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…

The defensive mechanism of the pill woodlouse is very recognisable - it curls itself into a tight ball, only showing its plated armour to its attacker. It is an important recycler of nutrients,…

This small reddish-purple seaweed grows in small branching fans on rocky shores. It is widely used in the food industry - and might have been used to produce your ice cream, beer or even jelly!…

Common couch is a tall, tuft-forming grass of roadside verges, waste ground and arable land. It is very tough and can shade out more delicate plants. Look for flat, blade-like leaves and thin…

If you’ve ever been rockpooling, you’ve probably seen a limpet or two! Their cone-shaped shells clamp onto rocks until the tide comes in, at which point they become active. Limpets move around…

The tightly packed, thistle-like purple flower heads of common knapweed bloom on all kinds of grasslands. Also regularly called black knapweed, this plant attracts clouds of butterflies.