Narrow-leaved Lungwort

Leaves of Narrow-leaved Lungwort (Pulmonaria longifolia) can be found nearly all year round. Look for them in woods, along a path, especially under Chestnuts or other trees that grow on acidic soil. The leaves are spotted, white on green, and with some ( a lot of!) phantasy you could say to look like the inside of a lung. Whence its name. By analogy, according to some, the plant could be used in medecine against lung diseases. Well, let us leave aside beliefs...





At this moment they make little leaf rosettes in which the flower buds are already visible. As with many spotted plants, every individual has its own pattern of spots, form, size and intensity specific for it. There are no twoi plants that look alike.





The plant her below still has a leaf from last year. In summer, Narrow-leaved Lungwort makes far bigger leaves, until 50 cm long. The old leaves disappear in winter. Except the one here, it seems.





Now, end of February, the first flowers are already open. And what flowers!






Nothing out of normal, this is a plant that flowers early, at the end of winter. The exceptionally warm and sunny weather of last weeks did not have that much effect on the flowering; the cold nights really slowed down growth.

Hornbeam

The Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) is a very common tree in Perigord. It grows mostly on northern slopes and in deep valleys, where it can develop into large shadowy forests. It replaced beeches that have nearly disappeared from Dordogne. Same kind of tree, nearly the same kind of habitat. Normally, Hornbeams do not grow old. It is not every day you meet an old Hornbeam like this one. This Methusalem is rather high than broad and its trunk has thick irregular ridges, as if it consisted of many interwoven thin trees.






It is normal for a Hornbeam to have a ribbed trunk, as you can see here below. On younger trees it is sometimes difficult to see, but if you pass your hand over the bark you feel the twists in the wood under it.






Nearly invisible in the picture: the buds begin to grow in this still wintry copse. Hornbeams develop their leaves a bit earlier than Oaks and Chestnuts. Wait some weeks, and the new leaves will come out.





End of March, here are the leaves!





They look much like Beech leaves, but they are not as shiny and of a lighter green, and there are no hairs on the leaf edges.

The catkins - here below the male ones - develop at the same time as the leaves.





They move with the wind that takes the pollen wherever it wants.