Blue & Purple Flowers

Plants with Blue or Purple Flowers

Blue and purple flowers form the smallest group within the colour sections, but there are still some important groups, including a number of spring bulbs, violets, bellflowers, forget-me-nots, speedwells and the borage family.

As well as flower colour, it is important to take careful note of the exact petal shape - are the petals rounded, or do they came to a sharp point, for example; are there gaps between the petals or do they overlap; are the flowers solitary, or arranged in spikes or bunches.

Within the colour sections, the pictures are grouped so that similar-looking (though not necessarily closely-related) plants will be near each other. This should help to reduce your search time. To keep things concise, not all species are shown in the colour keys, so you may have to go for a 'best match' to get you through to the next stage of the identification process. Particularly in large families where there are a number of very similar species, a representative species is shown here, but clicking on it will take you to a page that tells you how to tell the more difficult species apart.

Many plants will be obviously one colour or another, obviously five petalled, or obviously a woody shrub, etcetera. But many will be debatable. In such cases, I have tried to imagine how a flower might be perceived by others, especially beginners to plant identification. Generally this results in a plant appearing in more than one place on these pages, but some still remain problematic. In particular, the section labelled 'tubular flowers' contains a variety of flowers that might be considered to fall into that category and these generally have petals that are fused together to fully surround the sexual parts of the flower. But these tubes might be elongate like a pencil, or broad and bell-like. Flowers of two colours are entered under the colour that covers most of the flower, but truly bicoloured flowers may be entered under both colours. Woody plants with green stems that might not be considered woody, are entered under their flower colour or shape, as well as under the woody plants sections.

If you still can't find your plant, you either have something very interesting that you may wish to tell me about, or I just haven't got a picture of it yet - I'm still working on the latter!!

Click on the pictures below to go to the species pages.

Three Petals


Irises - Three large, round petals hanging down, plus three smaller, less obvious petals standing more or less upright in the centre	Milkworts - Small spikes of white, pink or blue flowers, each flower with the middle petal rolled into a thin tube and with a tiny, pale beard	Spiderworts - Flowers in loose clusters on fleshy stems, above tussocks of grass-like leaves

Four Petals


Speedwells - Bright flowers with prominent stamens, solitary or in small clusters	Gentians - Narrow flowers above smooth leaves	Violet Horned Poppy - Single flowers with large, tissue-thin petals - rare with no recent records

Five Petals


Bacopa - Flowers with a tubular base and yellow in the centre, on low, trailing plants	Leadworts - Flowers in clusters with a long, tubular base and red bracts. Low, spreading plants	Pimpernels - Small annuals of cultivated ground	Primroses - Early spring flowers in a variety of colours in grassy areas


Flaxes - Plants with slender stems and narrow leaves	Crane's-bills - Broad petals, often with dark veins, leaves rounded and often deeply dissected	Alkanets - Flattened, rounded flowers on roughly hairy plants	Periwinkles - Low, creeping or trailing plants forming spreading colonies


Forget-me-nots - Sky blue flowers with white or yellow centres	Love-in-a-mist - Five petal-like sepals among fine, filigree foliage; annuals of disturbed ground	Teaplants - Solitary, purplish flowers on wiry, half-woody stems in hedgerows	Periwinkles - Low, creeping or trailing plants forming spreading colonies


Gentians - Narrow flowers above smooth leaves	Gilias - Small annuals with flowers in tight clusters and finely cut leaves	Gilias - Small annuals with solitary, three-coloured flowers and finely cut leaves


Venus's-looking-glasses - Small, bright purple flowers with a green ruff, opening on sunny days	Bellflowers - Five petals, fusing at the base into a broad, bell-shaped tube	Bellflowers - Star-shaped flowers on trailing or upright plants	Borage - Star-shaped, nodding flowers on bristly plants


Forget-me-nots - Small, roughly hairy plants of open places	Common Cornsalad - Tiny, pale blue, almost white flowers with five petals	Buglosses - Small flowers on roughly hairy plants in disturbed places	Eyebrights - Small but showy, lilac flowers on upright stems; five petals fused into a tube at the base


Fairy Lobelia - Unequal petals, the lower three much larger than the upper two; garden escapes	Butterworts - Unequal petals, the lower three much larger than the upper two and forming a tube at the base. Rare in bogs	Violets - Violet to purple flowers with dark lines and sometimes a yellow patch at the centre	Pansies - Variously purple/white/yellow flowers with dark lines at the centre


