.
Feeds on leaves until late August. Hibernates on dead leaves until March. Eats leaves until May.
---

Hatches after 20 days in July.
July-May.



15 days in May.

Plant Name

Butterfly Name

Egg/ Caterpillar/ Chrysalis/ Butterfly

Plant Usage

Plant Usage Months

Asters
in gardens

Comma

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

Runner and Broad Beans in fields and gardens

Large White


Small White

Butterfly

Eats nectar

April-June or July-September.

March-May or June-September

Aubretia in gardens

Clouded Yellow

Butterfly

Eats nectar

May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November

Birch

Holly Blue

Butterfly

Eats sap exuding from trunk.

April-Mid June and Mid July-Early September for second generation.

Common Birdsfoot Trefoil

Chalk-Hill Blue

Wood White

Marsh Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

20 days.


May-June.

30 days in May-June.

Bitter Vetch

Wood White

Butterfly

Eats nectar

May-June

Bluebell

Holly Blue




Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

April-Mid June and Mid July-Early September for second generation.


June.



June-August.

Bramble

Comma

Silver-washed Fritillary

High Brown Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

July-October.

7 weeks in July-August.



June-August

Buddleias
in gardens

Comma

Peacock

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

July-October.

July-May

Bugle

Wood White

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Heath Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

May-June.

June.



June-August.



June-July.

Cabbage and cabbages in fields

Large White


Small White


Green-veined White

Orange Tip

Butterfly

Eats nectar

April-June or July-September.

March-May or June-September.

A Month during May-June or second flight in late July-August.

May-June for 18 days.

Charlock

Painted Lady

Butterfly

Eats nectar

July-October

Clovers 1, 2, 3

Adonis Blue



Chalk-Hill Blue

Painted Lady

Peacock

Large White


Small White

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

1 Month during Mid-May to Mid-June or during August-September

20 days in August.


July-October.

July-May.

April-June or July-September.

March-May or June-September

Clovers 1, 2, 3

Pale Clouded Yellow


Clouded Yellow


Berger's Clouded Yellow


Queen of Spain Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November

May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November.

1 Month in May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November.

May-September.

Cow-wheat
(Common CowWheat, Field CowWheat)

Heath Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

June-July

Cuckoo Flower (Lady's Smock)

Wood White

Butterfly

Eats nectar

May-June

Dandelion

Holly Blue



Marsh Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

April-Mid June and Mid July-Early September for second generation.

30 days in May-June.

Fleabanes

Common Blue

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

3 weeks between May and September

Germander Speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys - Birdseye Speedwell)

Heath Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

June-July

Greater Knapweed

Comma

Peacock

Clouded Yellow


Brimstone

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

July-October.

July-May.

May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November.

12 months

Hawkbit

Marsh Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

30 days in May-June.

Heartsease

Queen of Spain Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

May-September

Hedge Parsley

Orange Tip

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

May-June for 18 days.

Hemp agrimony

Comma

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

July-October

Horseshoe vetch

Adonis Blue

Chalk-Hill Blue

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

1 Month.

20 days

Ivy

Painted Lady

Brimstone

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

Hibernates during winter months in its foliage.

July-October.

October-July

Lucerne

Painted Lady

Large White


Small White


Pale Clouded Yellow


Clouded Yellow


Berger's Clouded Yellow

Butterfly

Eats nectar

July-October.

April-June or July-September.

March-May or June-September

May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November.

May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November.

1 Month in May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November

Marigolds in gardens

Clouded Yellow

Butterfly

Eats nectar

May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November

Marjoram

Adonis Blue



Chalk-Hill Blue

Common Blue

Clouded Yellow

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

1 Month during Mid-May to Mid-June or during August-September.

20 days in August.


3 weeks in May-September.

May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November

Michaelmas Daisies
in gardens

Comma

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

July-October

Mignonettes

Large White


Small White

Butterfly

Eats nectar

April-June or July-September.

