Velvet shank
The velvet shank can be found clustered on the dead and dying wood of deciduous trees, such as elm, ash, beech or oak. It has a bright orange cap and can be seen throughout winter.
Velvet swimming crab
Look out for the bright red eyes of this speedy crab in rockpools - but be careful, they're notoriously feisty and will give a painful nip!
Vervain
An introduced plant, vervain is widely naturalised in the UK. It is a great source of nectar for all kinds of insects and can be seen on rough grassland, waste ground, coastal cliffs and roadside verges.
Violet click beetle
The violet click beetle is a very rare beetle that lives in decaying wood, particularly common beech and ash. It gets its name from its habit of springing upwards with an audible click if it falls on its back. It is found at just three sites in the UK.
Violet coral
The branching, finger-like projections of this fungus give it the appearance of an underwater coral. Its striking colour and form make it easy to spot, but it is scarce in the UK.
Violet ground beetle
Violet ground beetles are active predators, coming out at night to hunt slugs and other invertebrates in gardens, woodlands and meadows.
Violet sea slug
Despite its dazzling colouration, this fabulous nudibranch can be easily missed, due to its small size!
Viper's-bugloss
The upright, blue flower spikes of Viper's-bugloss can be spotted on chalk grassland, sand dunes, cliffs and banks. Its spotted stem is thought to resemble a viper.
Wall barley
The distinctive spiky, or 'bearded', green flower heads of wall barley appear from June to July and are easy to spot in an urban environment as they push their way up through pavements and walls.
Wall brown
The wall brown or 'wall' gets its name from the fact it rests on any bare surface or wall! It can be found in open, sunny places like sand dunes, old quarries, grasslands and railway cuttings.
Wall-rue
With club-shaped leaflets on its fronds, wall-rue is easy to spot as it grows out of crevices in walls. Plant it in your garden rockery to provide cover for insects.
Warty venus
This bumpy shell lives up to its name and lives partly buried in the seabed along the west coast of Great Britain.