Surprise! A cereal field after harvest in summer has changed into a flower meadow. It is covered in purple. And a spicy smell emanates from it. Lesser Calamint (Clinopodium nepeta subsp nepeta) is in full bloom and it is has a strong perfume, a mix of mint and pharmacy. Most Calamints have a smell, but compared to this subspecies of Lesser Calamint they are very understated.
You don't risk to smell it often, this Lesser Calament is very rare. You find it especially in cultivated fields and it does not like fertilizer or herbicides or insecticides. So you understand why it is so rare.
Like other Calamints it is an autumn plant. Before August you won't find it and it flowers until November or even later. It has whorls of small flowers with calyxes with short dents, important criterion to distinguish it from its cousins.
Those small dense tufts look good between the warm yellow limestone of this field.
See you next year, Lesser calamint!