Flowering Plants (native wild species)

Flowering plants first appeared about 140 million years ago. There are now 416 recognised families of flowering plants (Angiosperms) in the world, containing about 369,000 species; of these, over 3500 species live in the UK; these figures exclude the conifers (Gymnosperms). About 2,000 new species are discovered worldwide each year, many of these on the verge of extinction (please note – the figures above are always in dispute amongst scientists, as differences of opinion about classification always exist; I have used what seems to be some of the most accepted figures).

Flowers are the reproductive organs of flowering plant, having male and female parts, often in the same flower. The stamens are the male organs, which produce pollen; fertilisation is achieved when the pollen is received by the stigma (part of the female reproductive organ of the plant) and fertilises the egg cell contained in the ovule; the fertilised ovule develops to produce a fruit containing the seeds. There are a number of different morphological structures or biochemical mechanisms, depending on species, that prevent self-fertilisation.

Flowers can be wind-, water- or animal-pollinated, the latter most commonly by insects.

There are many more photos of non-wild flowers and plants on the Gardening page.

Flowering Plants (native wild species, seen growing wild)

The plants in the following gallery have been photographed growing wild in Dernol i.e. not in gardens. Some wild flowers in gardens have arrived naturally, but others might have been introduced.

Flowering Plants (native wild species, seen growing in gardens only)

The wild plants in the following gallery have been photographed in gardens, mostly in our own, and have not been found by me elsewhere in Dernol.

There is a separate section on this website for garden plants that do not live in the wild in the UK (unless as escapees – which might eventually become naturalised and then classed as ‘wild’).