Gentians - Bright blue trumpets on slender stems; rare	Apple-of-Peru - Five petals fusing together to form a funnel-shaped flower	Larkspurs - Five petal-like sepals, with the true petals fused into a small 'cup' in the centre of the flower; flowers various shades of blue, pink or white in an upright spike above feathery foliage	Monk's-hoods - Five petal-like sepals, with two fused together to form a 'hood'; flowers various shades of blue or white in an upright spike


Abraham-Isaac-Jacob - Strange flowers with petals that twist backwards to expose the long, central stamens	Bittersweet - Flowers in loose clusters, often with a yellow centre	Columbines - Complicated flowers with five petals and five petal-like sepals; petals have long nectar spurs at back. Colour may be any shade of blue, purple, pink, or white	Columbines - Complicated flowers with five petals and five petal-like sepals; petals have long nectar spurs at back. Colour may be any shade of blue, purple, pink, or white


Blue Star Creeper - Tiny, creeping plants usually found in lawns	Fairy Lobelia - Unequal petals, the lower three much larger than the upper two; garden escapes	Fairy Lobelia - Unequal petals, the lower three much larger than the upper two; garden escapes	Common Jacob's-ladder - Small herbaceous plants with ladder-like, pinnate leaves


Showy Isotome - Low-growing but sprawling annuals with asymmetrical flowers and ragged-looking leaves	Showy Isotome - Low-growing but sprawling annuals with asymmetrical flowers and ragged-looking leaves

Six Petals


Irises - Three large, round petals hanging down, plus three smaller, less obvious petals standing more or less upright in the centre	Bluebells - Narrowly bell-shaped flowers in an open, upright spike	Common Hyacinth - Heavily-scented flowers in a compact spike	Squills - Six spreading petals; spring-flowering from bulbs


Siberian Squill - Six petals on nodding flowers; spring-flowering from bulbs	Blue lilies - flowers in a ball-shaped cluster atop a common stem	Pasqueflower - Six petal-like sepals with very hairy backs. Now very rare, on a handful of protected sites	Crocuses - Flowers fused into a narrow tube at the base, arising from a buried corm


Pickerelweed - Flowers crowded in upright spikes on plants growing in water	Blue-eyed-grasses - Small herbaceous perennials with upright, grass-like leaves and tepals that have notched tips

More Than Six Petals


Anemones - Varying number of petal-like sepals on low-growing, spring flowers. Colour may be any shade of blue, pink or white	Love-in-a-mist - Ten petal-like sepals among fine, filigree foliage; annuals of disturbed ground	Common Cornflower - Irregularly-shaped petals around a single head of several tiny flowers	Chicory - Dandelion-like flowers on tall, upright stems


Passionflowers - Complicated flowers with 12 petal-like sepals; vigorous climbing plants	Knapweeds - Tight flowerheads with solid bases and 'fluffy' tops	Columbines - Complicated flowers with five petals and five petal-like sepals; petals have long nectar spurs at back. Colour may be any shade of blue, purple, pink, or white	Columbines - Complicated flowers with five petals and five petal-like sepals; petals have long nectar spurs at back. Colour may be any shade of blue, purple, pink, or white

Many-rayed Flowers


Asters - Popular garden plants with pale lilac to bluish, daisy-like flowers	Asters - Bluish-purple to pink or white petals on short plants grown for bedding	Cardoons - Heavy, chunky head made up of many small flowers with thread-like petals	Burdocks - Tight flowerheads with prickly bases atop branching plants with large, dock-like leaves

Tubular Flowers (petals fused into a tube-like form)


Crocuses - Flowers fused into a narrow tube at the base, arising from a buried corm	Triplet Lily - Six petals fused into a tube; stems low-growing from a bulb	Gentians - Bright blue trumpets on slender stems; rare	Buglosses - Red buds, turning blue as they open and mature; prominent, long stamens


Milk-vetches - Blue-purple flowers in small clusters, very close to the ground with ladder-like, compound leaves	Toothworts - Odd, tubular flowers, emerging in clusters straight from the ground beneath poplars or willows	Broomrapes - Tubular flowers with broad lower lips, on an upright spike	Skullcaps - Tubular flowers, singly or in pairs in the leaf axils; wetland plants


Bellflowers - Broadly bell-shaped flowers in narrow, upright spikes	Apple-of-Peru - Five petals fusing together to form a funnel-shaped flower	Morning-glories - Climbing or trailing plants with the five petals fused to form a funnel-shaped flower; stems twining	Morning-glories - Climbing or trailing plants with the five petals fused to form a funnel-shaped flower; stems twining


