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  • FRANÇAIS

A geological and botanical
look at Puy d' Issolud

By Jean-Guy Astruc, Service Géologique National; Marcel Saule, professor of biology-geology; Jacques Lacroix, botanist; Jean-Pierre Girault, archeologist.

Photo
View of the south face of Puy d’Issolud. January 2004

The Puy d'Issolud was recognised as the location of Uxellodunum on 26 avril 2001 by the Minister of Culture.
Gaulish troops, including survivors of Alesia, besieged by Caesar's legions, fought here in what was evidently the last battle for the independence of Gaul.  In addition to a large number of Roman armaments found near the Loulié spring, many relics from prehistoric times to the Middle Ages have been found on the plateau of Puy d'Issolud and its surroundings.


GENERALITIES ON THE PLATEAU OF PUY D'ISSOLUD
By Jean-Guy Astruc

Geomorphological description


Puy d'Issolud is a small limestone plateau (approximately 1.5 km2 in area), inclined slightly towards the southwest, separated from the causse of Martel by the valley of the Tourmente. On its southern edge it dominates the valley of the Dordogne 150 to 200 m below. To the east it overlooks Vayrac and the valley of the Sourdoire. In the north, its underlying rock is related to that of the low hills of Liassic clay.


Several types of landscape are represented, dependent upon the nature of the soil, each with its own characteristic vegetation, which makes it possible to differentiate them without difficulties.

The limestone bedrock is visible in the cliffs but on the plateau it is masked by superficial weathering. Near the slopes where the limestone is just under the surface, the vegetation is calcareous, with groves of pubescent oaks, juniper, dogwood and Montpellier maple.

Several outcrops, from clays to gravel and tertiary pebbles, are dispersed primarily on the eastern edge of the plateau (the Templès). These outcrops are easy to spot because of the silicic vegetation (chestnut, ferns, heather) that they generate.
Between the Puy d'Issolud farm and the spur limiting the plateau towards the south, the limestone substratum is masked by gravels resulting from gelifraction and clays created by weathering. This sector is cultivated (orchard, walnut and cereals).

At the base of the peripheral cliffs, the marls and Toarcian  clays form an inclined slope supporting meadows. These clay soils are partially obscured by colluvium, travertines and scree from localised cliff collapse. These screes support some houses around the Loulié spring. In the east and north-east, a limestone bed (Upper Domérien) is inserted in the clay slope near the farms of Verdié, Belcastel, Maraval and Lastournayries. An accumulation of travertine masks the clay substratum downstream from the Loulié spring.
Photo
Topographique plan of the oppidum dof Puy d'Issolud and the springs (sources)
Jurassic formations form the substratum of the plateau and its environment. They are represented from the base to the summit by the red bioclastic limestones of the Upper Domerian, the marl and black clays of the Toarcian, the grey bioclastic oncolitic limestones of the lower and middle Aalenian and the light grey oolitic limestones of the Upper Aalenian and Bajocian. On top of the oolitic limestones is a silicified decimetric level.

Superficial formations cover the edge slopes and form discontinuous outcrops on the plateau that can be differentiated as follows:

