Look for the pretty, star-shaped, white flowers of Lesser stitchwort in woodlands and meadows, and along hedgerows and roadside verges in spring. Its flowers are smaller than those of Greater…

Meadow crane's-bill has striking violet flowers that pepper hay meadows, verges and grasslands with colour in summer. It is also a popular choice for gardeners and attracts a wide variety of…

A common thistle of roadside verges, rough grassland and waste ground, the Musk thistle has large, purple, nodding flower heads that appear in summer. It is attractive to a wide range of insects…

Just as the bluebells finish flowering in our woodlands, the rose-red blooms of red campion start to brighten up the woodland floor. Look for this pretty plant in hedges and roadsides, too.

As its name suggests, Red bartsia does have a red tinge to its stem, leaves and small flowers. Look for it on roadside verges, railway cuttings and waste ground in summer.

Soft brome is a tall, annual grass of roadside verges, waste ground and meadows, and is a 'weed' of arable land. It has long, grey-green leaves and loosely clustered flower spikes.

A beautiful, tiny fungus, green elf cup can be commonly found on the decomposing wood of deciduous trees in woods, parks and gardens.

The brown rat has a bad reputation, but it mostly lives side-by-side with us without any problems. It can be seen in any habitat.

The long-winged conehead is so-named for the angled shape of its head. It can be found in grasslands, heaths and woodland rides throughout summer.

The nuthatch is a tit-sized, grey and rust-coloured bird that can be easily spotted climbing headfirst down tree trunks in woodlands and parks.

The bulbous buttercup has the familiar butter-yellow flowers of its namesake, but grows from a bulb-like 'corm' (a swollen underground stem). Look for it on chalk and limestone…