Bull Thistle

End of season.

The remaining flowers of af Bull Thistle (Cirsium vulgare).

Carline Thistle

In a dry calcareous meadow or an open space in an oak wood you can find a small thistle with candelabra-like branches.

It is the Carline Thistle (Carlina vulgaris.

Late in summer spider webs covered this meadow, also the Carline Thistle.

The thin leaves are prickly and are covered with white hairs. The flower heads with many tubular flowers are surrounded by pale yellow bracts, shimmering like fresh straw.

Even after flowering it is beautiful. Until far into winter the bracts are visible on the plant, so it looks like it keeps on flowering. During rain they close, and when it is dry again they open up, liberating the seeds with parachute-like plumes to disperse.

Oregano

Oregano (Origanum vulgare) smells really good. In fact, you can use it as a kitchen herb, like its cultivated cousin.

Like mint, basil and many other perfumed and edible plants, Oregano belongs to the Lamiaceae family. All Lamiaceae have opposed leaves, rectangular stems and bisymmetrical flowers.

Oregano is very common. In some places the flowers of a dirty pink colour form big patches, like here along a path.