  • Alluvial deposits of the Dordogne, south of the plateau, spread widely across the valley (nearly 2 km wide at its confluence with the Tourmente). Eight to ten metres thick, the deposits are composed of pebbles, gravel and loamy sands with laminar and oblique stratifications. The pebbles average 10 cm in size, up to 60 cm in the substratum. They are often quite flat. The constituents of this detrital material, little altered, are represented by various rocks, often siliceous, originating in the Massif Central (quartz, granites, gneisses, basalts etc ...). Note the rarity of carbonate rocks. The Dordogne, which has roamed over the whole of its low plain, flows on its alluvium in a backfilled valley.
  • The alluviums of the Tourmente and Sourdoire valleys are composed almost exclusively of quartz gravel in a clay matrix. This difference is due to the presence of numerous outcrops of tertiary gravel clays in the catchment areas of ​​these two valleys.
  • Clay-silt colluvium, resulting from the creeping of weathered clay in the upper Lias, in many places conceals the substratum on the peripheral slopes of the plateau.
  • Travertine, with plant debris, form isolated masses. These encrustations alongside waterfalls, are formed by the precipitation of calcium carbonates dissolved in karstic waters. Rivulets from the various branches of the Loulié spring have deposited a thick cavitied mass of several meters of travertine on top of the Toarcian marls underneath.
  • Scree, formed of very large blocks coming from the "Bajocian" cliff, locally covers the Toarcian marls. They form areas of relatively stable soils on the slopes.
  • Gravel with subangular blunted calcareous elements, in a brown clay-silt matrix containing some quartz gravels, occupies most of the plateau. These pebbles and their dissolution residues come mainly from the gelification of the underlying limestones. They partially fill the lapiaz and are slowly drawn deeply down by the karst activity.
  • Gravel and pebble clays form discontinuous outcrops near the top of the plateau. The formation, as it appears on the outcrops, consists of clayey gravels and quartz pebbles (less than 20 cm), often reddened and up to 10 m thick. Karstification (before and after deposition) is responsible for localised, abrupt variations in thickness as shown by the recent earthworks carried out near the farm.


Description of the terrain

Access to the Issolud plateau

Due to its ring of cliffs and its fortifications, Puy-d'Issolud is only accessible by six passages. Currently, it is served only by a single road that goes northeast to Roujou at the top of the plateau. This route dates from the 19th century.

To the north-west, the paved road leading to Lou Portale de Roma (the gateway of Rome) is the old main carriageway, a cart road mentioned by name as early as 1474 (Departmental Archives of Lot, III E, register of P. d'Orlhac, notary in Martel, f° 60, noted by Jean Lartigaut).

To the west, the passage called Pas de la Brille, above the Loulié spring, leads to a winding path for pedestrians and pack animals. The width of the passage varies from 2.00 to 2.50 m and it is bordered by two dry stone walls 2 to 3 meters high, which include large blocks in places.

To the northeast is the passage of the Roujou farm.

To the east is the narrow passage called Pas Rouge. To the southeast is the passage called Labro.

In the southwest there is the footpath know as Aiguillat or Tourettes footpath.

The last four passages are in fact only very narrow winding tracks, which climb very steep slopes and weave between the rocks.



THE FLORA OF PUY D'ISSOLUD

By Marcel Saule and Jacques Lacroix (photos)

Near the confluence of the valleys of the Tourmente and the Dordogne, an area dedicated to fields, pastures and orchards where the meandering stream is accompanied by a wooded gallery of poplars, alders and willows, the Puy-d'Issolud, an isolated piece of the causse surrounded by high cliffs, asserts itself as the domain of the pubescent oak. This apparent uniformity, however, provides some open spaces where crops and meadows have survived despite a gradual decline that began in the early twentieth century. Even within the oak groves, in areas where the ungrateful or difficult-to-access natural environment has not been disturbed by human intervention, two flora can be clearly differentiated:
  •     exposed to the north and north-west - a sciaphile flora (which likes the shade).
  •     exposed to the south and south-east - a thermophilic flora (which likes heat) and even xerophilic flora
           (which supports drought).

These more or less impoverished flora are found on the plateau in areas where soil and terrain relief offers them favorable situations, along with a host of species which are common or inherited from former cultivation.

The oak grove and its undergrowth, on the north-west and northern slopes from Loulié to Rouxou:
the sciaphile flora

