Lichen (Usnea subfloridana) or old man's beard
is a fruticose lichen and an indicator of clean
unpolluted air. It is common on trees and
sometimes on rocks, especially frequent in the
hilly districts of the north of Britain. It has many
branches, it is green-grey in colour, it is 3-8cm
long and has a blackish base. The branches are
rounded in cross-section and the colour is the
same on the upper and lower surfaces. Small
rod shaped growths are also common.

Bugle (Ajuga reptans)
A good ground cover plant. Rich powder blue spikes of flowers arise above leaves. Flowers: April - June Requires: Damp shade Height:15cm.                                    

Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus)
The berries are not very attractive to birds but
are eaten by pheasants in hard winters.
The leaves are food for the caterpillars of Death's-head Hawk-moths.
It is a native of western North America, introduced to Britain in 1817.

Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) leaves are oval in
shape and quite different from the hawthorn's
lobed leaves. Blackthorn flowers are star-like as
opposed to the rounded petals on hawthorn
blossom. Hawthorn flowers generally appear
when the leaves are already on the tree,
whereas blackthorn flowers appear on bare
branches before the leaves.

Flowering Currant (Ribes sanguineum)
&   Bumble Bee.
Originates from dry open woods and rocky
slopes in western North America as far south as California. It was introduced in to Britain in 1817.

Herb Robert  (Geranium Robertianum)
Herb Robert leaves were crushed to make compresses for bruises and wounds. Can be taken internally for diarrhoea, peptic ulcers and bleeding. External use includes inflamed gums and herpes. Plant was highly regarded by the Scots and was made into an infusion to treat cancer, wounds and skin diseases.

Ladies Smock (Cardamine pratensis)      or
Cuckoo Flower.
It is grown as an ornamental plant in gardens,
and has as a result of cultivation become
naturalised in North America.

Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus ficaria) Lesser celandine, also known as fig buttercup, is an herbaceous, perennial plant. Plants have a basal rosette of dark green, shiny, stalked leaves that are kidney- to heart-shaped.

Bluebell (Endymion nonscriptus) Poisonous
The Bluebell is a West-European bulb, which
may bloom (according to local climate and
conditions) from the beginning of April to the
end of May. Not to be confused with the
Scottish 'Harebell', which has 'Bluebell' as a common name too. Found throughout the
British Isles in woods and hedgerows, but rarer
in Northern Scotland and South and Central Ireland. A classic species of old woodland. Also
known as the 'Wild Hyacinth'.

Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)
Occurrence: Garlic mustard is a native winter
annual, biennial or monocarpic perennial
abundant in damp shaded areas, common in
hedgerows and at the edge of woods. Although
found in hedge bottoms it does not spread far
into arable fields and is largely absent from
agricultural land. It is common on heavy soils
but is most abundant on phosphate rich and
calcareous soils, particularly chalks. Seedling
density can be extremely high. It is considered
invasive because it can quickly become
dominant in understorey vegetation, eliminating other species. Plants exhibit considerable plasticity in different habitats.
Garlic mustard is edible and has been used as
a salad green. It has a characteristic odour of
garlic and if eaten by cows it will taint their milk. It is a food plant of the green-veined white butterfly (Pieris napi) and a site for egg laying.

Ivy Hedra (Genus: Hedera. Species: helix)
Common Name: English ivy.
A single English ivy plant can find many uses all round the garden. It can be used to cover a wall
in shade where few other plants thrive, it can be trained to climb up or spread out along a low
wall. Being evergreen, it is perfect for covering pergola poles, or creating a leafy backdrop
under clematis and climbing roses that provides
winter interest. Or use young plants to train around the outsides of winter hanging baskets. English ivy can be trimmed into shape at any time of year. It is a valuable plant for wildlife and is recommended
by the RSPB, particularly for providing berries for birds in winter when most others have been
eaten. Many insects also feed on the nectar of its white flowers. Be careful when handling it if you have sensitive skin as its sap can be irritating.

