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.



No Petals
Salad Burnet Salad Burnet Greater Burnet Lesser Meadow-rue
Burnets

Burnets

Burnets

Meadow-rues

Pellitory-of-the-wall Yorkshire-fog Sweet Corn Common Sorrel
Pellitory-of-the-wall

Grasses

Sweet Corn

Docks & Sorrels

Common Water-purslane Mare's-tail
Common
Water-purslane

Mare's-tail



Three Petals
Narrow-leaved Water-plantain Bearded Iris Heath Milkwort
Water-plantains

Irises

Milkworts



Four Petals
Common Poppy Prickly Poppy Opium Poppy Opium Poppy
Poppies

Poppies

Poppies

Poppies

Aubretia Cuckoo-flower Himalayan Clematis Rosebay Willowherb
Aubretia

Cuckoo-flower

Clematis

Rosebay Willowherb

Japanese Aucuba Short-fruited Willowherb Field Madder Squinancywort
Japanese Aucuba

Willowherbs

Squinancywort

Field Madder

Annual Honesty Common Radish Heath Speedwell Procumbent Pearlwort
Cabbage Family

Cabbage Family

Speedwells

Pearlworts

Farewell-to-spring Elegant Clarkia
Clarkias

Clarkias



Five Petals
Common Hollyhock Common Hollyhock Rose Campion Bloody Crane's-bill
Hollyhocks

Hollyhocks

Campions

Crane's-bills

Common Purslane Coralbells Pink Purslane Druce's Crane's-bill
Common Purslane

Coralbells

Pink Purslane

Crane's-bills

Musk Mallow Tree Mallow Hedgerow Crane's-bill Pencilled Crane's-bill
Mallows

Mallows

Crane's-bills

Crane's-bills

Red Campion Common Primrose Red-maids Maiden Pink
Campions

Primroses

Red-maids

Maiden Pink

Wood Forget-me-not Duke of Argyll's Teaplant Common Stork's-bill Scarlet Pimpernel
Forget-me-nots

Teaplants

Stork's-bills

Scarlet Pimpernel

Common Corncockle Dusky Crane's-bill Cut-leaved Crane's-bill Rock Crane's-bill
Common Corncockle

Crane's-bills

Crane's-bills

Crane's-bills

Common Pink-sorrel Hybrid Mossy Saxifrage Sea Milkwort Water-violet
Pink-sorrels

Saxifrages

Sea Milkwort

Water-violet

Common Centaury Common Dodder Purple Loosestrife Grass-poly
Common Centaury

Common Dodder

Purple Loosestrife

Grass-poly

Sea-heath Bog Pimpernel Shining Crane's-bill Borage
Sea-heath

Bog Pimpernel

Crane's-bills

Borage

Proliferous Pink Lesser Sea Spurrey Sand Catchfly Fairy Foxglove
Proliferous Pink

Spurreys

Catchflys

Fairy Foxglove

Ragged Robin English Stonecrop Marsh Cinquefoil Common Pheasant's-eye
Ragged Robin

Stonecrops

Marsh Cinquefoil

Pheasant's-eyes

Red Tobacco Red Bistort Paniculate Phlox Hybrid Zonal Pelargonium
Bedding Tobacco

Red Bistort

Phlox

Pelargoniums

Common Hound's-tongue Common Heather Common Columbine Water Avens
Common Hound's-tongue

Common Heather

Columbines

Water Avens

Caucasian Crosswort Common Sowbread Japanese Cowslip Common Primrose
Caucasian Crosswort

Cyclamens and sowbreads

Cowslips

Primroses

Maltese-Cross Crimson Flax Honey Spurge Manescau's Stork's-bill
Maltese-Cross

Crimson Flax

Spurges

Stork's-bills



Six Petals
Hybrid Japanese Anemone Gesner's Tulip Eastern Gladiolus Flowering-rush
Anemones

Tulips

Gladioli

Flowering-rush

Peruvian Lily Greig's Tulip Cretan Tulip
Lilies

Tulips

Tulips

Meadow Saffron Forbes's Glory-of-the-snow Bog Pimpernel Dog's-tooth Violet
Meadow Saffron

Glory-of-the-snow

Bog Pimpernel

Dog's-tooth Violet

Common Hyacinth Bowden's Lily Powell's Cape-lily Martagon Lily
Hyacinths

Bowden's Lily

Lilies

Lilies

Bearded Iris Marsh Helleborine Common Bee Orchid Rosy Garlic
Irises

Marsh Helleborine

Common
Bee Orchid

Onions & Garlics



More Than Six Petals
Brachyscome Mexican Cosmos Salsify Common Columbine
Aster family

Aster family

Salsify

Columbines

Cobweb Houseleek Common Soapwort Opium Poppy Rose-moss
Houseleeks

Common Soapwort

Poppies

Ross-moss

European Peony Common Columbine Tricolour Chrysanthemum Garden Dahlia
Peonies

Columbines

Tricolour Chrysanthemum

Garden Dahlia

Cape Daisy Cape Daisy
Cape Daisy

Cape Daisy Hybrids



Many-rayed Flowers
Seaside Fleabane Angular Sea-fig New England Aster Tricolour Chrysanthemum
Fleabanes

Dewplants
& Sea-figs

Asters & Daisies

Tricolour Chrysanthemum

Slender Knapweed Greater Burdock Strawflower Strawflower
Knapweeds

Burdocks

Strawflower

Strawflower



Tubular Flowers (petals fused into a broad or narrow, tube-like form)
Meadow Saffron Marvel-of-Peru Field Bindweed Eastern Gladiolus
Meadow Saffron