Photo
Alpine Squill
Photo
Dogwood
Photo
Tuberous comfrey
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Sanicle
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Herb robert
Photo
Bird's nest orchid
Photo
Rustyback
The impact of human activities has been limited by the very steep slope. Timber felling regularly carried out in the past has not hindered the rapid regeneration of forest cover in the form of coppices or from natural seedlings.
The arboreal stratum dominated by downy Oak and hornbeam (Charmaie-Chenaie) is completed by:
  • Large-leaved lime, or linden (Tilia platyphyllos),
  • The tall European ash (Fraxinus excelsior),
  • Field maple (Acer campestre),
  • Common small-leaved elm (Ulmus campestris),
  • European white oak (Quercus pedunculata)
with some smaller trees or shrubs such as:
  • Hazel (Corylus avellana),
  • Cornelian cherry, common dogwood (Cornus mas, Cornus sanguinea),
  • Wild service tree (Sorbus torminalis),
  • Whitebeam (Sorbus aria),
  • Hawthorns (Crataegus monogyna, Crataegus oxyacantha - much rarer),
  • Wild privet (Ligustrum vulgare),
  • Dwarf honeysuckle (Lonicera xylosteum), etc ...

Ivy (Hedera helix), wild madder (Rubia peregrina) and black bryony (Tamus communis), use the support of the trunks or branches to hoist themselves towards the light.

The early flowering spurge laurel (Daphne laureola), the butcher's broom (Ruscus aculeatus) and the field rose (Rosa arvensis), whose branches spread out on the ground, form a modest shrub layer.

The rich herbaceous layer provides evidence of good plant biodiversity conservation with a high number of geophytes, plants that in winter retain only organs buried in the earth (bulbs, tubers or rhizomes). Many can be maintained only in deep, undisturbed soils. From the first good days of winter and then throughout the spring their flowering is renewed, brightening the undergrowth with the freshness of their colours and the elegance of their inflorescence. Thus, in the month of January, the snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) hatch, with their milky corollas; and the stinking hellebore (Helleborus foetidus) develops a generous bouquet of greenish-cream flowers above a rosette of evergreen fan-cut leaves.


February-March brings a great parade of wild daffodils (Narcissus pseudonarcissus) whose wide-open bright yellow trumpet is surrounded by cream petals spread in a star. More discreet are the blooms of the violet (Viola alba), the early dog violet (Viola reichenbachiana) with purple blue corolla, and the alpine squill with two leaves (Scilla bifolia), a ravishing liliaceae with corollas of an intense blue.

In March-April there is the lesser or common periwinkle (Vinca minor) which with its runners weaves real carpets on the ground, the narrow-leaved lungwort (Pulmonaria longifolia) stained with white, the greater stitchwort (Stellaria holostea), the cuckoo flower (Cardamine pratense), cruciferous with purple flowers, the European sanicle (Saniculum europaeum) with its short umbel of white flowers, the wood spurge (Euphorbia amygdaloides), the perennial dog's mercury, also of the spurge family (Mercurialis perennis), the lesser celandine or pilewort (Ficaria ranunculoides), etc ...

In April-May it is the turn of Solomon's seal (Polygonatum multiflorum), a false lily of the valley whose narrow bells in short hanging clusters attach to the axils of the leaves carried on a long arched stem. The early purple orchid (Orchis mascula) with  black-stained leaves, the common columbine or granny's nightcap (Aquilegia vulgaris) whose large skilfully crafted blue flower extends by five coiled spurs,
germander speedwell or cat’s eyes (Veronica chamaedrys) and its small azure flowers in upright spikes, tuberous comfrey (Symphytum tuberosum), narrow-leaved bitter-cress (Cardamine impatiens), bush vetch (Vicia sepium), herb-Robert (Geranium robertianum), wood avens or St Benedicts herb (Geum urbanum), the parasitic ivy broomrape (Orobanche hederae), bird's nest orchid (Neottia nidus-avis), a rare saprophyte orchid whose flowers are pale brown on a long spike This plant derives its nutrition from a mycorrhizal fungus in the soil or litter which in turn derives nutrition from tree roots, the similar twayblade (Listera ovata/Neottia ovata), etc ...

