These mysterious and beautiful creatures rely on warm ocean currents to ‘sail’ them around the world... not a bad life?

This stocky, brown mammal spends its life burrowing underground with its spade-like paws, hunting for earthworms to eat.

Sometimes called 'Wild spinach', Sea beet can be cooked and eaten. It grows wild on shingle beaches, cliffs and bare ground near to the sea, as well as in saltmarshes.

In May, our hedgerows burst into life as common hawthorn erupts with creamy-white blossom, colouring the landscape and giving this thorny shrub its other name of 'May-tree'.

In May, our hedgerows and woodland edges burst into life as Midland hawthorn erupts with masses of pinky-white blossom. During the autumn, red fruits known as 'haws' appear.

The London plane tree is, as its name suggests, a familiar sight along the roadsides and in the parks of London. An introduced and widely planted species, it is tough enough to put up with city…