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!




August 25, 2018

Wild Angelica


The large umbels of Wild Angelica (Angelica sylvestris) show off in this poplar plantation near a small stream. In a good year this majestic plant can grow easily two metrres high. Here the soil is wet enough and this spring there was a lot of rain, so everything goes well for Wild Angelica.
Look at details of this plant, it is worthwhile.





Every umbel has two dozens of little umbels on stalks that grow out of the central axis, and every little umbel in its turn has dozens of creamy flowers on still smaller stalks that grow out of the center of those small umbels. The stamina are much longer as the petals and protrude invitingly towards passing insects. A big Rose Chafer (Cetonia aurata) took to it, it does not eat just the stamina but also the rest of the flowers.


Here below some leaf sheaths in spring.





Above right the sheath ends into three leaf stems. The sheat to the left is thick and rounded because it still contains the buds of the new flowering stem that will grow out of it soon. And there is a beautiful pattern of hairs, ridges and coloured nerfs.






At the end of summer leaves are often a bit worn down. The weather, insects and diseases did some damage. Leaves are pinnate and have fine dents.




Visible parts of the plant die in winter, but brown round stalks stay around intil spring. Not much is left from the umbels, but some seeds still adhere to them.