In May-June the beautiful golden heads of the leopard's bane (Doronicum pardalianches) open, and easily compete with the wall hawkweed (Hieracium murorum) and the wall lettuce (Mycelis muralis), the white umbels of the cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris), the long clusters of delicate pale green flowers of the wild asparagus (Ornithogalum pyrenaicum),
the garden star of Bethlehem or grass lily (Ornithogalum umbellatum) and its white star-shaped flowers, the discreet three-veined apetalous sandwort (Moehringia trinervia), the greenish-leaved greater butterfly orchid (Platanthera chlorantha), the beautiful ppeach-leaved bellflower  (Campanula persicifolia), the yellow cluster of hairy St. John's Wort (Hypericum hirsutum), the flat pea or narrow-leaved everlasting pea (Lathyrus sylvestris) which evokes the sweet pea, and especially the rare martagon lily or Turk's cap lily (Lilium martagon) - highly toxic to cats - with scented pink flowers and petals punctuated with purple, whose small population must be scrupulously respected.

Some grasses, sedges and junceae characteristic of fresh undergrowth accompany the species already mentioned: Melique uniflora (Melica uniflora), Millet spread (Millium effusum), Bromegrass (Bromus asper), Carex forest (Carex sylvatica), Luzule de Forster (Luzula Forsteri), etc ...


The soft shield fern (Polystichum setiferum) spread as if in a large basket, and the hart’s-tongue (Phyllitis Scolopendrium) grow on the ground, while the intermediate polypody and southern polypody (Polypodium interjectum, Polypodium australe) are epiphytic ferns which encrust their rhizomes in the mossy bark of old trees.

These same polypodys are found on the mossy ledges of shaded limestone rocks, the cracks of which host several ferns such as rustyback (Asplenium ceterach),  maidenhair spleenwort (Asplenium trichomanes), black spleenwort (Asplenium adiantum-nigrum) along with other species: navelwort (Umbilicus rupestris), hawkweed, wall lettuce, wood bluegrass (Poa nemoralis),
etc. …

Photo
Wild asparagus
Photo
Stinking Hellebore
Photo
Early purple orchid


The oak grove and its undergrowth on the south-eastern slope from Souroque to the rock of L'Ambarre: the heliophilous and xerophilic flora

Spaces favorable to xerothermophilic undergrowth are provided in these areas of fairly sparse forest cover, on shallow soil or on relatively stabilised scree, sometimes anchored directly on limestone outcrops in the form of ‘balms’ (cavities under an overhanging rock or ledge) or lapiaz, provides spaces.

The tree and shrub strata include, in addition to the downy oak, some species of Mediterranean or sub-Mediterranean affinities such as :
  • the Montpellier maple (Acer monspessulanum),
  • the terebinthe or turpentine tree (Pistacia terebinthus),
  • the mediteranean buckthorn (Rhamnus alaternus), evergreen with leathery leaves,
  • the Etruscan honeysuckle (Lonicera etrusca) whose very colourful blooms scent the air;
  • The mahaleb cherry or St Lucie cherry (Prunus mahaleb),
  • the small-flowered sweet-briar rose (Rosa micrantha),
  • the viburnum known as the wayfarer (Viburnum lantana),
  • the deciduous ailanthus or tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima),
  • and the purging or common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) with deciduous leaves.

These plants like clearings and sunny edges on limestone, and are addtional to the Mediterranean species.

Despite difficult living conditions (drought or low rainfall during the summer period with relentless sunshine and high temperatures, poor water retention capacity of lean and often very stony soils), the herbaceous layer is fairly rich in species that occur throughout spring and give a generous palette of colours:
  • The briar with small yellow flowers, known as needle sunrose (Fumana ericoides), the white rock-rose (Helianthemum apenninum) with white flowers, and the common rock-rose with large yellow flowers (Helianthemum nummularium). All three are species of rock-rose of the family Cistaceae.

