We are at the end of october but when you look at this field you could think it is May, so many flowers!
Most of them are species that flower as well before as after the drought and hotness of summer, and the little bit of rain that has fallen since then is enough for them to flower. The clovers grown here for fodder are definitely a minority.
In this field on sandy soil on the edge of a Sweet Chestnut forest a small flower with unusual colours is very obvious.
European Umbrella Milkword (Tolpis umbellata) is an Asteraceae. In its flower heads we see pale yellow radiating flowers around a dark red heart.
Every ligulate flower has only one petal fringed at its end. The exterior ligulate flowers are much larger than the lemon yellow and red interior ones. The pistils are nearly invisible in the picture, they are hidden in the flowers. Only some small spots of yellow pollen are visible.
The flowers in the flower head are surrounded by bracts that have all the same length and are covered by grey felt hairs. A second row of longer and irregular bracts form a kind of crown under the flower head. A bit lower on the stem also some bract-like leaves can be seen.
European Umbrella Milkwort is a mediterranean plant and it is not often found in Dordogne, it is at the limit of its area. You could think that with climate change it could become more common here. That's not sure at all, to flourish it needs agricultural fields on sandy soil without herbicide and fertilizer. And this type of habitat is disappearing in Dordogne.