A Flower and Butterfly Trip to the Alpes Maritimes in Southern France Ruth Baumberg

©Ruth Baumberg A flower and butterfly trip to the Alpes Maritimes in southern France Ruth Baumberg Fig. 1 The Cassouls plateau t’s the end of May, and tunnel into Italy – or at least Butterfly Conservation in the I I’ve just returned from a single, small corner of the UK; and the remainder, plant Provence and a week’s Italian Alps. nuts like me. tour of the mountains and Again I was in a group We flew to Nice and garrigue country – garrigue of 14 like-minded Natural assembled with the three is the name given to the History freaks: some bird guides who drove the three Mediterranean scrubland enthusiasts – one carried a 4WD vehicles up to the which is made up of low- large telescope everywhere, plateau of Cassouls via growing, bushy plants even scrambling up hillsides Gourdon to start examining including holm oak, juniper, and along scarily uneven the local flora and fauna broom and wild herbs such as paths; some butterfly straightaway, stopping en route rosemary, thyme and lavender enthusiasts drawn by one at regular points for a recce – and a day trip through of our guides, Dr Martin alongside the road to our hotel the modern Col de Tende Warren, who used to head at St-Vallier-de-Thiey. ©Ruth Baumberg ©Ruth Baumberg ©Ruth Baumberg Fig. 2 Elderflower orchid (Dactylorhiza sambucina) Fig. 3 Fritillaria involucrata Fig. 4 Woodcock orchid 631 The obvious plants we carefully. A plant we saw in saw that first afternoon shady spots repeatedly during accompanied us throughout the week was Hepatica nobilis the week: yellow Antirrhinum in both blue and white forms. ©Ruth Baumberg majus, red valerian The Cassouls plateau (fig. 1) (Centranthus ruber), sheets contained many limestone of cowslips (Primula veris), pavements, familiar to me silenes related to our garden from the wild scenery of Fig. 5 Dutchman’s pipe vine species and frothy white the Yorkshire Dales, but the (Aristolochia pistolochia) umbellifers – relatives of flora was so much richer in our own cow parsley. Even diversity and sheer quantity; on this first afternoon we this was indeed the case met some orchids: the with all the upland areas we local variant of the common visited. Of course, our guide ©Ruth Baumberg early purple orchid had sought out the best (Orchis mascula subsp. speciosa), areas to see interesting plants the three-toothed orchid – one stop on the plateau (Neotinea tridentata), hosted a few flowers of Fig. 6 Wall lizard the green-winged orchid Fritillaria involucrata (fig. 3) (Anacamptis morio), and – but my impression was both cream and dark-red of an absolute profusion of variants of the elderflower plants. Here in the UK we orchid (Dactylorhiza have local areas containing sambucina) (fig. 2) which masses of one species, ©Ruth Baumberg we saw frequently during such as bluebell woods or the week. There were white buttercup or ox-eye-daisy and yellow helianthemums, meadows and roadsides, familiar from alpine areas in but big agriculture and the Fig. 7 Western green lizard, our gardens at home, though cutting of roadside verges without its tail I don’t grow any as they make such variety much rarer wouldn’t thrive in my heavy here. Perhaps the reduction Leeds clay. in ‘verge maintenance’, owing The heady smell of thyme to the cash problems of in flower met us wherever local councils, will increase ©Ruth Baumberg we stopped, and in most diversity. places there was the odd The Imperial Hotel plant of Helleborus foetidus in was small but pleasant, its fruit, the flowers long over, imposing name merely a Fig. 8 Linum narbonense just like mine in the garden reference to the ‘Route at home. There were many Napoleon’ of 1803 which smaller and lesser flowers went through the village, such as various vetchlings complete with a stone bench and other leguminosae, around a fine plane tree various Muscari, the grape with a plaque proclaiming ©Ruth Baumberg hyacinth many of us grow, (in French) ‘Napoleon sat and assorted wild flowers here 3rd March 1803’. The that I ignored though those village itself was picturesque interested in agricultural but not a good place to shop Fig. 9 Paeonia officinalis subsp. huthii weeds examined them very (since it was close to Grasse I 264 ©Ruth Baumberg ©Ruth Baumberg Fig. 10 Gentiana verna ©Ruth Baumberg Fig. 11 Tulipa sylvestris subsp. australis) ©Ruth Baumberg Fig. 12 Potentilla argentea Fig. 13 Limestone gorge had hoped to buy a present of (Aristolochia pistolochia) we scrambled up to look at local perfume), and on Sunday (fig. 5) and basking lizards the only peonies on the trip, morning just a bakery and a (figs 6 & 7). In the afternoon P. officinalis subsp. huthii small Spar grocery store were we walked along a pleasant (fig. 9), a