BSBI – Page 2 – Mark Avery

BSBI press release: Thousands of citizen scientists find hundreds of wildflowers blooming at New Year

Mark January 22, 2024March 28, 2026 Comments Off

The results are in for BSBI’s thirteenth New Year Plant Hunt, when plant-lovers across Britain and Ireland head out to see what is flowering in their local patch. More than 3,000 people – a record number! – took part in the Hunt, after the hottest summer on record was followed by an unusually wet December….

BSBI press release – Autumn Lady’s-tresses found in Northern Ireland.

Mark October 3, 2023March 28, 2026 1 Comment

The elegant and beautiful Autumn Lady’s-tresses, Spiranthes spiralis, an exquisite orchid with a delicate spiral of flowers, has been discovered for the first time in Northern Ireland – by a young botanist out walking with his mum! Jake Dalzell, a third-year plant ecology student at University of Cambridge, was out walking with his mum Judith…

Guest blog – Cloak and dibber: the rare plant introduction controversy by Amanda Tuke

Mark February 15, 2021March 28, 2026 10 Comments

Amanda is a nature and environment writer and blogger based in the wilds of suburban south London. She writes mainly about suburban wildflowers, insects and birds on her blog. Her nature writing has appeared in anthologies, on the London Wildlife Trust blog and in Devon Life Magazine. She also blogs on www.freelancenaturewriter.com about her…

BSBI press release – 2021 New Year Plant Hunt results

Mark January 25, 2021March 28, 2026 Comments Off

The results are in for BSBI’s tenth New Year Plant Hunt, when plant-lovers cross Britain and Ireland head out to see what is flowering in their local patch. 1,811 people took part this year – more than ever before – but restrictions around Covid-19 had surprising impacts on the wild flowers they spotted in bloom….

Guest blog – Three fantastical things you didn’t know about PLANTS by Josh Styles

Mark November 30, 2020March 28, 2026 9 Comments

Josh Styles has been captivated by plants since the age of 6, which has carried over to now in his mid twenties and his love for plants has allowed him to get quite a bit done. Through university, he managed to balance three jobs and other volunteer commitments with his undergraduate ecology degree, and still…

Guest blog – Amanda Tuke interviews Josh Styles.

Mark November 11, 2020March 28, 2026 4 Comments

Guest blog – Wildflower-rich road verges – the botanists’ Hen Harrier? by Kevin Walker

Mark June 12, 2020March 28, 2026 46 Comments

Kevin Walker is a botanist who leads on science, monitoring and data management for the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Before that he spent 12 glorious years working as a plant ecologist at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Monks Wood, although much of that time was spent away carrying out fieldwork. Although his…

Sunday book review – Grassland plants of the British and Irish lowlands by Peter Stroh et al.

Mark November 3, 2019March 28, 2026 18 Comments

I’m no botanist, so for all I know this book could be riddled with awful errors, but it is a lovely, lovely book. In a 400-page book, 300 of the pages are given over to about 100 species accounts; each with a distribution map, a photograph of the species, a photograph of the habitat and…

Pretending to be a botanist

Mark July 15, 2014March 28, 2026 8 Comments

I did the second visit to ‘my’ Wildflowers Count survey square recently. It was a nice walk on a hot sunny day with a pub at the far side of the square – what’s not to like about that? I am now much better acquainted with black horehound and marsh woundwort than previously. Because this…