March-May or June-September

Narrow-leaved Plantain (Ribwort Plantain)

Heath Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

June-July

Nasturtiums in gardens

Large White


Small White

Butterfly

Eats nectar

April-June or July-September

March-May or June-September

Oak Tree

Holly Blue

Butterfly

Eats sap exuding from trunk.

April-Mid June and Mid July-Early September for second generation.

Primroses

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

June.



June-August.

Ragged Robin

Wood White

Heath Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

May-June.

June-July.

Scabious

Painted Lady

Peacock

Butterfly

Eats nectar

July-October.

July-May

Sedum

Peacock

Butterfly

Eats nectar

July-May

Teasels

Silver-washed Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

7 weeks in July-August.

Thistles -
Creeping Thistle, Dwarf Thistle, Marsh Thistle, Meadow Thistle, Melancholy Thistle, Milk Thistle,
Musk Thistle, Seaside Thistle, Scotch Thistle, Spear Thistle, Tuberous Thistle, Welted Thistle, Woolly Thistle

Comma

Painted Lady

Peacock

Swallowtail

Clouded Yellow


Brimstone

Silver-washed Fritillary

High Brown Fritillary

Dark Green Fritillary

Queen of Spain Fritillary

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

July-October.

July-October.

July-May.

May-July.

May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November.

12 months.

7 weeks in July-August



June-August.


July-August for 6 weeks.


May-September.



June-August.

Thymes

Common Blue

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

3 weeks between May and September

Trefoils 1, 2, 3

Adonis Blue



Chalk-Hill Blue

Glanville Fritillary

Butterfly

 

Eats nectar.
 

1 Month during Mid-May to Mid-June or during August-September

20 days in August.


June-July

Vetches

Chalk-Hill Blue

Glanville Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

20 days in August.


June-July.

Violets

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

June.

June-August.

Wood-Sage

Heath Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

June-July

Apple/Pear/Cherry/Plum Fruit Tree Blossom in Spring

Peacock

Butterfly

Eats Nectar

April-May

Rotten Fruit

Peacock

Butterfly

Drinks juice

July-September

Tree sap and damaged ripe fruit, which are high in sugar

Large Tortoiseshell

Butterfly

Hibernates inside hollow trees or outhouses until March. Eats sap or fruit juice until April.

10 months in June-April

Wild Flowers

Large Skipper

Brimstone

Silver-washed Fritillary.

Queen of Spain Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats Nectar

June-August


12 months.

7 weeks in July-August.



May-September

Links to the other Butterflies:-

Black Hairstreak uses Blackthorn, Privet, Guelder Rose, and Wayfaring tree
Brown Hairstreak uses Blackthorn, Bramble flowers and tops of Ash trees for males to congregate in
Camberwell Beauty It is not believed that it breeds in the UK, but butterflies swarm over from European Countries depending on the weather.
Chequered Skipper uses False Brome, Hairy Brome Grass, Bugle

I have detailed the use of plants by these eggs, caterpillars, chrysalis and butterfly in full with either photos of those butterflies, etc or illustrations from Sandars. It shows that they do use plants all year round and I will insert the information of their Life Histories into the remainder of the Butterfly Description Pages but I will put no further information in this table or the Butterfly Name with its use of plants table. Please see what a council did to destroy the native habitat, so that children could ride bicyles anywhere in the park in the row below.
Dingy Skipper
Duke of Burgundy
Essex Skipper
Gatekeeper
Grayling
Green Hairstreak
Grizzled Skipper
Hedge Brown
Large Blue
Large Heath
Long-tailed Blue
Lulworth Skipper
Marbled White
Mazarine Blue
Meadow Brown
Monarch
Northern Brown Argus
Purple Emperor
Purple Hairstreak
Red Admiral
Ringlet
Scotch Argus
Short-tailed Blue
Silver-spotted Skipper
Silver-studded Blue
Small Copper
Small Heath
Small Mountain Ringlet
Small Skipper
Small Tortoiseshell
Speckled Wood
Wall Brown
White Admiral
White-letter Hairstreak

Details of what plant is used by each of the different 'egg, caterpillar, chrysalis or butterfly' unit and for how long is given in the table on the left.

