Improve your wildflower identification skills and understanding of botanical keys
About this event
This course will start in the classroom, where we will study plant specimens carefully and work our way through the keys to identity each specimen.
We will work as a group on specimens of the same species at any one time. We will focus especially on relatively simple flowers to help you gain confidence for working on your own.
Weather permitting, we will spend some time working outside in Tyland Barn Nature Park. We will work together or in pairs on the identity of selected species.
Many of the key identification features are what botanists use to classify plants into look-alike groups.
By the end of the course it is expected that you will have gained:
- A working knowledge of relevant botanical terms
- A deeper insight into flowering plant classification
- Confidence and effectiveness in using scientific keys to Identify flowering plants
Led by Ros Bennett, Botanist and Ecologist. Ros has written books on plants and habitats and has been teaching courses on identification and ecology for many years.
Suitable for improvers who might be familiar with several plant species and who have some basic knowledge of floral structure and terminology, but who lack confidence and or experience in using scientific keys to identification.
This course follows on from our Introduction to Wildflowers Study Day on 20 June 2026 which introduces flower families and the use of keys. When you book on this improvers course, your the confirmation email will include a 15% discount code for the introductory course.
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Accessible toilet
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Parking
MORE INFORMATION
What to bring
Notebook and pen
suitable outdoor clothing
packed lunch and something to drink.
Nothing else is essential but if you have any of the following please bring them too:
- Hand lens (x 10 Magnification)
- The Wild Flower Key by Rose and O’Reilly (Warne)
- New Flora of the British Isles by Stace (CUP ideally 4th edit) Recommended
- Collins Flower Guide by Streeter (Collins ideally 2nd Edition 2016) Recommended
- Any other plant Identification books that you may have
NB Hand lenses may be borrowed or purchased (c.£8.50) during the course. and there will also be copies of Rose’s Wild Flower Key available to borrow and a few copies of the second edition of Stace.
There is now an independent café in the Barn which is usually open on Saturdays so you may be able purchase additional refreshments there.
Tyland Barn is a wheelchair accessible site, including areas of the wildlife garden, which is fairly
flat and has some hard surfaced paths.
Walking distances will be very short and the pace will be gentle.