Marvel-of-Peru

Bindweeds

Gladioli

Powell's Cape-lily Indian Balsam Cowberry Common Wintergreen
Lilies

Balsams

Heath Family

Wintergreens

Deadly Nightshade Common Foxglove Hybrid Cape Figwort Snake's-head Fritillary
Deadly Nightshade

Foxgloves

Cape Figworts

Snake's-head
Fritillary

Cross-leaved Heath Spring Heath Shallon Common Bilberry
Heaths

Heaths

Heath Family

Heath Family

Hollow-root Common Fumitory Common Vetch Gesner's Tulip
Fumitories

Fumitories

Peas & Vetches

Tulips

Common Hound's-tongue Hidcote Comfrey Creeping Comfrey Common Snapdragon
Common Hound's-tongue

Comfreys

Comfreys

Snapdragons

Common Lungwort Spineless Bear's-breech Wall Germander Marsh Woundwort
Lungworts

Bear's-breeches

Germanders

Dead-nettle Family

Weasel's-snout Red Bartsia Ivy Broomrape Annual Toadflax
Snapdragons

Bartsias

Broomrapes

Toadflaxes

Marsh Lousewort Common Figwort Crested Cow-wheat Sharp-leaved Fluellen
Louseworts

Figworts

Cow-wheats

Fluellens

New Zealand Flax Caucasian Crosswort Common Tongue Orchid Cape-jewels
New Zealand Flaxes

Caucasian Crosswort

Tongue Orchids

Cape-jewels

Annual Clary
Pink claries



Many-flowered Heads
Velvet Bent Yorkshire-fog Honey Garlic Flowering-rush
Grasses

Grasses

Honey Garlic

Flowering-rush

Hybrid Vervain Indian-rhubarb Bergenia Common Thrift
Vervains

Indian-rhubarb

Bergenias

Common Thrift

Sand Leek Cultivated Onion Bowden's Lily Indian Pokeweed
Onions & Garlics

Onions & Garlics

Lilies

Pokeweeds

Macedonian Scabious Chives Greater Masterwort Red Clover
Scabiouses

Chives

Masterworts

Clovers

Hare's-foot Clover Knotted Clover Pellitory-of-the-wall Marsh Valerian
Clovers

Clovers

Pellitory-of-the-wall

Valerians

Butterfly Stonecrop Hemp-agrimony Yarrow Yarrow
Stonecrops

Hemp-agrimony

Yarrow

Yarrow

Dwarf Elder Winter Heliotrope Marsh Thistle Wild Marjoram
Elders

Heliotropes
& Butterburs

Thistles

Mint Family

Corn Mint Wild Basil Red Valerian Common Dodder
Mint family

Mint family

Red Valerian

Common Dodder

Common Heather Common Centaury Red Bistort Common Sorrel
Common Heather

Common Centaury

Red Bistort

Common Sorrel

Sweet-william Various-leaved Everlasting-pea Common Sainfoin Common Snapdragon
Pinks

Peas and Vetches

Peas and Vetches

Snapdragons

Lupin Hybrids Common Foxglove Eastern Gladiolus Ivy Broomrape
Lupins

Common Foxglove

Gladioli

Broomrapes

Early Marsh Orchid Hollow-root Common Fumitory Marsh Helleborine
Orchids

Fumitories

Fumitories

Marsh Helleborine

Lizard Orchid Early Purple Orchid Common Hyacinth Amphibious Bistort
Lizard Orchid

Orchids

Hyacinths

Persicaries
& Bistorts

Rosebay Willowherb Purple Loosestrife Confused Bridewort Pyramidal Orchid
Rosebay Willowherb

Loosestrifes

Spiraeas

Orchids

Spear Mint Spineless Bear's-breech Hoary Plantain Common Butterbur
Mint family

Bear's-breeches

Plantains

Heliotropes and butterburs

Devil's-bit Scabious Common Valerian Caucasian Crosswort Common Spotted Orchid
Scabiouses

Valerians

Caucasian Crosswort

Orchids

Sinuate Statice Honey Spurge
Statice

Spurges



Woody Trees, Shrubs & Climbers
Hybrid Black Poplar Creeping Willow Wych Elm Common Tamarisk
Poplars

Willows

Elms

Tamarisks

Japanese Aucuba Himalayan Clematis Common Broom Common Gooseberry
Japanese Aucuba

Clematis

Brooms

Currants

Wall Cotoneaster Common Snowberry Cherry Plum Dog Rose
Cotoneasters

Snowberries

Rose Family

Rose Family

Duke of Argyll's Teaplant Cheal's Weeping Cherry Common Hawthorn Weigela
Teaplants

Cherries

Rose Family

Weigela

Bodnant Viburnum Common Lilac Flowering Currant Confused Bridewort
Viburnums

Lilacs

Flowering Currant

Spiraeas

Horse Chestnut Horse Chestnut Shallon Hybrid Cape Figwort
Horse Chestnuts

Horse Chestnuts

Heath Family

Cape Figworts

Magellanic Fuchsia Tartarian Honeysuckle Common Honeysuckle Mezereon
Fuchsias

Honeysuckles

Honeysuckles

Mezereon

Hybrid Rhododendron Bodnant Viburnum Escallonia Escallonia
Rhododendrons

Viburnums

Escallonias

Escallonias

Common Snowberry Common Snowberry Kohuhu Pink Rock-roses
Honeysuckle Family

Honeysuckle Family

Pittosporums

Pink Rock-roses

Japanese Camellia Japanese Camellia
Japanese Camellia

Japanese Camellia