Discover Winter Wildflowers

Daisy Bellis perennis 

Daisy, paired with the Dandelion, is the most familiar member of the daisy family. The Daisy is an ‘all year rounder’ and is abundant in almost any short grass including garden lawns.  

Flowers are solitary on leafless stems, with a rosette of leaves at the base of the plant. Each ‘flower’ is in fact made up of many: the yellow centre is made up of disc florets and the white ‘petals’ are ray florets. The flower heads are small (upto three cm wide) and the ray florets can be tinged with pink. 

Herb Robert Geranium robertianum 

A low-growing plant, Herb Robert bears small pink, and sometimes white, flowers with fern-like leaves.  It tends to grow in shadier areas but can be found almost anywhere including along the cracks of pavements and walls.   

Giving rise to its alternative name ‘Red Robin’, the leaves and stems redden with age. The stems and leaf stalks are covered in hairs. When crushed, the leaves also give an unpleasant odour hence another name of ‘Stinking Bob’. 

Herb Robert belongs to the Geranium or ‘Crane’s-bill’ family, the latter referring to the seedpods that resemble a crane’s bill. 

Cow Parsley Anthriscus sylvestris 

Cow Parsley is a member of the carrot family. Despite being a ‘springtime specialist’, Cow Parsley is frequently recorded during the New Year Plant Hunt. This wildflower can be found along roadsides, woodland rides and even waste ground.  

Characteristic of the carrot family, Cow Parsley has small flowers that are arranged in ‘umbels’. Its umbels are small at two – six cm wide. The leaves are finely cut and fern-like.

Yarrow Achillea millefolium 

Yarrow is a member of the daisy family. It can be observed in a variety of grassy habitats and waste ground. It’s another ‘autumn straggler’ that can be observed in flower during the winter months. 

The leaves of Yarrow are a key distinctive feature, being feathery and finely cut. Its Latin name ‘millefolium’ refers to its highly divided leaves.  

Its white, and sometimes pink, flower heads are arranged in dense, flat-topped clusters. On closer inspection, each flower head has five ray florets and its centre florets are an off-white. 

Groundsel Senecio vulgaris 

Groundsel can be found growing almost everywhere, including disturbed ground, pavement cracks and walls. Its common name comes from the Old English ‘grundeswilige’ meaning ‘ground swallower’. An all year rounder, this wildflower species is likely to be observed during the New Year Plant Hunt. 

While a member of the daisy family, the flower heads usually lack the petal-like ray florets of other daisies, giving the flowers a more inconspicuous appearance. Grouped in clusters that are often drooping, its small flower heads are just four mm across. 

The leaves of Groundsel are toothed and strap shaped. 

White Dead-nettle Lamium album 

A member of the dead-nettle family, White Dead-nettle is a common plant of disturbed ground and grassy areas.  

The white flowers are arranged in dense whorls and are larger than its dead-nettle relatives. Characteristic of dead-nettles, its five petals are fused together to form a corolla. The upper lip of the corolla is long and hooded, and hairy on the outside. 

Each flower whorl has two leaves on opposite sides of the square stem. The toothed leaves resemble those of Stinging Nettle but its leaves do not sting when touched. 

Red Dead-nettle Lamium purpurea 

Red Dead-nettle is another member of the dead-nettle family. An annual, it is an abundant plant of disturbed ground. Arranged in whorls, its small red-pink flowers are fused to form a corolla with an upper and lower lip.  

Its leaves are bluntly toothed and soft to touch, each with leaf stalks attached to the stem. The leaves near the top of the plant are also often tinged purple. 

Common Chickweed Stellaria media 

An ‘all year rounder’, Common Chickweed is abundant in disturbed soil including roadsides, pavements and waste ground.  

Common Chickweed has small white flowers and the petals are typically no longer than three mm each. It is easily mistaken to have ten petals as all five petals are deeply cut.

The leaves are oval with pointed tips. It is often a straggling rather than upright plant with stems that lie along the ground.  

Petty Spurge Euphorbia peplus 

Spurges have unusual and distinctive flowers. 

The green-yellow flowers are held in cup-like structures and lack petals. Within each cup are small male flowers and female flowers, the latter consisting of a stalked ovary topped with stigmas.

The leaves are oval and untoothed, and attached to the stem by a short stalk. 

Shepherd’s Purse Capsella bursa-pastoris 

Shepherd’s Purse is easily identified by its heart- or triangular-shaped seedpods. The seedpods are arranged alternately up the stem below the head of flowers. 

The small white flowers are arranged at the top of the plant. The flowers are tiny with each petal measuring just three mm long. Its leaves are arranged in a rosette at the base of the plant and are variable in shape.