Plants with Red or Pink Flowers
Plants with red or pink flowers (especially the latter) can be found in many plant families and are a very diverse bunch in our area. Many small, almost prostrate species, typically flowering in spring or early summer may be found, with the rose, crane's-bill and pea families in particular having many species in this colour group.
It is worth bearing in mind that red (usually produced by anthocyanins) can be a very unstable colour in plants and many pink or red flowers fade to whitish long before their petals eventually wither and fall. In addition, white colour forms of red-flowered species are not that uncommon and can cause confusion.
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.
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Burnets |
Burnets |
Burnets |
Meadow-rues |
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Pellitory-of-the-wall |
Grasses |
Sweet Corn |
Docks & Sorrels |
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Common Water-purslane |
Mare's-tail |
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Water-plantains |
Irises |
Milkworts |
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Poppies |
Poppies |
Poppies |
Poppies |
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Aubretia |
Cuckoo-flower |
Clematis |
Rosebay Willowherb |
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Japanese Aucuba |
Willowherbs |
Squinancywort |
Field Madder |
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Cabbage Family |
Cabbage Family |
Speedwells |
Pearlworts |
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Clarkias |
Clarkias |
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Hollyhocks |
Hollyhocks |
Campions |
Crane's-bills |
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Common Purslane |
Coralbells |
Pink Purslane |
Crane's-bills |
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Mallows |
Mallows |
Crane's-bills |
Crane's-bills |
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Campions |
Primroses |
Red-maids |
Maiden Pink |
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Forget-me-nots |
Teaplants |
Stork's-bills |
Scarlet Pimpernel |
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Common Corncockle |
Crane's-bills |
Crane's-bills |
Crane's-bills |
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Pink-sorrels |
Saxifrages |
Sea Milkwort |
Water-violet |
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Common Centaury |
Common Dodder |
Purple Loosestrife |
Grass-poly |
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Sea-heath |
Bog Pimpernel |
Crane's-bills |
Borage |
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Proliferous Pink |
Spurreys |
Catchflys |
Fairy Foxglove |
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Ragged Robin |
Stonecrops |
Marsh Cinquefoil |
Pheasant's-eyes |
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Bedding Tobacco |
Red Bistort |
Phlox |
Pelargoniums |
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Common Hound's-tongue |
Common Heather |
Columbines |
Water Avens |
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Caucasian Crosswort |
Cyclamens and sowbreads |
Cowslips |
Primroses |
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Maltese-Cross |
Crimson Flax |
Spurges |
Stork's-bills |
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Anemones |
Tulips |
Gladioli |
Flowering-rush |
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Meadow Saffron |
Glory-of-the-snow |
Bog Pimpernel |
Dog's-tooth Violet |
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Hyacinths |
Bowden's Lily |
Lilies |
Lilies |
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Irises |
Marsh Helleborine |
Common Bee Orchid |
Onions & Garlics |
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Aster family |
Aster family |
Salsify |
Columbines |
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Houseleeks |
Common Soapwort |
Poppies |
Ross-moss |
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Peonies |
Columbines |
Tricolour Chrysanthemum |
Garden Dahlia |
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Cape Daisy |
Cape Daisy Hybrids |
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Fleabanes |
Dewplants & Sea-figs |
Asters & Daisies |
Tricolour Chrysanthemum |
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Knapweeds |
Burdocks |
Strawflower |
Strawflower |
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Meadow Saffron |
Marvel-of-Peru |
Bindweeds |
Gladioli |
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Lilies |
Balsams |
Heath Family |
Wintergreens |
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Deadly Nightshade |
Foxgloves |
Cape Figworts |
Snake's-head Fritillary |
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Heaths |
Heaths |
Heath Family |
Heath Family |
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Fumitories |
Fumitories |
Peas & Vetches |
Tulips |
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Common Hound's-tongue |
Comfreys |
Comfreys |
Snapdragons |
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Lungworts |
Bear's-breeches |
Germanders |
Dead-nettle Family |
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Snapdragons |
Bartsias |
Broomrapes |
Toadflaxes |
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Louseworts |
Figworts |
Cow-wheats |
Fluellens |
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New Zealand Flaxes |
Caucasian Crosswort |
Tongue Orchids |
Cape-jewels |
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Pink claries |
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Grasses |
Grasses |
Honey Garlic |
Flowering-rush |
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Vervains |
Indian-rhubarb |
Bergenias |
Common Thrift |
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Onions & Garlics |
Onions & Garlics |
Lilies |
Pokeweeds |
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Scabiouses |
Chives |
Masterworts |
Clovers |
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Clovers |
Clovers |
Pellitory-of-the-wall |
Valerians |
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Stonecrops |
Hemp-agrimony |
Yarrow |
Yarrow |
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Elders |
Heliotropes & Butterburs |
Thistles |
Mint Family |
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Mint family |
Mint family |
Red Valerian |
Common Dodder |
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Common Heather |
Common Centaury |
Red Bistort |
Common Sorrel |
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Pinks |
Peas and Vetches |
Peas and Vetches |
Snapdragons |
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Lupins |
Common Foxglove |
Gladioli |
Broomrapes |
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Orchids |
Fumitories |
Fumitories |
Marsh Helleborine |
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Lizard Orchid |
Orchids |
Hyacinths |
Persicaries & Bistorts |
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Rosebay Willowherb |
Loosestrifes |
Spiraeas |
Orchids |
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Mint family |
Bear's-breeches |
Plantains |
Heliotropes and butterburs |
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Scabiouses |
Valerians |
Caucasian Crosswort |
Orchids |
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Statice |
Spurges |
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Poplars |
Willows |
Elms |
Tamarisks |
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Japanese Aucuba |
Clematis |
Brooms |
Currants |
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Cotoneasters |
Snowberries |
Rose Family |
Rose Family |
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Teaplants |
Cherries |
Rose Family |
Weigela |
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Viburnums |
Lilacs |
Flowering Currant |
Spiraeas |
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Horse Chestnuts |
Horse Chestnuts |
Heath Family |
Cape Figworts |
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Fuchsias |
Honeysuckles |
Honeysuckles |
Mezereon |
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Rhododendrons |
Viburnums |
Escallonias |
Escallonias |
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Honeysuckle Family |
Honeysuckle Family |
Pittosporums |
Pink Rock-roses |
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Japanese Camellia |
Japanese Camellia |