The crab apple is familiar as a small tree that produces yellow-green, rounded fruit that is used for making jellies and wines. It can be found in woods and hedges, as well as in cultivated…

Despite popular belief, and its name (from the Old English for 'ear beetle'), the common earwig will not crawl into your ear while you sleep - it much prefers a nice log or stone pile!…

Common cow-wheat is a delicate annual that brightens up the edges of acid woodland and heaths with deep golden flowers in the summer.

Look out for this tiny crab under rocks and boulders on rocky shores - you'll have to look closely though, they're pretty well camouflaged!

Golden banks of common rock-rose make a spectacular sight on our chalk and limestone grasslands in summer. A creeping shrub, it is good for bees, moths and butterflies.

The dark green, straight and spiky stems of common club-rush or 'bulrush' are a familiar wetland sight. They are ideal for weaving and were traditionally used to make baskets, seats and…

A member of the buttercup family, Common water-crowfoot displays white, buttercup-like flowers with yellow centres. It can form mats in ponds, ditches and streams during spring and summer.

The common green lacewing is a lime green, delicate insect, with translucent, intricately veined wings. It is common in gardens and parks, where it helps to control aphid pests.

Found in ponds and marshes, the fragile look of the common water-measurer belies its fierce nature. A predator of small insects, it uses the vibrations of the water's surface to locate its…