iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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BSBI Scotland @bsbiscotland.bsky.social · 12h

On a rare trip south, I was thrilled to be given a tour of the Cotoneasters of Cherry Hinton by #BSBIViceCountyRecorder Lucy Wilson! Learnt so much about this intimidating group of non-native shrubs (see alt-text), and actually looking forward to my next encounter with a weird one for a change 😂

Photo collage of Cotoneasters in Cherry Hinton chalk pits - four rows of three photos, described from top to bottom (each row left to right):
C. lacteus (Late), C. bradyi (Brady's), C. insculptus (Engraved)
C. salicifolius (Willow-leaved), C. x watereri (Waterer's), C. amoenus (Beautiful)
C. dammeri (Bearberry), C. divaricatus (Spreading), C. x suecicus (Swedish)
C. hjelmqvistii (Hjelmqvist's), C. simonsii (Himalayan), C. sternianus (Stern's)

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James Emerson @norwichbirder.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Whilst walking into the city today I noticed a Dandelion with swellings in the flower-stem. These galls turned out to be fungal, with the causer presumably Protomyces pachydermus.

A section of green Dandelion flower stalk, showing several swellings, one of which has started turning purple.

A section through one of the galls, showing that there is no cavity inside.

Some round fungal cells alongst the gall structures.

A close-up of some of the round fungal cells.

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Tristan Norton @trisnorton.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Quiz Time. Seeds of a native British species (though these are from Continental stock), found on chalk in Southern England.

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The Species Recovery Trust @speciesrecovery.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Meet the rare plant that needs chaos... A thread for #SpeciesOfTheWeek ⤵️

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Ian Parsons @ianparsons.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Sometimes at auction you find some real gems... Dartmoor Auctions next weekend, Lot 1035. Pitminster near you @iand777.bsky.social ? @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social @nicwilson.bsky.social @markavery.bsky.social Tempting...

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Alex Prendergast @bramblebotanist.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Limonium intercedens found by a colleague at Colne Point last week. A new species for Essex.

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Alex Prendergast @bramblebotanist.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Some of the awesome ancient Yew Taxus baccata trees at Kingley Vale NNR. Impossible to age but a millennium seems possible. Far from the dark and poisoned habitat I imagined - light open woodland reminiscent of both Caledonian Pinewood and Australian eucalypt groves

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Moira O'Donnell @naturelark.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

No purple colouration at all on the florets of this very attractive Carline Thistle, Carlina vulgaris, at Dungeness last Monday. #WildflowerHour

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Kat Newbert @ghostofdatura.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Dianthus carthusianorum, Carthusian pink on the edge of an olive grove in Tuscany.

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Alex Prendergast @bramblebotanist.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

A vast amount of Chenopodium hybridum Maple-leaved Goosefoot in a south Norfolk field while checking on an old Henbane record. I’d only seen a single plant before, now I’ve seen tens of thousands! Refound the Henbane too:) #wildflowerhour

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Jo Parmenter @jo-the-botanist.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Apols to those looking forward to it, but this year's #NNNS 'Introduction to Wildflowers' being held at Roydon Common 1030-1330 tomorrow is unfortunately going to be led by me rather than Bob L, who just let me know that he's indisposed. On the plus side, the amazing Richard Carter will be there :)

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Alex Prendergast @bramblebotanist.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

bsbi.org/take-part/ac... A date for your diary: The #NorfolkFloraGroup New Year Plant Hunt pub crawl will be on 2nd January 2027! Improvements made to this year’s inaugural attempt - more pubs, more beers and hopefully a few more plants too

bsbi.org

Group Hunts and events

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Plantlife @plantlifeuk.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

The UK’s largest citizen science fungi survey, #WaxcapWatch, is back!🍄 It’s really easy to take part. Just head out to a grassy spot and record any waxcaps and grassland fungi you find. Join today 👉 www.plantlife.org.uk/waxcapwatch/

Two red fungi growing amongst some grass. The title reads 'Join the UK's largest citizen science fungi survey'

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John Martin @pilning.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Late picking #favouriteplant of the year for #wildflowerhour but this is right up there. I believe it is Utricularia australis with that flat lip that turns up a little at the edges. In ditches at Canada Farm on Somerset Levels during the excellent Dipterists Forum week in July. Native plant✅!

