You can only purchase and study this course between May and September, when plants are in flower!

Do you want to learn plant ID, but feel daunted by the number of species? Are field guides leaving you unsure where to start? If so, our Beginner’s Botany course has been designed especially for you! This online, self-study course is ideal for beginners and those wishing to brush up on their botanical skills. Botany is an important skill for ecologists and conservationists, as well as a fascinating and enjoyable hobby.

Course Description

In this course, we will introduce you to identifying wildflowers using families, keys, and field guides. This will provide you with the ideal platform from which to continue learning in your own time and at your own pace from the plants around you. During this course, you will become familiar with some of the most common flowering plants in different habitats. You will develop your confidence through self-study and identifying plants in the field.

This course can only be taken between May and September, as you will be required to collect and identify plant samples.

This beginner’s botany course will cover the following topics:

• Plant structure and features commonly used for ID
• Plant families and clues to their ID with examples for each family
• Using keys and field guides
• Examples of species from unimproved grassland and riparian habitat will be shown
• Includes tree workshop and some common grasses.

The tips you will learn from our experienced tutor will help you continue to learn how to identify the less common plants as you develop your new skill.

This is a comprehensive course with a lot of content. Take time to pause the videos frequently to take notes and refer to your samples and ID book/chart.

Allow at least 12 hours to complete this course (equivalent of a 2-day field course).

What you will need:

At least one of these:

• Flower ID book:
  • Collins Pocket Guide The Wild Flowers of Britain and Northern Europe, Blamey, Fitter and Fitter New edition 1996 (out of print but available secondhand)
  • The Wildflower Key. Francis Rose (2006)
  • Collins Tree Guide (2004)
• FSC Guides to flowering plants – grassland plants 1 and 2, trees, grasses.
• Or other flower ID book with trees and grasses in it.

Also:

A hand lens or magnifying glass.

A hard-back sketchbook (A4 minimum, A3 better) to collect your samples in (optional)

Sticky tape to stick your samples in your book (optional)

Beginner’s Botany Assessment

The assessment is in three parts:

• In the Part 4 video, there is a plant quiz and tree quiz – submit your answers by email.
• You will need to collect 10 flowering plant species, label each with its common name, Latin name, and family, and include identifying features. Send this as a PowerPoint by email or a short video via WhatsApp for checking.
• At the end, there will be a short quiz, and if you score over 70%, you will receive a certificate.

Course format – Video:

Part 1

Plant structure and habitats Playing time: 1 hour 15 mins

Part 2

Plant families Playing time: 1 hour 12 mins

Part 3

Tree and grass ID Playing time: 1 hour

Part 4

Practice and Assessment Playing time: 46 mins

Here’s what our students are saying:

I liked the way the videos were ordered and structured. They really helped me to start understanding my plant book and applying that knowledge to identifying plant families in the field. Previously I had tried to work my way through the book and had really struggled to get anywhere. The course was almost like a key to unlock it.

Sarah Barry

I loved Beginner’s Botany and have become completely obsessed with identifying plants and trees! It has felt like a key to unlock a whole new world, and I love being able to look around me on walks and identify lots of plants and trees I previously didn’t know. It has a really nice structure and watching the videos felt like being on a plant walk with Sue, which was really enjoyable as well as a really effective way of learning.

Sarah Barry

I loved how it was mainly a video course. I thought Sue presented it so well, and always looked forward to the next video.

Seb Swift

This course is a fantastic introduction into botany. I really did not know where to start when identifying plants and flowers but this really takes you back to the basics, and working from there. Highly recommended!

Seb Swift

I found the course very helpful, it increased my confidence a lot! And I really like the video format. It was a lovely course, very enjoyable!

Alexandre

Really great course to learn the basics of botany. Definitely recommend and was a fun and visual course which also requires you to go out and explore on your own time as well.

Dainah Websdale