Flower of the Week

At an undergraduates life sciences career conference at Leeds University last year, I was talking to one of the speakers who told me about the BSBI plant test.

The Botanical Society of the British Isles is an organisation for both professional and amateur members, and is devoted to the study of botany in the British Isles.

To give its proper title, the Field Identification Skills Certificate assesses your botanical skills in both a lab session and site survey. There is no fail - after the assessment, you get ranked on a scale of 0-7 ... 0 being general population and 7 being outstanding/expert.

I signed up for the test, which takes place in July, and would like to get at least a grade 2. In the New Year, I set myself the task of learning at least one new plant per week, but at the same time also being able to identify this from 'look-alikes' so in reality it is 3-4 plants per week.

I was doing really well, but have just realised I haven't made an entry since the end of January so I have a bit of catching up to do!

Inspired by my S216 Teign Valley Field Guide, my flower of the week is going to be common knapweed Centaurea nigra, which apparently is a good wildflower for the garden as it attracts bees and butterflies, and finches will feed on its seeds. There are several other similar plants, including burdocks and thistles, to keep me happy researching for the rest of the evening ...