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 18, 2020

Wayfaring Tree

 

Wayfaring Tree (Viburnum lantana) us a rather chaotic bush that can be found in dry spots on limestone soil. It grows in sunny places, but it prefers just a bit of shade, as here on the edge of a Downy Oak forest.

 


 

Now it has already made berries and they are nearly finished, difficult to find the last ones.















In the background green berries that never ripened, surrounded by brown leaves. When ripening, the berries turn from red into black. Often you find bunches with berries of both colours.

 

 

The flowers, in April, smell good and they are a beautiful creamy white. 















Those red soils are not limestone at all! In Dordogne you can find acidic soils just beside the limestone. That is why you can find typical limestone vegetation just a step away from typical vegetation for acidic soil. So there is an explanation for finding Wayfaring Tree in this image.

 

 

 

The leaves of Wayfaring Tree are a bit downy, maybe to protect them against drying out.


 

 

Even when it rains...