Books and web resources

If you want to learn about wild plants, there really is nothing quite like going out in the field with a group of other people who are interested in them too. This is the major benefit of being a member of the Sussex Botanical Recording Society, since it is a great way to learn and have a nice day out in the Sussex countryside, so join today!

To begin to learn how to identify plants you really need a good field guide, some of which are shown below. There are also several good online resources which can offer you help and guidance. In addition, the Sussex Wildlife Trust runs several plant courses and events every year, and attending these can also be a good introduction to studying local botany.

Choosing a book can be tricky since there are lots to choose from, and it depends what you best get on with. It can be useful asking other people (eg at field meetings) what they like and why, and try using a variety of books if you can borrow them, before making the decision to buy one. Most people start with one, but buy others as they go along. 

The list below is not comprehensive. If anyone has interesting online material or books they’d like to recommend, please get in touch.

Cover of David Streeter Collins Wild Flower GuideDavid Streeter Collins Wild Flower Guide, 2nd edition 2016A fantastically comprehensive guide, with excellent descriptions and keys, from our very own President!
Cover of Paul Sterry Collins Complete Guide: British Wild FlowersPaul Sterry Collins Complete Guide: British Wild Flowers, 2008Smaller in scope since it concentrates on the more common species, it uses photographs rather than drawings, which is useful as a supplement to one of the other guides.
Cover of Marjorie Blamey, Richard Fitter and Alastair Fitter Wild Flowers of Britain and IrelandMarjorie Blamey, Richard Fitter and Alastair Fitter Wild Flowers of Britain and Ireland, 2nd edition 2013Not quite as comprehensive as David Streeter’s book, but it does include thumbnail distribution maps.
Cover of Francis Rose The Wildflower KeyFrancis Rose The Wild Flower Key, revised edition 2006First published in 1981, this is a classic reference work loved by many students, and is a great solid introduction to identifying plants.

Once you have got the basics you will start hankering after more comprehensive or specialist guides. Here are some of the commoner books you’ll find on the shelves of keen botanists.

Clive Stace New Flora of the British Isles 4th edition (2019)Every serious botanist needs a copy of “Stace”. This is the last edition that Clive will be doing as he has now retired.
Clive Stace Concise Flora of the British Isles (2022)This is the field version of the big book which contains all the keys. Highly recommended.
John Poland & Eric Clement The Vegetative Key to the British Flora
2nd edition (2020)
Now a constant companion for many field botanists. Completely different approach to tradition keys. Allows confirmation of difficult species.
John M. Warren Frustrating Flowers & Puzzling Plants (2024)Demystifying the commonly encountered ‘difficult’ groups, such as Brambles, Dandelions, Sea-lavenders, Whitebeams, Yellow composites, Docks, Pondweeds, Roses, Dactylorhiza orchids, Willows, Eyebrights and more
Schou, Moeslund, van de Weyer, Lansdown, Wiegleb, et al. Aquatic Plants of Northern and Central Europe including Britain and Ireland (2023)A huge book with a generous two pages for over 400 taxa. Includes detailed explanations of difficult groups such as Potamogeton and Batrachium section of Ranunculus.
Dominic Price A field guide to Grasses, Sedges and Rushes (2018)A good introduction to these taxa.
James Merryweather Britain’s Ferns, Clubmosses, Quillworts and Horsetails (2020)This is probably the best book on these groups, with plenty of photos to illustrate a lifetime of knowledge shared clearly.
Sean Cole & Mike Waller Britain’s Orchids (2020)Another excellent book in the WILDGuides series like the one above.
The BSBI HandbooksThis is just one of over twenty BSBI handbooks that really allow you to get to grips with particular groups.
Peter Sell & Gina Murrell Flora of Great Britain and Ireland Vols. 1 to 5.A monumental work that took more than a lifetime to complete (it finished postumously by a team of people). Extremely expensive, but a masterpiece.

Do try out the good internet resources too:

BSBI Identification pagesReally everything you want can be found here. There are links to all sorts of useful publications and websites, including YouTube channels.
SBRS Facebook groupOur own Facebook group, where you can share your pictures and thoughts on botany in Sussex, ask for help in identifying plants (in Sussex!), or talk about other aspects of the Society.

As with all Facebook groups, you will need to have a Facebook account to access it.

iSpotA fantastic resource created by the Open University. You submit a picture of something you have seen, together with some details (eg location, date etc), and someone will normally manage to identify it for you.
Clearly, the better the picture(s) you take the more likely you’ll be able to get a positive identification (though that may not be possible from a photo). You can also try to identify it yourself and then the community of users will let you know if you are right.
Wild Flowers of Britain and Ireland Facebook groupA similar sort of thing to iSpot but just for wild flowers in Britain and Ireland. It can be a bit more discursive than iSpot.
Botanical Keys and How to Use Them Facebook groupAnother really useful Facebook group, which explains some of the terms you will come across in the books, and walks you through the process of identifying often quite common plants using the keys in the most heavily-used field guides.
The Wild Plant Group UK & Ireland Facebook groupMuch like the Wild Flowers group, it can be useful for confirming identifications, or providing you with information about what to look out for.
Dr M Goes WildThe website and blog of Jonathan Mitchley (“Dr M”) who teaches botany at the University of Reading. Lots of useful tips and pointers on identifying plants, as well as book reviews and much else.
The Wildflower FinderThis website has a wealth of information including lots of photos of different parts of the same plants illustrating the identification features. Very useful.
British Wild FlowersSimilar to the above, but mainly photos. It has an impressive Rubus collection for budding batologists, and a good grasses, sedges and rushes section.
Floral ImagesAnother great photographic resource with several photos of each species.
Bio-imagesThis site covers all biota but the link takes you to vascular plants. It’s a bit hit and miss, but there are some excellent photos of different plant parts from many species, plus links to identification articles on other sites.
Essex botany (Ken Adams)Ken is the master of the diagram. I would urge you to have a look at this site and marvel at the huge amount of work that has gone into it.

Please let us know if we’ve missed your favourite book or resource and we’ll add it in.