Mints & Dead-nettles - Narrowly tubular flowers with five fused petals, opening into a two-lobed lip	Toadflaxes & allies - Tubular flowers with five fused petals, opening into a five-lobed lip	Comfreys - Red buds, turning blue as they open and mature	Honeyworts - Narrowly tubular flowers in a cluster, half hidden by coloured bracts


Eyebrights - Small but showy, lilac flowers on upright stems; five petals fused into a tube at the base	Cape Snapdragon - Tubular based-flowers, opening into broadly lobed lips; singly or in clusters	Fairy Lobelia - Unequal petals, the lower three much larger than the upper two	Everlasting-peas - Solitary, bluish flowers on scrambling plants with leaves bearing two leaflets and terminal tendrils


Blue claries - Narrow, tubular-based flowers that open into a two-lipped mouth	Sages - Tubular flowers in whorls above the leaves; foliage usually aromatic	Grape-hyacinths - Dense heads of small, rounded flowers above grass-like leaves, arising from a bulb

Many-flowered Heads


African Lily - Showy, ball-shaped heads of six-petalled flowers, above strap-shaped leaves	Common Hyacinth - Heavily-scented, six-petalled flowers in a compact spike	Bluebells - Scented, six-petalled flowers in an open spike, above graass-like leaves	Grape-hyacinths - Dense heads of small, rounded flowers above grass-like leaves, arising from a bulb


Lupins - Tall, showy spikes of 'pea' flowers, often in a variety of colours; leaves palmate	Vetches - Narrow spikes of narrow 'pea' flowers, on scrambling plants; ladder-like, compound leaves with tendrils	Monk's-hoods - Five petal-like sepals, with two fused together to form a 'hood'; flowers various shades of blue or white in an upright spike	Phacelias - Dense, curled heads of bright flowers with elongated stamens; leaves finely cut


Buglosses - Tall, showy spikes of bright blue flowers, a few opening in turn as the side branches elongate	Abraham-Isaac-Jacob - Strange flowers with petals that twist backwards to expose the long, central stamens	Sea-lavenders - Branched heads of many, small flowers above a simple rosette of leaves; saltmarshes and coastal dunes	Common Bugle - Leafy spikes of large-lipped, tubular flowers


Common Cornflower - Irregularly-shaped petals forming a single head of several compact flowers	Teasels - Prickly, thistle-like plants with tiny flowers packed into a cone-shaped head	Eryngos - Prickly, thistle-like plants with tiny flowers packed into a cone-shaped head	Sheep's-bit - Low plants of sandy ground with rounded 'pompoms' made up of many small flowers


Scabiouses - Tight heads of many flowers, with the outer flowers having larger petals	Lavenders - Flowerheads made up of upright clusters of tubular flowers; foliage greyish and heavily-scented foliage	Toadflaxes - Narrow flowers with long spurs at the back, in upright spikes	Broomrapes - Tubular flowers with broad lower lips, on an upright, orchid-like spike


Common Cornsalad - Tiny, pale blue, almost white flowers with five petals	Vervains - Showy heads of small flowers with tubular bases	Butterfly-bushes - Elongated heads of masses of small flowers with tiny orange centres, on woody bushes	Speedwells - Showy spikes of tightly-packed flowers with prominent stamens


Pickerelweed - Flowers crowded in upright spikes on plants growing in water	Statice - Branched heads of many, small (white) flowers surrounded by large, petal-like, purplish bracts

Woody Trees, Shrubs & Climbers


Passionflowers - Complicated flowers with 12 petal-like sepals; vigorous climbing plants	Teaplants - Solitary, purplish flowers on wiry, half-woody stems in hedgerows	Rhododendrons - Large, spreading bushes with leathery, evergreen leaves	Rhododendrons - Large, spreading bushes with leathery, evergreen leaves


Rosemary & allies - Showy flowers with tubular bases and large lower lips on many-stemmed, highly fragrant bushes	Lilacs - Large, showy heads of four-petalled flowers on suckering large shrubs or small trees. Flowers purple, red, pink or white	Hebes - Rounded or elongate heads of four-petalled flowers with prominent stamens on evergreen bushes	Butterfly-bushes - Elongated heads of masses of small flowers with tiny orange centres, on woody bushes

Lavenders - Flowerheads made up of upright clusters of tubular flowers; foliage greyish and heavily-scented foliage

Flora of East Anglia An Identification Guide

Plants with Blue or Purple Flowers

Group List

Flora of East Anglia
An Identification Guide