Plants with White Flowers
White flowers can be found in many plant families; in the spring they are commonly found in the chickweed and mouse-ear family - small to very small plants with five-petalled flowers that can be obvious as early as late February or early March. In early summer, shrubs with white flowers are common, especially in the rose 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.
If you are struggling to identify a white flower, it is worth bearing in mind that white colour forms of normally red or blue-flowered species
occur from time to time and can even be quite frequent in some plant populations; where I have pictures of these, they are included in the guide. Such plants often occur as individuals within typically-coloured plants of the same species so it is always worth looking at what else is in the immediate area.
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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Meadow-rues
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Spanish Catchfly
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Rushes
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White Beak-sedge
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Pellitory-of-the-wall
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Mind-your-own-business
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Bur-reeds
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Carpet Box
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Mare's-tail
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Parrot's-feather
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Water-milfoils
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Enchanter's Nightshades
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Waterweeds
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Water-plantains
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Milkworts
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Snowdrops
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Cabbage Family
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Cresses
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Bedstraws
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Bedstraws
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New Zealand
Pygmyweed
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Squinancywort
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May Lily
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Common Poppy
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Dodders
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Candytufts
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Pepperworts
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Spurges
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Willowherbs
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Clarkias
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Pearlworts
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Fish-plant
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Rock-roses
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Stork's-bills
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Pansies & Violets
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Hollyhocks
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Wood Sorrel
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Grass-of-Parnassus
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White forget-me-nots
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Bladder Ketmia
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Spurges
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Pearlworts
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Rose Family
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Water-crowfoots
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Saxifrages
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Primroses
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Rose Family
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Periwinkles
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Strawberries
& allies
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Meadow-foam
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Crane's-bills
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Campions
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Mouse-ears
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Fairy Flax
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Borage
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Rock Crane's-bill
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Fairy Foxglove
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Eyebrights
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Sea Sandwort
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Blinks
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Sundews
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Sandworts
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Saxifrages
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Saxifrages
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Stonecrops
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Bogbean
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Mudwort
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Western Bastard-toadflax
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Corn Spurrey
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Knotgrasses
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Chickweeds
& Stitchworts
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Small-flowered
Catchfly
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Daisy Family
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Mouse-ears
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Pennyworts
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Speedwells
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European Brookweed
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Perfoliate
Springbeauty
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Valerians
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Common Vervain
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Umbellifers
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Umbellifers
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Fringecups
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Peas & Vetches
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Nightshades
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Bacopa
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Stork's-bills
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Wintergreens
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Wintergreens
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Fairy Lobelia
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Cyclamens and sowbreads
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Columbines
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Larkspurs
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Love-in-a-mist
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Ragged-Robin
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Cape Snapdragon
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Fish-plant
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Statice
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Wood Anemone
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Onions & Garlics
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Common Star-of-Bethlehem
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Drooping Star-of-Bethlehem
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Spring Starflower
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Lilies
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Daffodils
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Spanish-dagger
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Common Snowdrop
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Summer
Snowflake
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Tulips
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Chickweed-wintergreen
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Water-lilies
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Love-in-a-mist
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Masterworts
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Sneezewort
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Hollyhocks
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Peonies
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Rose-moss
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White-flowered daisies
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Snowdrops
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Sneezewort
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Tricolour Chrysanthemum
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Dahlias
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White Daisies
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Asters &
Michaelmas-daisies
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Tricolour Chrysanthemum
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Cape Daisy
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Garden Dahlia
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Crocuses
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Heaths
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Comfreys
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Comfreys
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Gromwells
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Lily-of-the-valley
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Heath Family
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Heath Family
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Common Foxglove
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Bluebells
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Snake's-head
Fritillary
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Summer Snowflake
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Bindweeds
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Bellflowers
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White claries
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Dead-nettles
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Toadflaxes & allies
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Toadflaxes & allies
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Clovers
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Clovers
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Common Toothwort
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Bear's-breeches
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Fairy Lobelia
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Hybrid Petunia
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Altar-lily
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Bedstraws
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Candytuft
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Cresses
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Cabbage Family
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Umbellifers
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Umbellifers
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Yarrow
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Rhubarb
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Meadow-rues
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Meadowsweets
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Red Valerian
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May Lily
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Lizard's-tail
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Common Toothwort
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Valerians
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Elders
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Knotweeds
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Knotweeds
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Common Buckwheat
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Bedstraws
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Teasels
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Teasels
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Globe-thistles
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Bogbean
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Umbellifers
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Heliotropes
& Butterburs
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Onions & Garlics
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Common Star-of-Bethlehem
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Onions & Garlics
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Drooping Star-of-Bethlehem
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Climbing
Corydalis
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Fumitories
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Spanish-dagger
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Pokeweeds
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Orchids
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Orchids
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Orchids
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Orchids
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Lady's-tresses
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Melilots
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Dodders
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Fringecups
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Pellitory-of-the-wall
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Thistles
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Greater Masterwort
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Scabiouses
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Clovers
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Clovers
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White Beak-sedge
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Bur-reeds
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Grasses
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Cottongrasses
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Bear's-breeches
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Orchids
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Roses
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Brambles
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Rose Family
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Rose Family
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Spindles
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Alder Buckthorn
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Oleasters
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Hollies
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Privets & allies
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Dogwoods
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Eucalypts
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Sallows
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Honeysuckles
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Honeysuckles
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Honeysuckle family
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Limes
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Russian-vine
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Wireplant
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Bay Laurel
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Cherries
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Black Locust
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Sorbarias
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Lilacs
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Privets & allies
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Sweet Chestnut
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Hebes
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Horse Chestnuts
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Cherries
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Butterfly-bushes
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Daisy-bushes
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Guelder-rose
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Viburnums
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Elders
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Manna Ash
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Angelica-trees
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Rhododendrons
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Elders
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Elders
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Mock-oranges
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Clematis
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Japanese Fatsia
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Shrubby Cinquefoil
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Mexican Orange-blossom
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Gum Rock-rose
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Japanese Skimmia
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Japanese Skimmia
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Japanese Camellia
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Summer Jasmine
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Fuchsias
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