Common whitebeam is not a common tree, despite its name. It can be found growing wild in a variety of habitats, but is also planted in towns and gardens. Look for shiny, oval leaves with white…

A scrambling 'weed' of waste ground, fields and gardens, Common fumitory can be found on dry and disturbed soils. Its pink flowers appear over spring and summer.

Look for common toadflax on waste ground and grassland, and along roadside verges and hedgerows. Its yellow-and-orange flowers are tightly packed on a tall spike and have distinctive 'spurs…

The fluffy, white heads of common cotton-grass dot our brown, boggy moors and heaths as if a giant bag of cotton wool balls has been thrown across the landscape!

Look for the delicate, pink flowers of Common bistort in wet meadows, pastures and roadside verges. It is also known as 'Pudding Dock' in North England because it was used to make a…

The yellow flower heads of common ragwort are highly attractive to bees and other insects, including the cinnabar moth.

In spring and summer, look out for 'cuckoo-spit' - the frothy mass of bubbles that appears on plant stems everywhere. This is actually the protective covering for the nymphs of the tiny…

The flower crab spider is one of 27 species of crab spider. The flower crab spider can alter the colour of its body to match its surroundings and to hide from prey. It is not as common as other…

The carnivorous lifestyle of common butterwort makes this heathland plant a fascinating species. Its leaves excrete a sticky fluid that tempts unsuspecting insects to land and become its prey.

The vast, green mats that sometimes cover the surface of still water, such as ponds, flooded gravel pits and old canals, are actually Common duckweed. A tiny, single plant, it groups together to…

Despite its name, the "common" skate is not so common anymore. In fact, they are Critically Endangered.