The London plane tree is, as its name suggests, a familiar sight along the roadsides and in the parks of London. An introduced and widely planted species, it is tough enough to put up with city…

An introduced plant, vervain is widely naturalised in the UK. It is a great source of nectar for all kinds of insects and can be seen on rough grassland, waste ground, coastal cliffs and roadside…

A familiar black bird of our lakes, ponds and rivers, the moorhen is widespread; look out for its large and untidy-looking nest on the water in spring. It can be distinguished from the similar…

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…

A fluffy-looking grass of rough grassland, roadside verges and disturbed ground, False oat-grass is very familiar and often overlooked; in fact, it can help to stabilise dunes and shelter small…

Tansy is an aromatic plant of rough grassland, riverbanks and verges that has button-like, yellow flower heads. It is the main foodplant of the rare Tansy Beetle, now found at only two places in…

Hogweed can be found along hedgerows and roadside verges, and on waste ground and rough grassland. It displays umbrella-like clusters of creamy-white flowers. It's native, unlike its relative…

Have you ever seen those dark red jelly blobs whilst rockpooling? These incredible creatures are beadlet anemones! They live attached to rocks all around the coast of the UK, the base of their…

A common ladybird, the black-on-red markings of the 2-spot Ladybird are familiar to many of us.

This large brittlestar can be found in rockpools around much of the UK, but be gentle - its arms are very brittle and will break off if disturbed.