At least 2 of these butterflies live in America as well as in the UK in 2022:-
Carterocephalus palaemon (Chequered Skipper) - Arctic Skippering - a butterfly of America.
Papilio machaon machaon (Swallowtail) - Old World Swallowtail - a butterfly of America.

The following is an excerpt from my Comments about the proposed destruction of the wildlife habitats at Cobtree Manor Park in the summer of 2010 from my Mission Statement page:-

"We would be sorry to lose the butterflies on the bluebells, bramble and ivy that would be restricted to only the very small area of proposed Wildlife Meadow by the Woods at the bottom of a hill with water springs on it. The wildlife is now being excluded from all the other areas by the "pruning", so that the nettles, brambles etc which had for instance the butterfly life cycle included; are now being ruthlessly removed to create a garden, not a park, with neat little areas."

When you look at the life history graphs of each of the 68 butterflies of Britain, you will see that they use plants throughout all 12 months - the information of what plant is used by the egg, caterpillar, chrysalis or butterfly is also given in the table on the left. With this proposed removal of all plants required for butterflies etc to live in and pro-create; at least once a year by the autumn or spring clearing up, you destroy the wildlife in this park as is done in every managed park in the world. Please leave something for the wildlife to live in without disturbance; rather than destroy everything so children can ride their bicycles anywhere they want when the park is open during the day and they are not at school.
 

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A FLAILED CORNISH HEDGE
This details that life and death from July 1972 to 2019, with the following result for
UK wildflowers, birds, butterflies and moths:-

• "Of the original 186 flowering species (including sub-species), the 5 colour forms and the 8 unconfirmed species, (193 flowering species in total) only 55 have persisted throughout the 35 years of flailing since 1972. Of these 55 species:-
• 3 species are unchanged.
  11 species have disastrously increased.
  41 species are seriously reduced in number, most by over 90%. Of these, 18 are now increasing under the somewhat lighter flailing regime. 13 are still decreasing, and 35 have only a few specimens (from 1-12 plants) left.
• Of the rest of the original species:-
• 37 species and 3 colour forms have disappeared, then reappeared after varying lengths of time. Of these, 20 have fewer than 6 plants, most of them only 1 or 2, and are liable to disappear again. Only 6 of the recovered species look capable of surviving in the longer term.
• 23 species have reappeared, then disappeared again due to being flailed before they could set seed or to being overcome by rank weeds.
• Only 3 species have reappeared for a second time, and one of these has since disappeared for the third time.
  68 species and 2 colour forms disappeared and have never reappeared to date (2008).
• Of the 83 flowering species (excluding 11 rampant species) and 3 colour forms now present in the survey mile, around 50 are unlikely to survive there in the long term, certainly not in viable numbers, if flailing continues.
  Unless the degradation of habitat, high fertility and spread of ivy and other rampant weeds can be reversed, it appears highly unlikely that more than a dozen or so of the lost floral species can ever safely return or be re-introduced.
• The only birds sighted more than once so far this year along the mile have been magpie, rook, crow and buzzard, and a swallow (probably the same one each time) hunting between the hedges now and then at the sheltered eastern end of the mile. One wren heard June 21st, one blackbird seen June 27th (these also at the eastern end) and one greenfinch today July 31st. On this hot sunny high-summer day counted only 7 hedge brown butterflies (6 of them males), one red admiral and one large white. Half a dozen small bumblebees, two carder bees, half a dozen hoverflies of two common Eristalis species, one flesh fly, one scorpion fly and one dragonfly, Cordulegaster boltonii, not hunting, zooming straight down the road and disappearing into the distance.
• Only 8 butterfly species so far this year, and only one specimen each of five of them (red admiral, speckled wood, large white, ringlet and large skipper, the latter seen only once since 1976). Only small white, hedge brown and speckled wood have managed to appear every year since the flail arrived.
  For some years I have been noticing very small specimens particularly of hedge brown and speckled wood. This year nearly all the hedge browns seen in the mile ('all' being a dozen or so in total) are of this stunted size, some of the males appearing really tiny. I am wondering if this might be a response to general environmental stress, or due to inbreeding as flail-reduced numbers are so low. The hedge brown does not fly far from its hatching place so mating opportunity is now extremely limited. With the few species of insects now seen in the hedges there seems to be a high proportion of males to females, at least five to one.
• So far this year only a single moth has come to the house lights. It was a Drinker, and it killed itself against the bulb before it could be saved.

