Common Name

Botanical Name

Story of their Common Names Index

BLUE WILD FLOWER GALLERY
PAGE MENU
Site Map of pages with content (o)

Introduction

FLOWER COLOUR Comparison Pages/Galleries under Wild Flower in the left hand Main Topic Menu Table

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

Lists of:-
Edible Plant Parts.
Flower Legend.
Food for
Butterfly/Moth.

Flowering plants of Chalk and Limestone
Page 1
Page 2

Flowering plants of Acid Soil
Page 1

Habitat Lists:-
Approaching the
Coast (Coastal).
Broad-leaved
Woods.
Grassland - Acid, Neutral, Chalk.
Heaths and Moors.
Hedgerows and Verges.
Lakes, Canals and Rivers.
Marshes, Fens,
Bogs.
Old Buildings and Walls.
Pinewoods.
River Banks and
other Freshwater Margins.
Saltmarshes.
Sandy Shores and Dunes.
Shingle Beaches, Rocks and
Cliff Tops.
Other.

Number of Petals List:-
Without Petals. Other plants
without flowers.
1 Petal or
Composite of
many 1 Petal Flowers as Disc
or Ray Floret .
2 Petals.
3 Petals.
4 Petals.
5 Petals.
6 Petals.
Over 6 Petals.

Lists of:-
Pollinator.
Poisonous Parts.
Scented Flower, Foliage, Root.
Story of their Common Names.
Use for Flowering Plants

Non-Flowering Plants
Use for Non-Flowering Plants

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

WILDFLOWER INDEX
Botanical Name
Common Name

WILD FLOWER GALLERY
PAGE MENU
Site Map of pages with content (o)

Introduction
Poisonous Plants

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

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

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:-
 

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

See current Wildflower Common Name Index link Table for more wildflower of the UK common names together with their names in languages from America, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

See current Wildflower Botanical Name Index link table for wildflower of the United Kingdom (Great Britain) botanical names.

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, and Family
Flowering Months to view photos
Habitat to view further Natural Habitat details and Botanical Society of the British Isles Distribution Map
 

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

Main Topic Menu Table

Topic
Case Studies
Companion Planting
Garden Construction
Garden Design
Garden Maintenance
Glossary
Home
Library
Offbeat Glossary
Plants
Soil
Tool Shed
Useful Data

Topic - Plant Photo Galleries
Aquatic
Bamboo
Bedding
Bulb
Climber

Colour Wheel

Conifer
Deciduous Shrub
Deciduous Tree
Evergreen Perennial
Evergreen Shrub
Evergreen Tree
Fern
Grass
Hedging
Herbaceous Perennial
Herb
Odds and Sods
Rhododendron
Rose
Soft Fruit
Top Fruit
Vegetable

Wild Flower
with its
flower colour page,
space,
Site Map page in its flower colour
NOTE Gallery
...Blue Note
...Brown Note
...Cream Note
...Green Note
...Mauve Note
...Multi-Cols Note
...Orange Note
...Pink A-G Note
...Pink H-Z Note
...Purple Note
...Red Note
...White A-D Note
...White E-P Note
...White Q-Z Note
...Yellow A-G Note
...Yellow H-Z Note
...Shrub/Tree Note
There are 180 families in the Wildflowers of the UK and they have been split up into 22 Galleries to allow space for up to 100 plants per gallery.

Each plant named in each of the Wildflower Family Pages may have a link to:-

its Plant Description Page in its Common Name in one of those Wildflower Plant Galleries and will have links

to external sites to purchase the plant or seed in its Botanical Name,

to see photos in its Flowering Months and

to read habitat details in its Habitat Column.

Topic - Wildlife on Plant Photo Gallery
Butterfly

.

Wild Flower Family Page

(the families within "The Pocket Guide to Wild Flowers" by David McClintock & R.S.R. Fitter, Published in 1956 are not in Common Name alphabetical order and neither are the common names of the plants detailed within each family. These families within that book will have their details described as shown in the next column starting from page 1 in February 2017 until all the families have been completed on page 307.