local endemic. They open. back road, stopping every weren’t so different from the Next morning, once few paces to look at plants peonies I grow, though taller our guides had attempted such as Linum narbonense and with less-divided foliage. to repair international (fig. 8) or to photograph the It’s always exciting to see relations after scraping a abundant butterflies and fine such a dramatic plant growing local vehicle, we escaped into views of wooded hills. in the wild and, despite last the surrounding countryside Next day we left to year’s injuries to a knee and for two walks at around transfer to St-Martin-Vésubie, a foot, I happily scrambled 700m. First a path into the a small town right in the up the hillside to get a closer stony garrigue with pink middle of the Parc National look. My plants are grown Cistus albidus bushes, a few du Mercantour at 1000m. from HPS seed, which tends more orchids including the Of course, on the way we to be P. mascula as this is a Bertoloni’s and woodcock stopped numerous times to good doer and usually readily orchids (fig. 4), strange see particular flowers, the first available from the Seed Dutchman’s pipe vine below a steep hillside which Exchange. 653 Further on we diverted in Britain. We stopped at a to the neighbourhood of dramatic limestone gorge a ski resort, Greolieres les (fig. 13) to gaze at the Neiges, where at 1450m turquoise water of the River ©Ruth Baumberg we could find brilliant blue Esteron, crag martins and, Gentiana verna (fig. 10), growing straight on the rocks, white candytuft (Iberis Saxifraga callosa (fig. 14), not sempervirens), wild tulips in too different from S. ‘Tumbling bud (Tulipa sylvestris subsp. Waters’, popular with alpine Fig. 14 Saxifraga callosa australis) (fig. 11) and several gardeners. Also on the rocks, small potentillas of alpine a subspecies of harebell form such as P. argentea (fig. 12) (Campanula rotundifolia) clinging to the rocks. which grows only in the Later we saw a meadow, mountains of this corner of ©Ruth Baumberg rather churned up in places France. I grow another of these by wild boar, full of Narcissus small alpine campanulas in a poeticus identical to those in trough in my garden but not gardens in the UK – but I don’t this particular species, rather Fig. 15 Chamois grazing recall seeing any growing wild C. cochlearifolia. ©Ruth Baumberg Fig. 16 A dramatic backdrop to our search 466 The following day, keen to look at more high meadows and alpine species, we were driven up to Vallon de la ©Ruth Baumberg Madone de Fenestre at ©Ruth Baumberg 1950m. Close to the deserted buildings of the ski resort, chamois had come down from the heights for better grazing (fig. 15) and, though Fig. 17 Gentiana ligustica we saw them closer later on in the week, marmots. As soon as we got out of the vehicles we found huge clumps of the alpine pansy, ©Ruth Baumberg Viola cenisia, in both yellow and purple forms. The ski areas weren’t beautiful but for compensation there were distant mountain views of Fig. 18 Pyrenean buttercup high peaks (fig. 16) with Fig. 19 Primula latifolia (Ranunculus kuepferi) snow and rock; we didn’t go to these areas – we were all a rampart of the Maginot of Notre Dame de la Menour in the older and sometimes line; walking down from the surrounded by wooded hills wiser age group – but it was a fortifications we enjoyed (fig. 25). Finally, we went dramatic backdrop. seeing a mass of butterflies up a steep narrow valley Many alpines were close including scarce Swallowtails to a tiny hamlet of hotels at hand, including one of the (fig. 20); Marsh, Glanville with walking tracks into the trumpet gentians – Gentiana and Spotted Fritillaries; mountains right from their ligustica (fig. 17) – as well and a host of Blues doors. as G. verna, yellow star-of- (figs 21, 22 & 23) on the The next day was forecast Bethlehem (Gagea pratensis), wayside vegetation. The to have the best weather Crocus albiflorus in both Adonis Blue (fig. 24) was a during our stay, so we purple and white forms, a particular star of the week, drove through the Tende local form of white Pyrenean a flash of brilliant colour tunnel into Italy and spent buttercup (Ranunculus seen most days. the day looking at Italian kuepferi) (fig. 18), a white We were to spend three alpines as well as lower- alpine pulsatilla and, best nights close to the Italian meadow and woodland of all, in some rock crevices border, high up in a tributary plants. The Val Grande a new-to-me primula – valley of the Roya river. was rich in hay meadows P. latifolia (fig. 19) – with Our journey took us across at 1000m to 1250m and sticky, rather flaccid foliage Mercantour National Park here we saw colonies of a and big purple flowers.

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