A Botanist in France

Cirque de Gavarnie, Pyrenees

For many years I avoided driving into France, but over the last few years I have been discovering the rich flora and scenery of the less populated areas such as the Auvergne, Cevennes, Pyrenees, Vercors and Alps. Being able to choose the best visiting times for flowers, some of the sights are almost unbelievable, such as mountain sides covered in wild daffodils and crocuses. There are many diverse habitats, each with its own particular flora. On one memorable 3 week holiday I found over 100 species of plants in flower that I had not seen before.


Trumpet gentian (Gentiana clusii)	Alpine rose (Rosa pendulina)	Iris (Iris lutescens)

The talk does not concentrate on any one particular area but visits many places and altitudes to bring you an impression of the warmth and richness of the countryside with photographs of trumpet gentians, orchids of all sorts, tiny alpine plants and much more.

Below are just a few more examples of the views and flora included in the talk.


Garrigue	Puy Mary, Auvergne


Cevennes National Park		Col des Saisies,Albertville,Alps

Jonquil (Narcissus jonquilla)		Garland Flower (Daphne cneorum)

Woodcock Orchid (Ophrys scolopax)	Yellow Gentian (Gentiana lutea)	Hairy Primrose (Primula hirsuta)

email - ian.whitehead1@ntlworld.com

If you are looking for somewhere to stay in the Auvergne region then I can personally recommend the gites owned by Peter and Di Scott. All the information can be found on their web site
auvergnehols.co.uk

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All photographs are the copyright of Ian R.Whitehead and may not be used without written permission.