They perfectly illustrate this xerothermophilic flora, along with :
  • St Bernard’s lily (Anthericum liliago) whose elegant cluster of upright white flowers evokes the white garden lily,
  • the lush Nottingham catchfly, a plant glandular and viscous at the level of its inflorescence - named to commemorate its former occurrence on the walls of Nottingham castle (Silene nutans),
  • the wall germander (Teucrium chamaedrys) with pink flowers,
  • the ox-eye daisy with a flat topped inflorescence (Leucanthemum corymbosum),
  • the golden yellow horseshoe vetch (Hippocrepis comosa),
  • the mountain lettuce perennial (Lactuca perennis) with blue or violet ligules,
  • the common globe flower (Globularia punctata) with blue capitulum,
  • the bright yellow matty stonecrop (Sedum rupestre),
  • the stiff hedgenettle or perennial yellow-woundwort (Stachys recta) with clusters of cream flowers,
  • the dark red Carthusian pink (Dianthus carthusianorum),
  • the white mountain seseli (Seseli montanum) with white umbels and glaucous foliage cut in narrow strips,
  • the yellowish white sulphir clover (Trifolium ochroleucon),
  • the kidney vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria),
  • the blackening thistle (Carduus nigrescens),
  • the bloody crane’s-bill (Geranium sanguineum),
  • the basil thyme or alpine calamint (Calamintha acinos),
  • the Cantabrian or dwarf morning glory (Convolvulus cantabrica),
  • the oregano or wild marjoram (Origanum vulgare), etc …
The discontinuous undergrowth -  composed of characteristic grasses such as the blue moor grass (Sesleria caerulea), the erect brome (Bromus erectus), the Timothy Boehmer (Phleum boehmeri) - and the edge of the undergrowth, are favorable for the installation of some orchids :
  • the tall violet limodore or violet bird’s nest orchid with aborted leaves (Limodorum abortivum) which relies entirely on a mycoheterotrophic or parasitic relationship with fungi,
  • the lizard orchid with the odour of goat (Loroglossum hircinum),
  • the pyramidal orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis),
  • the military orchid (Orchis militaris) and its white and rose flower,
  • the woodcock bee orchid (Ophrys scolopax) and its graceful cluster of false insects, etc ...
To the species already mentioned, we can add more common plants:
  • the mouse-ear hawkweed (Hieracium pilosella),
  • the yellow pea or yellow vetch (Lathyrus aphaca),
  • the meadow vetch (Lathyrus pratense),
  • the yellow sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis),
  • the black medick or hop clover (Medicago lupulina),
  • bird's-foot trefoil or eggs and bacon (Lotus corniculatus),
  • bulbous buttercup (Ranunculus bulbosus),
  • hedge bedstraw (Galium mollugo),
  • euphorbia little cypress (Euphorbia chamaecyparissias),
  • salad burnet (Sanguisorba minor),
  • bladder campion (Silene inflata),
  • the field eringo (Eryngium campestre),
  • the common mallow (Malva sylvestris),
  • the white swallow wort (Vincetoxicum officinale),
  • the blue sedge (Carex glauca),
  • the European meadow sedge (Carex divulsa),
  • the rampion bellflower (Campanula rapunculus), common centaury (Centaurium erythraea),
  • hairy rock cress (Arabis hirsuta), perforate St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum),
  • yellow wort (Chlora perfoliata),
  • etc ...
  • the winged broom (Genistella sagittalis), a curious leguminous plant with a winged stem, which delights in acid soils - a surprise on this terrain, close to the dyer’s broom (Genista tinctoria).

The cracks in the limestone of the cliffs and rock shelters exposed to the south-east welcome some species already listed in the undergrowth or scree such as false heather or needle sunrose (Fumana). The common fig (Ficus carica) grows there, sheltered from the cold and humidity, along with the spreading pellitory or sticky weed (Parietaria diffusa), and the ferns: rustyback, wall-rue and maidenhair spleenwort (Asplenium ceterach, Asplenium ruta-muraria, Asplenium trichomanes). And on tuffs created by prolonged seepage, the southern maidenhair fern (Adiantum capillus veneris) is installed.

