The flora of PĂ©rigord 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!




July 2, 2017

Common Chicory


The Big Prize for the bluest flower will probably be given to Common Chicory (Cichorium intybus).





Below, this colour contrasts beautifully against the cereals ready for harvest that surround it. It can be found in cultivated fields, but also in gardens, on roadsides, or in wastelands.






The stalks zigzag everywhere. No leaves are visible any more, they have fallen off when flowering started.







Common Chicory is a sister of garden chicories and endives and, in fact, its leaves are edible, but very bitter, so you are not tempted to add them to a salad.


To see the flowers you should not wait until the end of the day.







You will not see anything but green stalks, the flowers open only in the morning and early afternoon.