For the love of plants

Dryas octopetala, on the approach to Ben More Assynt Southerland, a leading pollen dating species used to interpret the glacial movements of 14000 years ago prized by Alpine gardeners.

Ophrys apifera, on our annual pilgrimage to Oxwich bay Glamorganshire.

Silene acaulis, one of my favourite easy alpines, Snowdon.

Ferns cling to vertical cliffs.

Snow Gentians flower on alpine Screes in the Breadalbane Mountains Stirling.

Narcissus pseudonarcissus flower in meadows near Newent, Gloucestershire.

Gentiana verna flowers on Widdybank Fell, May Upper Teesdale Durham.

The lush, impressive Macaronesian Ferns, Diplazium caudatum and Culcita macrocarpa flourish in the cloud forests of Madeira and the azores, Laurus novocanariensis puts down aeriac roots into the humid atmosphere.

Montana Rosa Reserve, Tenerife.

(Paris quadrifolia) Gait Barrows Lancashire

A tiny fossilized plant from the lower Devonian period approx. 410 million years ago. Along with other members of its group, the Rhyniophytes, cooksonia is interpreted as the ancestor of land plants, paving the way for the evolution of mammals. This one I found in a roadside quarry in Herefordshire.