As its name suggests, giant hogweed it a large umbellifer with distinctively ridged, hollow stems. An introduced species, it is an invasive weed of riverbanks, where it prevents native species…

Common sea-lavender can be found around our coasts on mudflats, creek banks and saltmarshes. Despite its name, its not a lavender at all, so doesn’t smell like one.

This beautiful pink fungus appears in late summer and autumn.

The angle shades can be well-hidden among the leaf litter - its pinky-brown markings and scalloped wings giving it the perfect camouflage. It is on the wing in gardens, woods and hedgerows from…

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…

The tawny grisette has an orange-brown cap and a tall, slender stem that arises from a conspicuous cup-like sack. It can be found in woodlands, particularly those with Birch, but also on heaths.…

Forming mats of straight, bright green stems, Common spike-rush does, indeed, look like lots of tightly clustered 'spikes' near the water's edge of our wetland habitats.

The Silver Y migrates to the UK in massive numbers each year - sometimes, an estimated 220 million can reach our shores in spring! Seen throughout the year, it is very common in gardens and…

With a torpedo-shaped body and long, narrow wings, the privet hawk-moth is a striking garden visitor. But the caterpillars really stand out: lime-green, with purple streaks and a black hook at the…

Despite appearances, this weird and wonderful creature is not a jellyfish! They're sometimes found washed up on our shores after westerly winds. Look but don't touch - they give a very…

The UK's smallest hawker, the Hairy dragonfly is mostly black in colour, but has a distinctively hairy thorax. It can be found in grazing marshes and flooded gravel pits, and along canals…