Frogbit looks like a mini water-lily as it floats on the surface of ponds, lakes and still waterways. It offers shelter to tadpoles, fish and dragonfly larve.

A good luck charm for travellers, Germander speedwell can be seen along roadsides, grassy lanes and hedgerows. Look for clumps of bright blue flowers.

The Yellow star-of-Bethlehem is a woodland plant that lives up to its name - it displays starry, gold flowers in an umbrella-like cluster in early spring.

The greenshank breeds on the boggy moors and ancient peatlands of Scotland. But it can be spotted elsewhere in the UK as it passes through on migration - look around lakes, marshes and the coast…

This large shieldbug lives up to its name, bristling with long pale hairs. It's a common sight in parks, hedgerows and woodland edges in much of the UK.

The shiny, translucent porcelain fungus certainly lives up to its name in appearance. It can be seen growing on beech trees and dead wood in summer and autumn.

A low-growing herb of chalk and limestone grassland, Salad burnet lives up to its name - it is a popular addition to salads and smells of cucumber when crushed!

The tiny, brown-and-white sand martin is a common summer visitor to the UK, nesting in colonies on rivers, lakes and flooded gravel pits. It returns to Africa in winter.

This brown seaweed lives high up on rocky shores, just below the high water mark. Its blades are usually twisted, giving it the name Spiral Wrack.

Also known as the 'green drake mayfly', the common mayfly can be found around unpolluted wetlands, such as lakes and rivers. It has transparent, lacy wings and three long 'tails…

The emperor dragonfly is an impressively large and colourful dragonfly of ponds, lakes, canals and flooded gravel pits. It flies between June and August and even eats its prey on the wing.