Often seen carpeting the floor of ancient woodlands, Dog's mercury can quickly colonise, its fresh green leaves shading out rarer plants. It is also very poisonous.

As its name suggests, Sea spurge is found at the coast. It is an attractive plant that displays cup-shaped, greeny-yellow flowers and fleshy, grey-green leaves.

A scrambling plant, Common vetch has pink flowers. It is a member of the pea family and can be seen on grassland, farmland and waste ground, as well as at the coast.

A scrambling plant, Meadow vetchling has yellow flowers. It is a member of the pea family and can be seen on rough grassland, waste ground and roadside verges.

A scrambling plant, Tufted vetch has violet flowers. It is a member of the pea family and can be seen along woodland edges, on scrubland and grassland, and at the coast.

A climbing plant of hedgerows and woodlands, white bryony produces greenish flowers from late spring and shiny, red berries from late summer.

Sea potatoes may have a funny name, but they are perfectly adapted for life in the sand. They are a type of sea urchin that live in a burrow in the sand, feeding on dead animals and plants using…

A delicate, small plant of woodlands and hedgerows, wood-sorrel has distinctive, trefoil leaves and white flowers with purple veins; both fold up at night.

Selfheal is a low-growing, creeping plant that likes the short turf of grasslands, roadside verges or even lawns. Its clusters of violet flowers appear in summer.

Water-plantain is an aquatic plant of shallow water and muddy banks. In bloom over summer, it displays tall branches of loosely clustered, pale lilac flowers.

The brown, oval, spiky seed heads of the teasel are a familiar sight in all kinds of habitats, from grassland to waste ground. They are visited by goldfinches and other birds, so make good garden…