Inundations

After lots of rain this winter little streamlets are brimming over, and this small wooded valley is completely inundated.

The new white-speckled leaves of the Italian Arum (Arum italicum) are flooded.

And also the Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis).
















But all will survive, in a few days or weeks the water will retire and everything goes back to normal.

Common Primrose

The first one of this year! In Trémolat, on a rather steep hill. It is really early, this Common Primrose (Primula vulgaris).

Red Deadnettle

In flower in January: the Red Deadnettle (Lamium purpureum). It is a little annual plant that grows in vegetable gardens and in corn fields out of crop.

And also elsewhere, in a stack of wood.

Or next to a pile of rocks.


















All plants of the Lamiaceae family have foursquare stems, opposite leaves and flowers with a speckled lower lip.

Cowslip

Among fallen Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) leaves...

...in six weeks the Cowslip (Primula veris) will flower!

Spindle Bush

The Spindle Bush (Euonymus europaeus) is an unassuming plant. It grows well hidden in an neglected hedge. It is rather shapeless, the leaves are not remarkable at all and its green branches blend in with their surroundings.



But in November it has a complete change-over. Now it shows fluorescent pink fruits with contrasting brilliant orange berries inside. And certain hedges are pink all-over, now!

Pubescent Oak

About ten species of oaks grow in Perigord. Some of them look alike a lot, and to make things more complicated, they also interbreed easily. Often you can find intermediate trees.

Those here below are Pubescent Oaks (Quercus pubescens), the most common species on dry limestone soils. It is a deciduous tree, but mostly the dry brown leaves stay on the branches during winter. The trees are not very big, and often stunted with convoluted branches.



It is well adapted to dry circumstances; the backsides of the leaves are slightly velvety.

















The small acorns grow in bunches and sit directly on the branches.

Two maples

The Montpellier Maple (Acer monspessulanum) grows on limestone hills. Mostly it is a shrub, but in some places you can find magnificent trees about fifteen metres high. Early in autumn, when the nights are getting colder, it changes its colour. The green turns into a blazing orange-red.

But not this year. Now, beginning November, the small three-lobed leaves are still green, turning just yellow or salmon. May be the real autumn colours are still to come?

The Field Maple (Acer campestre) is another small-leaved maple. In autumn its colours changes into yellow, nearly never into orange. The leaves are more or less irregular, with at least five lobes.

Regarding the soil where it grows, the Field Maple is not as difficult as the other species, it grows nearly everywhere.

Field Maples are often planted in gardens and parks, often the leaves of cultivated trees are slightly larger than those of truly wild trees.