A few shots from Southwest France and adjacent parts of Spain

[Gerdk]

At the beginning of last week I accompanied a friend to the start of the Camino de Santiago trail at St. Jean de Pied de Port. While my friend took the camino for three days I drove his car near his hiking path and we met always late in the afternoon.  In the first part I took the opportunity to look for the giant version of Narcissus bulbocodium which occurs south of Bordeaux. Later there were a lot of different plants, some of them typically found in the Pyrenees.

1. - 4.  Narcissus bulbocodium (citrinus) - Landes form/ height of flower stalk more than 30 cm!
5.         habitat of this daffodil
6.         St. Jean
7.         Arum italicum
8.         Helleborus foetidus (?)
9.         Primula veris
10.       along the  camino

Gerd

[Gerdk]

Part 2

1. Puente la Reina near Pamplona
2. Estella near Pamplona
3. + 4. Narcissus bulbocodium - the smaller version in the Urbasa Nature Park
5. Erythronium dens-canis leaves
6. Pinguicula grandiflora
7. + 8. Viola reichenbachiana
9. Narcissus pseudonarcissis nobilis

Gerd

[Gerdk]

... and the rest


Helleborus occidentalis ( H. viridis occidentalis) and Fritillaria pyrenaica


Gerd

[ashley]

Very nice to see Gerd; thank you.

I have young plants of Helleborus occidentalis & Erythronium dens-canis from seed collected further west and look forward to seeing what they turn out like.

The Pinguicula grandiflora looks a shade darker than the usual form here in Ireland.  Is the colour correct?

[Gerry Webster]

Gerd - really interesting to see this giant form of N. bulbocodium. Incidentally, Blanchard regards this as a form of var. conspicuus but I suppose, as with all the bulbocodiums, one could argue about this for ever.

[ronm]

Re : Pinguicula grandiflora. I have been growing Pings over 25 years and like to think I know a little about them. When I saw the pic and then the colour query from Ashley I thought " yes it does seem darker " but thought i would perhaps see a lot more variation than my experience if I 'Googled'. I saw ( to my amazement) that Kew - The Plant List has P.grandiflora as an unresolved species ! Surely not?

[Gerdk]

Very nice to see Gerd; thank you.
I have young plants of Helleborus occidentalis & Erythronium dens-canis from seed collected further west and look forward to seeing what they turn out like.
The Pinguicula grandiflora looks a shade darker than the usual form here in Ireland.  Is the colour correct?

Ashley, Thank you!
According the Pinguicula pic I mean the colour is more or less of the same tone which I saw.

Gerd

[Gerdk]

Gerd - really interesting to see this giant form of N. bulbocodium. Incidentally, Blanchard regards this as a form of var. conspicuus but I suppose, as with all the bulbocodiums, one could argue about this for ever.

Gerry, you are right - this is the variety mentioned above but, as you assume there is no consensus concerning
the plant mentioned above. After I saw an immense amount of variation in some (other) bulbocodium populations
I hesitate to use subspecies or variety names.

Gerd

[David Lyttle]

Lovely shots Gerd; it is curious seeeing Narcissus bulbocodium growing on a road verge.

[Gerdk]

Lovely shots Gerd; it is curious seeeing Narcissus bulbocodium growing on a road verge.

Thanks, David.
In Spain there are lots of wild daffodils growing under these conditions. I remember a viridiflorus site which seems nearly identically to the French one. One reason for this occurence is the disturbed open ground besides roads.

Gerd

[Armin]

Lovely images from your trip!
I like the N. pseudonarcissus nobilis.

[Gerdk]

Thank you, Armin!

This trumpet daffodils aren't much different from those we saw in the Eifel. Perhaps a little bit higher but not always.

Gerd

[Armin]

Gerd,
that's quite interesting. I remember your N. nobilis in your (old) garden. They were so strong bi-colored, elegant shaped and much larger compared those from Eifel.