PlantsMap

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10 plants worth knowing

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has a mild, moist oceanic climate, but its vegetation has been heavily transformed by people – woodland covers only about 13% of the land. The landscape is made up of pastures criss-crossed by hedgerows, the heather moorlands and peat bogs of the Scottish and Welsh uplands, and scattered ancient oak and beech woods. Each of the kingdom’s four nations has its own plant emblem, and a love of gardening is part of the British identity.

Hover over a plant to see on the map where it grows.

where it grows

  1. Dog rose 1

    shrub · The rose – national flower of England (the Tudor rose)

    Dog rose

    Rosa canina

    The rose has been England’s national flower since the Wars of the Roses – and the wild dog rose is the commonest rose of English hedgerows.
  2. Common poppy 2

    flower · British symbol of remembrance for fallen soldiers (Remembrance Poppy)

    Common poppy

    Papaver rhoeas

    Every November millions of Britons pin a paper poppy to their lapels – a symbol of remembrance for those who fell in war.
  3. Common bluebell 3

    flower · Britain’s favourite wild flower in a Plantlife poll

    Common bluebell

    Hyacinthoides non-scripta

    Spring’s “blue carpets” in British woods – the British Isles hold nearly half of the world’s population of this species.
  4. Wild daffodil 4

    flower · National flower of Wales

    Wild daffodil

    Narcissus pseudonarcissus

    Daffodils are worn on 1 March, St David’s Day – Wales’s national symbol and the star of Wordsworth’s most famous poem.
  5. Spear thistle 5

    herbaceous plant · The thistle – national flower of Scotland

    Spear thistle

    Cirsium vulgare

    Legend says a prickly thistle betrayed a Viking night attack on the Scots – and it has been Scotland’s emblem ever since.
  6. Pedunculate oak 6

    tree · The oak – national emblem of England

    Pedunculate oak

    Quercus robur

    The oak is England’s national emblem – the future Charles II hid in one, and England reputedly has more ancient oaks than the rest of Europe combined.
  7. Heather 7

    dwarf shrub

    Heather

    Calluna vulgaris

    In late summer heather turns the moors of the Scottish Highlands purple – and in Scotland white heather is a lucky charm.
  8. Leek 8

    crop · National symbol of Wales

    Leek

    Allium ampeloprasum

    The Welsh wear a leek on St David’s Day – legend says it once told them apart from their enemies on the battlefield.
  9. Common hawthorn 9

    shrub

    Common hawthorn

    Crataegus monogyna

    Hawthorn, called “may” after its flowering time, is the backbone of English hedgerows, which divide the countryside over hundreds of thousands of kilometres.
  10. Common yew 10

    tree

    Common yew

    Taxus baccata

    Dark yews grow beside hundreds of British churches, and the Fortingall Yew in Scotland is reckoned among the oldest trees in Europe.