Gibbons - Pocket Guide To Wild Flowers

This electronic edition published in 2015 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

First published in 2015 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

50 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DP

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Copyright 2015 in text Bob Gibbons

Copyright 2015 in photographs Bob Gibbons

The right of Bob Gibbons to be identified as the author and photographer of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved
You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

ISBN (print) 978-1-4729-1328-9

ISBN (ePub) 978-1-4729-1329-6

ISBN (ePDF) 978-1-4729-2175-8

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Publisher: Nigel Redman

Project editor: Jasmine Parker

Design by Nicola Liddiard

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

This book is intended as a handy guide that can readily be taken out into the countryside and used to identify some of the most attractive, abundant and conspicuous flowers of Britain and adjacent parts of Europe. It does not, of course, cover all the flowers of this area, and the selected species are ones that you are generally most likely to see. Where appropriate, a selection of similar species is included with the main species.

The order of species within the book follows the most widely used taxonomic system. At present, botanical naming is in a state of considerable flux because of the vast amounts of new information arising from DNA analysis of plants. The process is by no means complete but has already led to much reclassifying and renaming of species. This book follows the nomenclature of the New Flora of the British Isles, third edition, by C. Stace (see ); older names are also given where they are still widely used.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

The species are described in a standardised way, comprising a simple description of the plant, its flowering time, usual habitat preferences and broad distribution within the British Isles including Eire. What is included in the description varies the salient points that distinguish each species are covered. For example, in the mulleins there is a description of the colour of the hairs on the filaments of the stamens because this feature is important for identifying mulleins, but this characteristic is not described elsewhere. The flowering time indicated is the main period of flowering, but plants are likely to flower latest further north and at high altitudes, and flowering periods vary from year to year. In addition, small numbers of flowers may be found well outside the normal period of flowering, so the dates given should be treated as a guide only. The habitat preferences given are the most frequent ones and may not cover all the situations in which a plant occurs, and plants may grow in different habitats in different countries.

Following the description of the main species on the page, a number of similar or closely related species may be described. The descriptions are short, simply outlining the key differences from the main species.

The book is intended primarily as an accessible visual guide, with the photographs giving the primary clue to each flowers identity, to be confirmed by study of the more detailed descriptions and similar species where applicable.