Ceratostigma plumbaginoides.Leadwort

Ceratostigma plumbaginoides
Leadwort
Cératostigma

A flowering herbaceous plant or subshrub, it is native to East Africa and Asia. It is widely used in french gardens and unknown when it was first introduced.
The name is derived from the Greek 'keras' meaning horn and 'stigma' referring to the shape of the stigma.
It flowers at the end of summer, from August through October. The blue flowers are compact, each with a 5-lobed corolla. The leaves are small, oval, lined with curved hairs, and turn red in the fall.

Cascading down the steps of a garden in Lacoste, 9.16.14

Blossoms, 9.16.14

Fall color starting, Lacoste, 9.14.16

Leaf, 9.16.14

Callistemon citrinus.Crimson Bottlebrush

Callistemon citrinus
Crimson Bottlebrush
Rince-bouteille

 Callistemon lanceolatus is a synonym

Shrub or small tree native to Australia. It was collected by the British explorers Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander in 1770 during their exploration of the east coast of Australia. By 1788, 3 species including C. citrinus were available to English horticulturists. 

The book, Descriptions des Plantes Rares cultivees a Malmaison et a Navarre, published in France in 1813, by the French botanist, Aimé Bondspland, featured plants growing in Empress Josephine's garden at Le Malmaison just outside Paris. This book included an illustration of C.speciosus, indicating that callistemon was being planted as an herbaceous ornamental in France by the early 1800s. The illustrator was Pierre-Joseph Redouté, a painter and botanist from the Netherlands, who became the Empress Josephine's official artist.

In Situ, garden in Lacoste, 9.16.14

Blossom, Lacoste garden, 9.16.14

Leaves, Lacoste garden, 9.16.14

Illustration by Pierre-Joseph Redouté published in Descriptions des Plantes Rares cultivees a Malmaison et a Navarre, 1813

Cephalaria transylvanica

Cephalaria transylvanica
Unknown English
Céphalaire de Transylvanie

Tall, airy plant with small scabious-like flowers in pale mauve and blue, flowering June through September and sporadically into the fall
Found in Provence and Mediterranean region, southern and Eastern Europe, Asia
A synonym is Succisa pentaphylla Moench according to Association Tela Botanica, www.tela-botanica.org. It also appears very similar to Scabiosa atropurpurea.
The stems are soft, bristly, and highly branched.

In Situ in fiel

Basal leaves, along ancient road outside Lacoste, 11.2.14

Blossom on plant along road outside Lacoste, 11.2.14

Seed head

Illustration

Leaves on plant at Le Fort de Buoux, 10.11.14

Calluna vulgaris.Scotch Heather

Calluna vulgaris

Heather, Scotch heather
Callune commune, "fausse bruyére"

Colluna vulgaris is the sole species in the genus Calluna and is referred to as "Erica" in old references. In the 19th century, the British botanist, Richard Anthony Salisbury, separated it from the closely related genus 'Erica', and devised the generic name 'Calluna' from the Greek "kallunein" for "beautify, or sweep clean" in reference to its traditional use in brooms.

Three genera comprise what are often referred to as "heather":
Calluna (true heather) with small scale-like leaves
Erica (heath), with needle-like leaves
Daboecia (St. Dabeoc's heath) which is less hardy with slightly broader, alternate needle-like leaves 

Calluna vulgaris is a low-growing perennial shrub found widely in Europe and Asia. It has naturalized in Northeast and Northwest US. It is sometimes referred to as summer or autumn heather to distinguish it from winter or spring flowering species of Erica.
The roots release an alleopathic substance that can inhibit the growth of other plants. It requires acidic soil, thus is a good indicator of low pH soil levels.

Blossoms. Ochre Cliffs, Roussillon.9.25.14

Scale-like leaves; 'Calluna' has scale leaves in opposite pairs shaped like an 'x'; 'Erica' has scale leaves in whorls of 3 -4

Form

Illustration by Dr. Otto Wilhelm Thomé, 1885

Cichorium intybus.Chicory

Cichorium intybus
Chicory
Chicorée amère


Chicory is a somewhat woody herbaceous perennial, native to Europe.
The plant has been developed for a variety of uses:
~ leafy vegetable in various colors, in a head form like radicchio, or as a dandelion-like leaf
~ root crop (C. intybus var. sativum) which is roasted and ground, used as a coffee substitute
~ forage crop for pasturing animals