Creeping Lady's-tresses (Goodyera repens)
This species has a well-developed system of creeping rhizomes, from which arise rosettes of long-stalked, pointed-oval leaves with a well-marked network of pale veins. Forest clearance can result in the destruction of populations.
The plant flourishes best in years of good
rainfall, and may fail to flower in very dry summers. A plant of coniferous woodland, growing particularly well in the deep leaf-litter and moss under Scots Pine.  It grows as far south as Westmorland and has an outlying population centre in north Norfolk, where it
grows in several sites under planted pine trees.
It is uncertain whether it was introduced there with Pine seedlings or has arisen naturally from airborne seed. It is absent from Ireland,
Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.  

Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna)
Fragrant white flowers in May, followed by spherical, glossy, dark red fruit, and deeply lobed, glossy, dark green leaves. Hawthorn makes a great specimen tree or boundary hedge for a range of settings. A valuable food source and refuge for native birds and insects, the spiny thorns serve as a deterrent against potential intruders.
                                      

Daisy (Bellis perennis)
The word 'Daisy' comes from "Day's Eye". The Daisy Family is one of the most successful of all the flowering plant families.

Comfrey (Symphytum officinale)
Robust perennial herb, growing on stream banks, road verges and waste ground. Formerly cultivated in cottage gardens for its medical properties. Tired feet can be refreshed with comfrey, which is also used to treat rheumatism and 'hens which are doing poorly'. Practitioners of herbal medicine use it to treat a range of illnesses, including gastric and duodenal ulcers, sprains and athlete's foot.
Another plant that is worth looking up for its properties.

Fern (filix-femina)
The lady fern is one of the prettiest of the deciduous hardy ferns, with delicate, lacy, ladder-like foliage which is a good fresh green colour it looks its best in late spring and early summer when the foliage is still young. It associates well in cool shady corners with other hardy ferns, woodlanders, and shade and moisture loving perennials.

Oxeye Daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum)
The plant generally grows from 1 to 2 feet high. The root is perennial and somewhat creeping; the stems, hard and wiry, furrowed and only very slightly branched. The leaves are small and coarsely toothed; those near the root are somewhat rounder in form than those on the stem, and are on long stalks, those on the stem are oblong and stalkless. 
By the middle of May, the familiar yellow centred white flower-heads commence to bloom, and are at their best till about the close of June, though isolated specimens may be met with throughout the summer, especially where undisturbed by the cutting of the hay, as on railway banks, where the plant flourishes well. Beneath each flower-head is a ring of green sheathing bracts, the involucre. These not only protect and support the bloom, but doubtless prevents insects trying to bite their way to the honey from below. They, as well as the rest of the plant, are permeated with an acrid juice that is obnoxious to insects. It is to be found throughout Europe and Russian Asia. The ancients dedicated it to Artemis, the goddess of women, considering it useful in women's complaints. In Christian days, it was transferred to St. Mary Magdalen and called Maudelyn or Maudlin Daisy after her. Gerard terms it Maudlinwort.

Mullin (Verbascum thapsus)
Other Names: Adam's Flannel, Beggar's Blanket, Candlewick Plant, Common Mullein, Flannel Mullein, Flannel Plant, Hag's Taper, Jupiter's Staff, Molene, Mullein, Velvet Dock, Velvet Plant, Woolly Mullin.
Properties: Great Mullein has been used as an alternative medicine for centuries, and in many countries throughout the world, the value of Great Mullein as a proven medicinal herb is now backed by scientific evidence. Some valuable constituents contained in Mullein are Coumarin and Hesperidin, they exhibit many healing abilities. Research indicates some of the uses as analgesic, antihistaminic, antiinflammatory, anticancer, antioxidant, antiviral, bacteristat, cardiodepressant, estrogenic, fungicide, hypnotic, sedative and pesticide are valid.
Find out more on this plant - amazing..

Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens)
Other names: Creeping Meadow Buttercup, Devil’s Guts, Granny Threads, Ram’s Claws, Sitfast, Tether-toad. Perennial spreading by seed and long branching stolons which root at nodes along their length, forming new plants; one plant can spread over a 4m2 area in a year. Grazing animals can suffer from pain and inflammation leading to diarrhoea caused by a toxin in the fresh plant, but it becomes denatured in dry material so is not a problem in fodder. It is thougt to deplete Potassium in the soil, so having a detrimental effect on surrounding plants.

Mint (Mentha crispa)
Mints are mentioned in early medieval plants lists, they were grown in early English gardens, and were brought to Britain in Roman Times. Apicius, in his famous cook book written in the first century, lists mints in many dishes. Charlemagne (742-814) decreed in 812 that many acres of mint, together with other herbs, be grown in his famous gardens of seventy-eight herbs.The genus name Mentha comes from "Minthe", a charming nymph in classic Greek mythology who was much adored by Pluto. This so angered Pluto's wife Prosperine, that she took her revenge by metamorphosing Minthes into the humble, downtrodden mint plant we now call Mentha. Pluto, unable to undo the spell, was able to soften it by giving Minthe a sweet scent which would perfume the air when her leaves were stepped on - the aromatic herb mint. The seventeenth century herbalist, Nicholas Culpeper wrote that the herb stirs up venery, or bodily lust. However, the Roman Pliny, whilst advising scholars to wear a crown of mint to aid concentration, warned lovers that it was contrary to procreation. The Greeks believed the opposite - their soldiers were warned to avoid it for fear that increased love-making would diminish their courage in battle.

Welsh Poppy (Meconopsis cambrica)
(Bluebell on left)
This genus contains some of the most exquisitely beautiful of all flowering plants. Not the easiest of plants to grow, they do best in moderately rich, woodland soil; moist yet with perfect drainage. More often than not a garden escape, the Welsh Poppy is a true native of rocky gullies and stream. Its closest relatives grow in the Himalayas.

Lesser Periwinkle (Vinca minor)
Myrtle, Creeping Myrtle, Periwinkle, or Vinca
(Apocynaceae - Dogbane Family)
Evergreen groundcover has sparse but attractive Spring blossoms (rare for an evergreen groundcover).
Can become invasive beyond its intended boundaries (even into lawn areas) by its trailing and shallowly-rooting stems.

 

Clover  (Trifolium repens)
White clover grows in turfgrass, crops, and landscapes. It is also found in a wide range of different field type environments. White clover can tolerate close mowing. It can grow on many different types and pHs of soil, but prefers clay
Besides making an excellent forage crop for livestock, clovers are a valuable survival food: they are high in protein, widespread, and abundant. They are not easy to digest raw, but this can be easily fixed by boiling for 5-10 minutes. Dried flowerheads and seedpods can also be ground up into a nutritious flour and mixed with other foods. Dried flowerheads also can be steeped in hot water for a healthy, tasty tea-like infusion.

Dog Rose (Rosa canina)
The dog rose has one very attractive burst of lightly scented, usually flesh pink flowers (though they can be pinker or whitish) in summer. They are followed by a terrific show of bright red hips, any left hanging on eventually get taken by the birds. The stems are incredibly prickly, which is one very good reason why it's invariably grown in an informal mixed hedge, helping to keep out neighbour's pets and intruders. This species rose used to be grown by commercial breeders to provide the rootstock of ornamental roses.
A source of vitamin C, the dog rose is used in rose hip syrup. This syrup was given to children during World War II to provide a substitute to citrus fruit which was unobtainable.

