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!




July 2, 2018

Bird's Foot Trefoil


If you make a walk in summer you cannot avoid meeting Bird's Foot Trefoil ( (Lotus corniculatus).



 
Here, besides a path between fields left fallow this year it grows abundantly.










 
Hundreds of flowerheads with  butterfly-shaped flowers grow here.










During the day the flowers are turned upwards, but when night falls, they fold downwards. Here, early in the morning when there are still dewdrops around, they are asleep. As the fly seems to be also, it does not look that much awake.



 
Bird's Foot Tréfoil is very variable. There are plants with oval leaves and more or less horizontal branches, and other plants with straight leaves and vertical stems.



There are nearly always some orange flowers between the yellow ones.










 
Now the fruits are developing. They are long straight cylindrical pods, yes, a bit like bird's feet, including nails!