The flora of Périgord in South-West France is abundant and diverse. In this blog you can find, in pictures, brief encounters with several hundreds of wild flowers and plants as they grow here in French Perigord. Following the seasons other species are added. An index of scientific and English names you find below on the right.

Corine Oosterlee is a botanist and photographer and she offers guided Botanical Walks and other activities around plants and vegetation in nature in Perigord. Do you want to know more? On www.baladebotanique.fr you can find more information. For Corine's photography see www.corineoosterlee.com. Both websites also in English.

Enjoy!




January 1, 2009

Butchers Broom


Just before Christmas I found at the market these prickly green branches with red berries. It is called Butchers Broom (Ruscus aculeatus) but False Holly would be a better name because it is used as a substitute for the real thing. However, no need to buy it, to pick some branches from the woods does no harm. Today, after decorating homes for the holidays, there is enough left. It is a small shrub with stiff and straight branches, growing in the shadow of deciduous trees.























When you have a good look, you can still find some small greenish flowers. They are seated in the center of a leaf, or so it seems. But this false holly has no leaves, they are cladodes, branches flattened into an oval shape. It looks a little bit like asparagus which belongs to the same family and has also cladodes.