September 21st. Most of the survey mile closely flailed today along both sides of the road.

End note, June 2008. I hear spring vetch has been officially recorded somewhere in West Cornwall and confirmed as a presence in the county, so perhaps I can be permitted to have seen it pre-1972 in the survey mile. I wonder where they found it? It's gone from hedges where it used to be, along with other scarcities and so-called scarcities that used to flourish in so many hedges unrecorded, before the flail arrived. I have given careful thought to including mention of some of the plants and butterflies. So little seems to be known of the species resident in Cornish hedges pre-flail that I realise some references may invite scepticism. I am a sceptic myself, so sympathise with the reaction; but I have concluded that, with a view to re-establishing vulnerable species, it needs to be known that they can with the right management safely and perpetually thrive in ordinary Cornish hedges. In future this knowledge could solve the increasingly difficult question of sufficient and suitable sites for sustainable wild flower and butterfly conservation - as long as it is a future in which the hedge-flail does not figure.
Times and attitudes have changed since the days when the flail first appeared on the scene. The plight of our once-so-diverse wildlife is officially recognised as a priority; agricultural grants may embrace conservation measures, and perhaps economic strictures will tend more to a live-and-let-live policy in future with less of the expensive, pointless and desecrating "tidying-up". We now have an enthusiastic generation keen to help nature recover its diversity, but often unsure as to how this is best achieved. [Please see CHL "Restoring Biodiversity in Cornish Hedges"] 21st September 2007.
There is still widespread ignorance of the effects of such destructive machinery as the flail-mower and other rotary trimmers and strimmers. Few people but the elderly now remember or understand the life that ought to be abundant in the everyday hedges, verges, field margins and waste places. The simple remedy of returning to the clean-cutting finger-bar scythe used in late winter, trimming alternate sides of the hedge in different years, not trimming green herbaceous growth and leaving the cut material (mainly dead stems and twigs) on or near the hedge, is largely unrealised. This wildlife-friendly type of trimmer is still available from some suppliers.
Cornwall County Council has changed from being (in this instance) the chief offender to employing said-to-be environmentally-aware officers concerned with reconciling conservation and development. In recent years the council has issued instructional leaflets about hedges and their wildlife, including one entitled Cornish Roadside Hedge Management (since altered, perhaps not entirely for the better). This leaflet largely embodied the principles that our petition of 1985 asked for. Ironically, it is no longer the council's employees who are carrying out the work. Although this advice is now available, it does not necessarily reach the farmers and contractors out on the job. The flails are still in destructive action at any time from June onwards, though on the whole the work does seem to be being done later rather than sooner. Some farmers are now correctly leaving it until January and early February, a good time to allot to road work while other farm jobs may have to wait for drier weather. Most farmers, despite the bad publicity they tend to suffer, truly wish to do the best they can for their wildlife. Sadly for all, the flail is still the universally-available tool.
Those ignorant of the flail's real effects may imagine that 'sensitive' use of it is all right, as some common plant and insect species return temporarily and a few others increase when the work is switched to the less damaging time of year and done lightly. In the longer term, this is delusive; even in winter an unacceptable number of individuals are killed at every flailing and the habitat still inexorably degrades. No matter how or when or how seldom the flail is used, species continue to die out.