Utricularia australis, a bladderwort, flowering in a ditch on the Somerset levels. A

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Kat Newbert @ghostofdatura.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

On holiday in Tuscany and Erigeron bonariensis is abundant on the road verges, they have wine glass shaped inflorescences (very fitting for the region) and purple tipped phyllaries. #wildflowerhour

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Alex Prendergast @bramblebotanist.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Lots of #FavouritePlant s to choose from this year, mainly things seen botanising with the wonderful @ghostofdatura.bsky.social Days adventuring together and seeking rare plants were some of my bestest of days. Names on alt #wildflowerhour

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Alex Prendergast @bramblebotanist.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Some York Groundsel Senecio eboracensis plants appear to have weathered the drought above ground, & are now in full flower. Good plants currently opposite York Station, convenient for the travelling botanist #wildflowerhour A #FavouritePlant of mine, having been involved in its de-extinction

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Kat Newbert @ghostofdatura.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

An the weirdest thing I found today was Bolboschoenus maritimus with extremely long inflorescences. Anyone know why its growing like this? #wildflowerhour

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Alex Prendergast @bramblebotanist.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Large Copper Lycaena dispar batavus caterpillars grown from eggs from the illegally released Dudley population. The largest look like they may be attempting a third generation, a result of inadvertent & intentional selection during 100 years of captivity of a univoltine wild species

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Dorset Flora Group @dorsetflora.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Last recorded in Dorset in 1960, Yellow Star Thistle, Centaurea solstitialis, has been found north Dorset this summer.

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Alex Prendergast @bramblebotanist.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Samson’s Ribs, Edinburgh for Forked Spleenwort Asplenium septentrionale and x murbeckii its Wall Rue hybrid. A surprising basic influence, presumably from a smidge of serpentine, in the basalt columns supports Sticky Catchfly Lychnis viscaria and Southern Polypody Polypodium cambricum

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Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) @bsbibotany.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Aliens have been found in Hampshire! They were all star-thistles (attractive, non-invasive plants) and were recorded by @trisnorton.bsky.social in an arable field. Read the press release: bsbi.org/about/news/p... Dive deep into the full story: bsbi.org/blog/2026/09...

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The Species Recovery Trust @speciesrecovery.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Field Gentians feeling climate breakdown in the New Forest 💔

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Ian Senior @ians4ad.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Was amazed to find a peloric common toadflax on yesterday's Norfolk Flora group meeting. This is caused by epigenetic changes preventing normal gene expression. This means the flower cannot form properly resulting in the mutant flower @bsbibotany.bsky.social #wildflowerhour

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Ian Senior @ians4ad.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Amaranthus albus seen on yesterday's Norfolk Flora group meeting. Few records of this for Norfolk. New one for me! @bsbibotany.bsky.social #wildflowerhour

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Kat Newbert @ghostofdatura.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Euphorbia stricta has wonderful warty seeds. #wildflowerhour

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Alex Prendergast @bramblebotanist.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

A rash of cute (but don’t touch) Small Nettle Urtica urens seedlings on ground opened by the drought. Geranium molle and other annuals surviving as seed observed doing the same after the recent rain #wildflowerhour #NorfolkFloraGroup

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mattrjones.bsky.social @mattrjones.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Chara tomentosa (Coral Stonewort) 😍 Probably our most distinctive charophyte. Only found in a few spectacular marl lakes.

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Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) @bsbibotany.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Parsley-leaved Bramble has been cultivated in Britain & Ireland since 1752 & was first recorded "in the wild" in Devon in 1851. Find out more about this attractive bramble (grown for its "sweet fruits") on its #PlantAtlas2020 page: plantatlas2020.org/atlas/2cd4p9... Does it grow near you?

plantatlas2020.org

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Brigit Strawbridge @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Ever wondered how people count large numbers of #birds? I've just signed up for @btobirds.bsky.social's free online training so I can learn how to count flocks... AND how to put these skills to use in the Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) Choose from 3 dates next week, here: www.bto.org/our-work/tra...