Leaves are lanceolate and unlobed

Bloom. Lacoste valley. 9.27.14

Lacoste valley 9.27.14

Illustration: Jan Kops, Flora Batava, 1853

In Situ, Lacoste valley 9.27.14

Campanula trachelium.Nettle-leaved Bellflower

Campanula trachelium
Nettle-leaved bellflower, Throatwort
Campanula gantelèe

Campanula is from Latin meaning "small bell". It is native to Denmark and England,now found southward through much of Europe into Africa.
The alternate name throatwort is derived from an old belief that C. trachelium is a cure for sore throat, and the species name trachelium refers to this old belief.
It is a perennial plant with one or more unbranched, often reddish, square-edged stems that are roughly hairy.

Bloom

Flora Batava, Christiaan Sepp illustration, 1849

Blossom.Lacoste.11.02.14 
The inflorescence is a spike with a few slightly nodding flowers. 
Each flower has five sepals which are fused, erect and hairy, and the five violet (or occasionally white) petals are fused into a bell that is hairy inside. 
There are five stamens and a pistil formed from three fused carpels. 

Leaf. Lacoste.11.02.14

Convolvulus cantabrica.Dwarf Morning Glory

Convolvulus cantabrica
Cantabrica Morning Glory, Dwarf Morning Glory
Liseron des monts cantabres

Native to southern Europe and widespread in the Mediterranean coast
Prefers rocky places, sunny slopes, scrublands with calcerous soils at an altitude up to 1300 meters 
Flowers are usually pale pink but can be white. Flowering period extends from May through October

Blossom.Forét des Cèdres.9.16.14

In Situ.Forét des Cèdres.9.16.14

Leaf.Forét des Cèdres.9.16.14

 

In Situ

Cytisus sauzeanus

Cytisus sauzeanus

Cytise de Sauze

Native to Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia

In France it is endemic to the Dauphiné, a former province of southeastern France roughly equivalent to the present departments of Isère, Drôme, and Hautes-Alpes

Fruits are hairy, oblong pods containing kidney-shaped seeds

In Situ, trail in the hills behind Lacoste 5.23.13

Bloom

Leaf

Jacob Sturm illustration 1796

 

Cornus sanguinea.Common Dogwood

Cornus sanguinea
Common dogwood, Bloodtwig dogwood
Cornouiller sanguin

Native to most of Europe and western Asia, growing in margins of forests and along stream banks

Reproduces by seed and by stolons, making it effective in forming dense groves

In Situ, path from Lacoste to Bonnieux.5.22.13

Bloom 5.22.13

Fruit, sometimes called “dogberries”

Jacob Sturm illustration 1796

 

 

Fall in Lacoste.9.16.14

Choisya ternata.Mexican orange blosssom

Choisya ternata
Mexican orange blossom
Oranger du Mexique

Evergreen shrub, native to Southwestern US, Mexico

Very popular ornamental plant in areas with mild winters

Abundant, very fragrant flowers

C. ternata has 3 broad leaflets, C. dumosa has 13 very narrow leaflets

Form 4.18.13

Le Jardin des Plantes, Paris

Leaf 4.18.13, Le Jardin des Plantes, Paris

New growth

Bloom

 

Centranthus ruber.Red Valerian

Centranthus ruber

Red Valerian

Centhrante rouge

Native of the Mediterranean, 'Centranthus' is from the Greek words: ‘kentron’ meaning “spur” and  ‘anthros’ meaning “flower”
Inflorescences range from reds, pinks, lavenders to whites, each with 5 fused petals and a spur, blooming early summer through the fall.

The fleshy leaves are oval to lanceolate gray-green, opposite and both petioled and sessile.

Inflorescence

Petioled and Sessile Leaf forms

In Situ, Chateau Marquis de Sade, Lacoste, 9.16.14

 

In Situ, Chateau Marquis de Sade, Lacoste. 9.16.14

Ceanothus thyrsiflorus.California Lilac

Ceanothus thyrsiflorus
Blueblossom, California Lilac
Lilas de Californie

Native to California and northern Mexico, commonly cultivated in Europe
It is an evergreen shrub, growing to 20 feet tall in its native habitat, less tall as a cultivated variety.
In flower from May to June, with seeds opening Aug. to Oct.

Bossom.5.15.13

Leaf.5.15.13

Form.5.15.13

In Situ next to Tamarix gallica, 5.15.13

Abbey Saint-Hilaire, Ménerbes