This may take a few months of my time before I get to the Adder's Tongue Family on page 307.

The information in the above book is back-referenced to the respective page in "Flora of the British Isles" by A.R. Clapham of University of Sheffield,
T.G. Tutin of University College, Leicester and
E.F. Warburg of University of Oxford printed by Cambridge at the University Press in 1952 for each plant in all the families)

followed by

No. of Plants of that Family

that have a row with their details in their flower colour in this central data table;

and then

the relevant entries in the Habitat Index Pages and other charact-eristics in other Index Pages in the Page Menu / Index Table on the right
(with over-flow in another table below the flower colour in the central data table and then onto
contin-uation pages)

within this gallery

Adder's Tongue

Amaranth

Arrow-Grass

Arum

Balsam

Bamboo

Barberry 2

Bedstraw

Beech

Bellflower

Bindweed

Birch

Birds-Nest

Birthwort

Bogbean

Bog Myrtle

Borage

Box

Broomrape

Buckthorn

Buddleia

Bur-reed

Buttercup 45

Butterwort

Cornel (Dogwood)

Crowberry

Crucifer (Cabbage/Mustard) 1

Crucifer (Cabbage/Mustard) 2

Cypress

Daffodil

Daisy

Daisy Cudweeds

Daisy Chamomiles

Daisy Thistle

Daisy Catsears

Daisy Hawkweeds

Daisy Hawksbeards

Daphne

Diapensia

Dock Bistorts

Dock Sorrels

Clubmoss

Duckweed

Eel-Grass

Elm

Filmy Fern

Horsetail

Polypody

Quillwort

Royal Fern

Figwort - Mulleins

Figwort - Speedwells

Flax

Flowering-Rush

Frog-bit

Fumitory 3

Gentian

Geranium

Glassworts

Gooseberry

Goosefoot

Grass 1

Grass 2

Grass 3

Grass Soft Bromes 1

Grass Soft Bromes 2

Grass Soft Bromes 3

Hazel

Heath

Hemp

Herb-Paris

Holly

Honeysuckle

Horned-Pondweed

Hornwort 2

Iris

Ivy

Jacobs Ladder

Lily

Lily Garlic

Lime

Lobelia

Loosestrife

Mallow

Maple

Mares-tail

Marsh Pennywort

Melon (Gourd/Cucumber)

Mesem-bryanthemum

Mignonette

Milkwort

Mistletoe

Moschatel

Naiad

Nettle

Nightshade

Oleaster

Olive

Orchid 1

Orchid 2

Orchid 3

Orchid 4

Parnassus-Grass

Peaflower

Peaflower Clover 1

Peaflower Clover 2

Peaflower Clover 3

Peaflower Vetches/Peas

Peony 1

Periwinkle

Pillwort

Pine

Pink 1

Pink 2

Pipewort

Pitcher-Plant

Plantain

Pondweed

Poppy 9

Primrose

Purslane

Rannock Rush

Reedmace

Rockrose

Rose 1

Rose 2

Rose 3

Rose 4

Rush

Rush Woodrushes

Saint Johns Wort

Saltmarsh Grasses

Sandalwood

Saxifrage

Seaheath

Sea Lavender

Sedge Rush-like

Sedges Carex 1

Sedges Carex 2

Sedges Carex 3

Sedges Carex 4

Spindle-Tree

Spurge

Stonecrop

Sundew

Tamarisk

Tassel Pondweed

Teasel

Thyme 1

Thyme 2

Umbellifer 1

Umbellifer 2

Valerian

Verbena

Violet

Water Fern

Waterlily 3

Water Milfoil

Water Plantain

Water Starwort

Waterwort

Willow

Willow-Herb

Wintergreen

Wood-Sorrel

Yam

Yew

Total 65