Exploring wild plants in Britain since 1886
Welcome. We are a national society for amateur botanists and wild flower lovers in Britain and Ireland.
During the spring, summer and early autumn months we hold field meetings where local leaders conduct guided walks which show off wild plants in their natural habitats. We now also hold online lectures too.
We help beginners to know their plants. We use English names as well as scientific Latin names. Our field trips to interesting habitats find new plants for improving and expert botanists too.
All our events and activities are free for members, other than accommodation and travel costs.
Our Activities
- Field trips – guided walks by local experts, throughout the UK, in spring, summer and autumn
- Online Field Meetings – regular talks on Zoom. Find all our past talks on YouTube.
- Annual Members Meeting – a three day event on the first weekend in September, every year.
- 1 and 10 km square surveys
- Wild Flower Diary – keep an annual plant list
- Spring, Autumn and Winter Plant Hunts
- Facebook page – post your identification query or flower photo, a great way to learn
- Support for junior botanists
- Offer grants to support botanical research projects, to support students on Field Studies Council courses, publication of botanical books and to conservation groups for botanical training for volunteers, and wild flower activities for children and young people. Find out more. We made grants to 16 wildlife trusts in 2023 and 4 research grants.
- Presidents’ Award. The “Presidents’ Award” is awarded annually to acknowledge a publication which makes an outstanding contribution to the understanding of the flowering plants and ferns of Britain and Ireland. The recipient(s) are chosen, after consultation, by the Presidents of the BSBI and the Wild Flower Society. See the BSBI website for more details of the history of the award: https://bsbi.org/presidents-prize
Our Aims
The Wild Flower Society was born from a wish to instil in children, respect and an awareness of plants in their natural surroundings. Our three aims are:
- to promote a greater knowledge of field botany among the general public and in particular among young people;
- to advance education in matters relating to the conservation of wild flowers and of the countryside;
- to promote the conservation of the British flora.
Wild Flower Society AGM and Members’ Weekend
Our 2023 members’ weekend and AGM was held from Friday 1st to Monday 4th September at Rye, East Sussex. See our Annual meeting page for more details.
Our 2024 members’ weekend and AGM will be 7-9th September at Old Hunstanton, Norfolk.