Until naturalists and environmentalists understand the catastrophic and cumulative effects of the flail they will continue to say they don't know why, despite all well-intentioned efforts, the numbers and diversity of wild flowers, songbirds, bats, butterflies, moths and bumblebees are still falling.
Nature lovers have to stop thinking mainly in terms of schemes to benefit a handful of charismatic species at special sites, and start looking at what the flail and other rotary mowers have done to thousands upon thousands of acres of the British countryside and billions upon billions of its most essential, ordinary inhabitants. It has struck at the major heart of the core existence of our native species, slaughtering them wholesale in that very sanctuary of the hedges and verges. These species had already mostly gone from the rest of the local area; the hedges where they had all taken refuge were their last resort. The remnants of species and their precarious survivors are still being wiped out, smashed to death every time the flail is used. It is the utterly wrong tool for the job and it has to be scrapped.
A brand-new flail-mower operating in February 2008. Right time of year for trimming, wrong kind of trimmer. As long as it is manufactured and turned out into the roads and fields the flail will decimate wild flowers, massacre the small creatures remaining in the hedges and verges, destroy their habitat and ruin the ancient structure of Cornwall's hedges.
Since the last yellowhammer flew across the road in 1980, I have never seen another while walking the survey mile. Since the last grasshopper in July 1981, I have never seen or heard another in these hedges. Since all the other species this diary recorded absent disappeared, they have not been seen again except in the few instances stated in the text. Most of the remaining species are declining. Fewer than half of them are likely to survive in the longer term if present trends continue. The long-vanished flowering species are likely never to return, as repeated flailing before seeding has exhausted their dormant seed stocks. The survey mile is typically representative of a majority of Cornish roadside hedges.
The photographs - in the pdf in their website - illustrating many of the flowering species lost were not taken in the survey hedge,for the obvious reason that they were no longer there. Most were taken in the house's wild garden adjoining, while those that did not grow there were obtained only with extreme difficulty, by searching all over West Penwith in a roughly thirty-mile radius for un-flailed pockets of survival. Along the roadside hedges, in this whole distance I found just one or two plants or patches of only a few of the species sought - common toadflax, field scabious, tufted vetch, scentless mayweed, red clover, self-heal - species that before the flail were so commonly seen along the whole length of hundreds of hedges in West Cornwall, now growing only where for some unusual reason of situation the flail had missed.
Some of the photographs of invertebrate species killed out by the flail in the survey mile were taken in the garden adjoining, where, despite nurturing since pre-flail days, the majority have now disappeared due to over-predation. In the survey mile this year, for the first time since 1992, the hedges remained un-flailed throughout the summer, giving a few common invertebrates the chance to reappear. No adult moth is illustrated because only half a dozen individuals were seen during the whole summer season of 2007, unfortunately at moments when the camera was not in my hand or they were fluttering out of reach. The drinker caterpillar alone was found posing beautifully and goes down to posterity as the only visible surviving moth larva noted in the survey mile this year, illustrating the millions of his kind killed by the flail.
Along this one typical mile of Cornish lane alone my records show that the flail has been the outright death or caused the persisting non-appearance of