On the gravelly and dusty soil of rock shelters where the oak groves cannot invade, some nitrophilic species are present (plants that prefer soil rich in nitrates, for example on land where certain wild mammals gather):
  • the burning nettle (Urtica urens),
  • the dyer’s rocket (Reseda luteola) or gaude, a dye plant widely used until the last century for the production of a yellow colour,
  • the white or common horehound (Marrubium vulgare),
  • and some species of hot and dry environments like the rush skeletonweed or gum succory (Chondrilla juncea).
  • et de quelques espèces de milieu chaud et sec comme le Chondrille à tige de jonc (Chondrilla juncea).
Photo
Montpellier maple in bud
Photo
Malaheb or St Lucie cherry
Photo
Nerprun purgatif
Photo
Viburnum lantana
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Violet bird's-nest orchid
Photo
Lizard orchid
Photo
Wall germander
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Common bird's-foot trefoil


The vegetation of the plateau

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Reflexed stonecrop

The dry stone walls which delimited the worked plots, the cayrous (piles of stones) resulting from the stone removal of the fields, the ruins of houses and barns and the preserved buildings testify to a strong human occupation and activities associating with agriculture and livestock breeding. At the start of the 20th century, twelve families still derived most of their resources from Puy d'Issolud.

Most of the forest area of the plateau is the result of natural reforestation including the remains of a useful flora introduced by man, such as the vine, plum, pear, quince and the service tree or sorb tree (Sorbus domestica) - including some magnificent subjects that compete in size with the oaks that surround them - and the walnut trees, etc …


At the initial stage of reconquest, the common juniper (Juniperus communis) and the thorny trees constitute islands of shrub vegetation with:
  • blackthorn or sloe (Prunus spinosa),
  • dog rose (Rosa canina),
  • small-leaved sweet briar (Rosa agrestis),
  • blackberry (Rubus fruticosus),
  • common hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna),
  • purging buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica), etc ...

These islets expand, with dogwood, privet, hazel, small white elm and with twigs covered with cork, etc., This is followed by the installation of young oaks, hornbeams, maples, wild cherries (Cerasus avium) from fruit brought by birds, rodents or the wind. These plants soon emerge from the cover before asserting their supremacy.

The shrub layer and the herbaceous layer gradually reconstitute there: the best-lit and warmest areas welcome the Montpellier maple, the viburnum wayfarer or the Etruscan honeysuckle and other species of thermophilic flora described above. The cooler valleys, where the humus is thicker and the soil deeper, host some representatives of the sciaphile flora mentioned in the first paragraph.

The regularly mowed meadows regenerate progressively, often grazed by sheep after the harvest is over, and deliver the classic flora of the Caussenard grasslands:
alfalfa or lucerne,
barren brome,
birds-eye speedwell,
bulbous buttercup,
cocksfoot,
common fleabane,
common sainfoin,
crested dog’s-tail,

Photo
Cock's foot
field scabiosa,
garden bird's-foot trefoil,
grape hyacinth,
hairy common velvet grass,
hare’s-foot clover,
hedge bedstraw,
marguerite,
meadow salsify,

Photo
Hedge bedstraw
meadow vetchling,
red clover,
rough hawksbeard,
ribwort plantain,
marguerite,
meadow foxtail,
quaking grass,
red rattle,

Photo
Yellow rattle
ryegrass,
soft brome,
tall oat-grass,
white or Dutch clover,
wild carrot,
yellow rattle or cockscomb, etc...


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Meadow salsify

This variety of flowering plants includes those representative of thermoxerophilic lawns, such as erect Brome, heath false brome, lfield eryngo, perennial yellow woundwort, le sulphur clover, etc, betraying by place the water deficit linked to the long summer drought and to the low water retention of too shallow soils, an observation reinforced by the presence of arid hillside plants on certain very hot ridges, such as the narrow-leaved clover (Trifolium angustifolium) and the xeranthemum daisy (Xeranthemum cylindraceum).
Photo

We will pass silently over the cosmopolitan flora of the areas now used for agriculture. Highly impoverished by the use of weedkillers, they give only a derisory image of the brilliant procession of species (cornflowers, poppies, corn-cockle, corn camomile, yellow loosestrife, delphinium, hemp-nettle , etc ..) which used to enliven the harvest with their vivid colour.


