Squinancywort

Freezing fog covered everything in white. Also Squinancywort (Asperula cynanchica), a little perennial plant from limestone meadows and rocks and stones. It flowers from the end of summer until winter. It likes a dry and sunny climate, but does not seem to be bothered very much by cold weather.

You cannot say it is a conspicuous plant. A bit greyish, the thin stalks and narrow leaves are a greyish green, even the tiny white-pink flowers are greyish. Leaves there are not many, most of its photosyntheses occurs in stalks.

Like nearly all plants from the Rubiaceae family the flowers are like small crosses formed by the four lobes of the corolla, and after flowering, there are two round fruits on each flower.

To see its beauty you have to really look...

... and look.

Water Chickweed

After a cold night Water Chickweed (Myosoton aquaticum) is not at its best, it is a bit drooping. This little flower grows near water, as here on the Dordogne banks.

Often stinging nettles grow in the same spot, Water Chickweed is a bit more demanding, it needs not only a nitrogen-rich soil, but also a fair amount of water.

You could mistake it for another annual, Common Chickweed, that has the same kind of white flowers. Flowers, opposite leaves and pattern of growth look rather alike, maybe the Water Chickweed is a bit larger.

The day of this photograph the flowers were nearly closed because of the cold. The plant looks delicate but it can live and flower until deep into winter.