• 90 flowering herbaceous species,
• 5 shrub species,
• 20 grass species,
• 60 moss species,
• 40 bird species,
• 23 butterfly species,
• 250 larger moth species,
• many scores of other invertebrate species, and untold thousands of individuals.
• It has condemned the hedge itself to a long-term, silent, living death, wrecked its antique stone construction and destroyed its great beauty. Along the whole of the estimated 30,000 miles of Cornish hedges the deaths of individual plants and creatures from flail-battering and the loss of their generations represent truly astronomical figures. The degradation of habitat resulting from flailing prevents revival in most species even where a few individuals manage to escape the physical impact of the flails. Although the effect in Cornwall with its solid hedge-banks and their more complex ecology may be worse than with the English hedgerow, the flail-induced wildlife crisis is nation-wide - and still almost universally unrecognised or unacknowledged.
• There is no hope of recovery for our countryside wildlife until the flail type of machine is consigned to the black museum of history. To achieve this it will probably have to be banned by law.
• The finger-bar scythe has to be reinstated and any trimming (except where needed for road-junction or access visibility) must be carried out in winter, the later the better between November 1st and February 28th. Trimming must take away the woody scrub growth on the sides of the hedge, leaving the herbaceous growth on the sides and the bushes on the top untouched. Only then can the flail-ruined hedges and verges begin to see a real return to some kind of healthy and abundant life."

CHECK-LIST OF TYPES OF CORNISH HEDGE FLORA by Sarah Carter of Cornish Hedges Library:-
"This check-list is a simple guide to the herbaceous plants typically indicating different habitat types found in the Cornish hedge. The short lists are of typical plants, not complete species lists for the habitat. Many of the plants in the Typical Hedge list also appear in the other types of hedge. Areas of intermediate population where location or physical conditions begin to change and habitats overlap are not included.
Hedge Type:-

• Typical Cornish Hedge (woodland-edge/ heathland mixture)
• Coastal Hedge
• Moorland/ Heathland Hedges
• Woodland Hedge
• Wet Hedge (marsh or ditch)
• Stone Hedge (Earth capping but with stone core)
• Typical garden escapes in Cornish Hedges
• Typical species rampant in flail-damaged hedges

Titles of papers available on www.cornishhedges.co.uk:-

• Advice for Working on Roadside Hedges
• Building Hedges in Cornwall
• Building Turf Hedges
• Building and Repairing Cornish Stone Stiles
• Butterflies, Moths and Other Insects in Cornish Hedges
• Check-list for Inspecting New or Restored Hedges in Cornwall
• Check-list of Types of Cornish Hedge Flora
• Code of Good Practice for Cornish Hedges
• Comments on the © Defra Hedgerow Survey Handbook (1st Edition)
• Comments on the © Defra Hedgerow Survey Handbook (2nd Edition)
• Cornish Hedges in Gardens
• Cornish Hedges on Development and Housing Sites
• Gates and Gateways in Cornish hedges
• Geology and Hedges in Cornwall
• Glossary of some Cornish Words used in the Countryside
• Hedges in the Cornish Landscape
• How to Look After a Cornish Hedge
• How Old is That Cornish Hedge?
• Literature Sources
• Mediaeval Hedges in Cornwall (450AD - 1550)
• Modern Hedges in Cornwall (1840 - present day)
• Mosses, Lichens, Fungi and Ferns in Cornish Hedges
• Pipe-laying and Other Cross-country Works Involving Hedges
• Post-Mediaeval Hedges in Cornwall (1550 - 1840)
• Prehistoric Hedges in Cornwall (5,000BC - 450AD)
• Repairing Cornish Hedges and Stone Hedges
• Repairing Turf Hedges
• Risk Assessment Guidance for working on Cornish Hedges
• Roadside Hedges and Verges in Cornwall
• The Curse of Rabbits in Cornish Hedges
• The Life and Death of a Flailed Cornish Hedge
• Trees on Hedges in Cornwall
• Unusual Old Features in Cornish Hedges
• Who Owns that Cornish Hedge?
• Wildlife and the Cornish Hedge

THE GUILD OF CORNISH HEDGERS is the non-profit-making organisation founded in 2002 to support the concern among traditional hedgers about poor standards of workmanship in Cornish hedging today. The Guild has raised public awareness of Cornwall's unique heritage of hedges and promoted free access to the Cornish Hedges Library, the only existing source of full and reliable written knowledge on Cornish hedges."