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Alex Prendergast @bramblebotanist.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Rubus laciniatus Parsley-leaved Bramble, under a patch of blue

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Fran Sinclair @notfrangible.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Possibly my favourite plant, perhaps chiefly when it poses on lock gates and beside winding gear etc: Beggarticks Bidens frondosa along the Kennet & Avon canal at Devizes today

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Bernoid @bernoid.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Blackberries painted with blackberries.

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Jo Parmenter @jo-the-botanist.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I think someone on here has posted these from the same location recently, but they're lovely and bear repeating :) The rayed form of Nodding Bur-marigold Bidens cernua var radiata is extraordinarily abundant across the western part of Dickleburgh Moor in East Norfolk, this summer. #WildFlowerHour

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Charlotte Wright @charlottewright.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Delighted this huge team effort is out! By surveying >20,000 people from >100 countries, we used to butterflies to show that aesthetic biases distort scientific research & environmental policy. Understanding this bias is a key step towards more balanced decision-making 🦋 www.doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...

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Roger_TL45Y @rogerhorton.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Stages in maturation of Henbane, Hyoscymus niger, #SeedHeads from around #Cambridge: What looks like a shiny berry is in fact a lid or 'operculum' which will lift from over a two-chambered 'bilocular' capsule to expose the dry seeds. #WildflowerHour #Solanaceae

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mattrjones.bsky.social @mattrjones.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Potamogeton x griffithii. Known from just a couple of sites in Britain and Ireland. Hooded leaf tips a good indication of praelongus parentage. #wildflowerhour

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Alex Prendergast @bramblebotanist.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Par beach for Sea Daffodils Pancratium maritimum, which disappointingly were in bud and fruit but not flower.. Sea Knotgrass Polygonum maritimum (in huge amounts) saved the day though #wildflowerhour

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Alex Prendergast @bramblebotanist.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Aeonium cuneatum escaped from the exotic planting at Minack Theatre, onto nearby coastal rocks.

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Kat Newbert @ghostofdatura.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Moving office locations means new areas to nose around at lunchtime. I found a population of Herniaria glabra which is a new vice county record.

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Captain Hurley 🇺🇦 🇵🇸🏳️‍⚧️🇪🇺 @zoonie.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

I've just realised that Úrsula Romero, a glorious painter of plants and flowers, has got an exhibition on in Kew Gardens that runs until January next year (alongside slightly better known deceased art-man Henry Moore). Her work is astonishing, vibrant and alive. Look at these gooseberries!

A painting of gooseberries and leaves which looks relatively photorealistic but also almost defiantly alive and full of juicey goodness.

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Alex Prendergast @bramblebotanist.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Killarney Ferns in Cornwall. I can’t get enough of these dripping diaphanous beauties 😍

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Alex Prendergast @bramblebotanist.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Ensconced in the best pub in Cornwall.. we need the rain I guess

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Alex Prendergast @bramblebotanist.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Hunting Sea-lavenders on the cliffs below Tintagel: Limonium procerum ss, britanicum and cornubiense (all rather gone over given the hot/dry summer), along with squillions of flowering Scilla autumnalis western Autumn Squill

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Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) @bsbibotany.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

We just published a new issue of #BritishandIrishBotany, our Open Access online scientific journal. Find out about the 10 papers from authors inc @astridbiddle.bsky.social, Jo Jones from @plantlifeuk.bsky.social, Tim Rich, John Richards, Andy Amphlett, Chris Preston & more: bsbi.org/about/news/l...

The purple flowers of Limonium britannicum subsp. celticum, one of the Sea-lavenders, in their typical coastal habitats. Images: Jennifer Wilkinson

The bright blue flowers of the tiny Spring Speedwell (Veronica verna) which grows only in the Brecks. Image: Jo Jones

The bright yellow flowerhead of the Vatersay Dandelion, photographed by Paul Smith on the Hebridean island of Vatersay

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Jo Parmenter @jo-the-botanist.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

I think this sums up #NorfolkFloraGroup pretty much perfectly - thanks, @carlsayer.bsky.social

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