Braving the weather on a New Year Plant Hunt

Posted bykirmenPosted inEvents, Record/survey/id, Wildlife sightingsTags:, , , , ,
Large red multi-storey building next to a river which has burst its banks and two swans standing on the grass in the foreground

Every year the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland (BSBI) organise a New Year Plant Hunt. All you have to do is spend a couple of hours looking for wild plants in flower between 29 December 2024 to 1st January 2025. Ours was arranged for 31st December. It is a lovely way to spend a winter’s day. However, on this particular day the weather was not at all conducive to being outdoors. The meeting point was flooded and not surprisingly no-one else turned up. Despite being battered by torrential rain and howling winds I was determined to carry on.

It sounds miserable, but in fact I had a really enjoyable walk. I started from Lonend Mill and walked along the White Cart towards Paisley town centre. The Hammills were very impressive, roaring with masses of water cascading over the falls. Not even the swans were for going in the water. Too my great joy, I very soon spotted my first flower, a Groundsel, along the edge of the cobbled road. I walked all the way to the far end of Oakshaw Road. By the time I finished my walk, I had spotted 17 species in flower. The rain even stopped for a while, but only once I was sat in a cafe with some warming soup!

Flower with white petals and yellow centre growing in grass
Plant with white flowers growing out of a pavement with cigarette butt beside it
Green plant with white flowers and long thin seed pods pointing upwards
Pale green hairy plant with clusters of white flowers
green plant with small white flowers
yellow flower looking rather battered and wet
Green flower heads with persisting stamens
Slender plant with large flower consisting of yellow centre and white petals
Green plant with finely divided leaves and a yellow flower without petals
Plant with multiple flowers with yellow petals and centres
Spiny plant with masses of yellow flowers
Grass plant with flowering stems lying across brown rotting leaves
Plant with green leaves and small yellow flower
plant with jagged green leaves and yellow flowers
Plant with flowers having white petals and a greenish white centre
Yellow flower with battered down petals and looking very wet
  • Daisy (Bellis perennis)
  • Shepherd’s Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris)
  • Wavy Bittercress (Cardamine flexuosa)
  • Sticky Mouse-ear (Cerastium glomeratum)
  • Ivy-leaved Toadflax (Cymbalaria muralis)
  • Common Whitlowgrass (Erophila verna)
  • Wood Avens (Geum urbanum)
  • Common Ivy (Hedera helix)
  • Oxeye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare)
  • Pineappleweed (Matricaria discoidea)
  • Annual Meadowgrass (Poa annua)
  • Common Ragwort (Senecio jacobea)
  • Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris)
  • Smooth Sow-thistle (Sonchus oleraceus)
  • Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium)
  • Dandelion (Taraxacum agg.)
  • Gorse (Ulex europeus)

All but one of my list were recorded on the BSBI app, the Ragwort, which I missed by mistake. Have a look at the BSBI results page to see what others were finding.

Kirsty Menzies

2 thoughts on “Braving the weather on a New Year Plant Hunt”

    1. Thanks Pauline. Definitely a result of heat from buildings in the town centre. I went out a walk today in the countryside and the only flowers I saw were on Gorse.

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