A winter visitor, the well-travelled Bewick's swan is the smallest of our swans. It has more black on its yellow-and-black bill than the whooper swan. Look out for it around Eastern England…

Look for the round, cottony, purple flower heads of the Woolly thistle on chalk and limestone grasslands in summer. It is mainly found in Southern England.

Growing in tufts, Crested dog's-tail is a stiff-looking grass, with a tightly packed, rectangular flower spike. Look for it in lowland meadows and grasslands.

Cock's-foot is a common, tussocky grass of grasslands, woodland rides and cultivated ground - its fluffy, pinky-beige flower heads are quite distinctive.

The ragged-edged, purple flower heads of Greater knapweed bloom on sunny chalk grasslands and clifftops, and along woodland rides. They attract clouds of butterflies.

A tall plant, purple-loosestrife can form dense stands of bright purple flower spikes in wet habitats like reedbeds, fens and marshes.

Pineappleweed is an introduced species that has become a widespread 'weed' of disturbed ground, such as pavements and roadsides and gardens. It has feathery leaves and yellow flower…