Sometimes called 'Wild spinach', Sea beet can be cooked and eaten. It grows wild on shingle beaches, cliffs and bare ground near to the sea, as well as in saltmarshes.

Native oysters are a staple of our seas and our plates - but our love of their taste has lead to a sharp decline all around the UK.

Bladder campion is so-called for the bladder-like bulge that sites just behind the five-petalled flower - this is actually the fused sepals. Look for it on grasslands, farmland and along hedgerows…

The Sessile oak is so-called because its acorns are not held on stalks like those of the familiar English oak. It can be found in woodlands mainly in the north and west of the UK.

Small-spotted catsharks used to be called lesser-spotted dogfish - which might be what you know them best as. It's the same shark, just a different name!

The Common fragrant-orchid lives up to its name: it produces a sweet, orangey smell that is very strong in the evening. Look for its densely packed, pink flower spikes on chalk grasslands in…

The variable damselfly looks a lot like the azure damselfly, but is much less common throughout most of the UK.

The shoulders of the Forest bug are distinctive - they are square-cut, almost rounded, unlike the other 'spiked' shield bugs. This bug can be found in woodlands, feeding on the sap of…

Our largest bat, the noctule roosts in trees and can be seen flying over the canopy in search of insect-prey, such as cockchafers. Like other bats, it hibernates over winter.

A recent colonist to South East England, the metallic-green Willow emerald damselfly spends much of its time in the willow and alder trees that overhang ponds, lakes and canals.

Red squirrels are native to the UK but are a lot rarer than their grey cousins. They live in a few special places across the UK thanks to reintroduction projects.