Japanese Knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum)
False Bamboo, Mexican Bamboo
Japanese knotweed is an upright, shrublike, herbaceous perennial that can grow to over 10 feet in height. As with all members of this family, the base of the stem above each joint is surrounded by a membranous sheath. Japanese knotweed spreads quickly to form dense thickets that exclude native vegetation and greatly alter natural ecosystems. It poses a significant threat to riparian areas, where it can survive severe floods and is able to rapidly colonize scoured shores and islands. Once established, populations are extremely persistent.

Field Rose (Rosa arvensis)
Field-rose is a deciduous shrub, up to 2 m in height which spreads by suckering and putting out slender arching stems into woodland and woodland margins. It also grows along hedges on neutral, lime-rich and heavy clay soils.
The long scrambling stems are often purple-tinged and carry slender, only slightly curved, prickles on a base about 5 mm long.
The white, 5-petalled flowers are 3-5 cm across, and appear in clusters of 1-6 and open in June and July. The styles in the centre of the flower are joined together into a slender column, which persists on the small, red hip.
Facts
The hips are a favourite food of birds in winter. The leaflets may be attacked by gall midges, which fold them upwards, so that the paler underside is visible.Caterpillars of the Small Quaker Moth feed on the leaflets.

Tufted Vetch (Vicia cracca)
Tufted Vetch is similar to a pea in growth habit, sending out noose-like tendrils from the tips of its leaves when it contacts another plant and securely fastens itself. An individual plant may reach a length (or height) of 2 m and its tap root may extend up to 1 m. The leaves are 3-8 cm long, pinnate, with 8-12 pairs of leaflets, each leaflet 5-10 mm long. The plant is fast-growing and flowers prolifically, sending out one-sided racemes of cascading pea-flower shaped purple to violet flowers from the leaf axil during its late spring to late summer flowering period. Tufted Vetch is very similar to Hairy Vetch, but is distinguished from the latter by its smooth stem.

Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum)
Honeysuckles (genus Lonicera; syn. Caprifolium Mill.) are arching shrubs or twining vines in the family Caprifoliaceae, native to the Northern Hemisphere. There are about 180 species of honeysuckle, with by far the greatest diversity in China, where over 100 species occur; by comparison, Europe and North America have only about 20 native species each. Widely known species include Lonicera periclymenum (European Honeysuckle or Woodbine), Lonicera japonica (Japanese Honeysuckle, White Honeysuckle, or Chinese Honeysuckle) and Lonicera sempervirens (Coral Honeysuckle, Trumpet Honeysuckle, or Woodbine Honeysuckle). Hummingbirds are attracted to these plants.

Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)
Extensively grown for pasturage, hay and green manure, considered excellent forage for livestock and poultry. Compared with alfalfa, red clover has about two-thirds as much digestible protein, slightly more total digestible nutrients, and slightly higher net energy value. The best approximation to vegetable boullion I ever made consisted of red clover and chicory flowers, boiled vigorously with wild onion and chives. Red-clover flowers are reported to possess antispasmodic, estrogenic, and expectorant properties. The solid extract is used in many food products, usually at less than 20 ppm, but in jams and jellies.

Goose Grass (Galium aparine)
Galium aparine is a herbaceous annual plant of the family Rubiaceae. It is native to North America and Eurasia. It has several common names, including Cleavers, Clivers, Goosegrass, Stickywilly, Stickyweed, Catchweed, and Coachweed.
The long stems of this climbing plant sprawl over the ground and other plants, reaching heights of 1-1.5 m, occasionally 2 m. The leaves are simple and borne in whorls of six to eight. Both leaves and stem have fine hairs tipped with tiny hooks, making them cling to clothes and fur much like velcro. When dried and roasted, the fruits of this plant can be used to make a coffee-like drink. The plant can also be made into a tea. The whole plant is considered rich in vitamin C. Its roots produce a red dye, and the tea has been used as an anti-perspirant (by the Chinese), and as a relief for head colds (home remedy), restlessness, and sunburns. As a pulp, it has been used to relieve poisonous bites.