What to see

Flora

Our naturalist, Jenny Atkinson, identifies some of the plants and insects you can see on the trail at various times of the year. For more information, click on the label of each plant or insect.

Meadowsweet [Filipendula ulmaria]
Creeping Cinquefoil [Potentilla reptans]
Square Stalked St John’s Wort [Hypericum tetrapterum]
Great Willowherb [Epilobium hirsutum]
Common Horsetail [Equisetum arvense]
Agrimony
[Agrimonia]
Hemp Agrimony [Eupatorium Snmcannabinum]
Small Balsam
Impatiens parviflora
Woolly Thistle [Cirsium eriophorum]
Bracket Fungus
Polypore
Old Man’s Beard
Clematis vitalba
Male Fern
Dryopteris filix-mas
Arum Lily
Arum maculatum
Guelder rose
Viburnum opulus
Purple loosestrife
Lythrum salicaria
English Oak
Quercus robur

Selfheal [Prunella Vulgaris]
Marsh Thistle [Cirsium palustre]
Marsh lousewort [Pedicularis palustris]
Water Forget-me-not [Myosotis scorpioides]
Common Spotted Orchid [Dactylorhiza fuchsii]
Hedge Woundwort [Stachys sylvatica]
Meadow Vetchling [Lathyrus pratensis]
Water Figwort
Scrophularia auriculata
Water Plantain
Alisima plantago-aquatica
Hart’s Tongue Fern Asplenium scolopendrium
Pendulous Sedge
Carex Pendula
Hawthorn
Crataegus
Fleabane
Pulicaria dysenterica
Small balsam
Impatiens parviflora
Hamp Agrimony
Eupatorium cannabinum
Water Mint
Mentha aquatica
Oxford ragwort
Senecio squalidus
Wild Angelica [Angelica vulgaris]
Bittersweet or Hooded Nightshade [Sulanum dulcamara]

POISONOUS BERRIES

Greater Birdsfoot Trefoil [Lotus pedunculatus]
Common Comfrey [Symphytum officinale]
Great Horsetail [Equisetum telmateia]
Hogweed [Heracleum sphondylium]
Pyramidal Orchid Anacamptis pyramidalis
Lesser Burdock
Actium minus
Spear Thistle
Cirsium vulgare
Enchanter’s Nightshade
Circaea
Ash Tree
Fraxinus excelsior
Red Bartsia
Odontites vernus
Blackthorn
Prunus spinosa
Black bryony
Tamus communis

Insects

Buff-tailed Bumble Bee [Bombus terrestris]
Gatekeeper Butterfly [Pyronia tithonus]
Peacock Butterfly [Aglais io]
Small Skipper Butterfly [Thymelicus sylvestris]
Large Heath Butterfly [Coenonympha tullia]
Ringlet Butterfly [Aphantopus hyperantus
Common Red Soldier Beetle[ Rhagonycha fulva]
Large Skipper Butterfly [Ochlodes sylvanu]
Common Blue Damsel [Enallagma cyathigerum]