The wooded slope located upstream and on either side of the Loulié spring

The orientation towards the west, the pronounced dip and the projections of the limestone cliff which frame the site, create conditions of shade and freshness which shelter this area from any marked summer sunshine, and favour the development of a fairly dense hardwood canopy with a fairly rich undergrowth.

Species that make up the tree layer

  • common fig, Ficus carica;
  • common hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna;
  • common hazel, Corylus avellana;
  • common or purging buckthorn Rhamnus cathartica;
  • downy or pubescent oak, Quercus pubescens;
  • dwarf honeysuckle, Lonicera xylosteum;
  • elder,  sambucus nigra;
  • European ash, Fraxinus excelsior;
  • field maple, Acer campestris;
  • hornbeam, Carpinus betulus;
  • Montpellier maple, Acer monspessulanum;
  • viburnum lantana, Viburnum lantana;
  • walnut, Juglans regia;
  • wild cherry, Cérasus avium;
  • wild service tree Sorbus torminalis;
  • wych elm, Ulmus campestris;
  • Saint Lucie cherry or Malaheb cherry, Cerasus mahaleb;
Big trees frequently provide support for clematis (Clematis vitalba), and ivy (Hedera helix) which itself supports the parasitic ivy broomrape (Orobanche  hederae).

Shrub layer

Eglantine rose, Rosa Eglanteria; butcher's broom, Ruscus aculeatus ; Blackberry, Rubus fruticosus s. l. ; spurge laurel, Daphne laureola ; Cornouiller sanguin, common dogwood ; wild privet, Ligustrum vulgare etc...

Herbaceaous layer

Vascular cryptogams  : (a fern or moss reproducing by spores, without flowers or seeds) :
  • soft shield fern, Polystichum setiferum ;
  • forked male fern, Dryopteris filix-max ;
  • black spleenwort fern, Asplenium adiantum-nigrum ;
  • hart’s tongue fern, Asplenium scolopendrium ;
  • eagle fern, Pteridium aquilinum ;
        etc...
Photo
Hart's-tongue fern
Photo
Common wild madder
Photo
Calamint
Photo
Bird's-nest orchid

Monocotyledons  (flowering plants the seeds of which typically contain only one embryonic leaf or cotyledon) :

  • bee orchid, Ophrys apifera;
  • bird’s-nest orchid, Neottia nidus-avis;
  • black bryony, Tamus communis;
  • broad-leaved helleborine, Epipactis latifolia;
  • common twayblade, Listera ovata;
  • early purple orchid, Orchis mascula;
  • European woodland sedge, Carex sylvatica;
  • false brome, Brachypodium sylvaticum;
  • greater butterfly orchid, Platanthera chlorantha;
  • Italian arum or lords-and-ladies, Arum italicum;
  • southern woodrush, Luzula forsteri; etc...
  • tor-grass, Brachypodium pinnatum;
  • wild asparagus, Ornithogalum pyrenaicum;
  • wood bluegrass, Poa nemoralis;
  • woodcock bee orchid, Ophrys scolopax;
  • wood melick, Melica uniflora;
  • etc...

Dicotyledons (flowering plants the seeds of which typically contain two embryonic leaves or cotyledons) :
  • apetalous sandwort, Moehringia trinervia;
  • greater stitchwort, Stellaria holostea;
  • cow parsley, Anthriscus sylvestris;
  • common wild madder, Rubia peregrina;
  • narrow-leaved lungwort, Pulmonaria longifolia;
  • wild basil, Clinopodium vulgare;
  • calamint, Calamintha sylvestris;
  • germander speedwell, Veronica chamaedrys;
  • wood spurge, Euphorbia amygdaloides;
  • herb-robert, Geranium robertianum;
  • creeping crowfoot or buttercup, Ranunculus repens;
  • white violet, Viola alba ;
  • orpine, livelong or frog’s stomach, Sedum telephium;
  • nettle-leaved bellflower, Campanula trachelium;
  • bush vetch, Vicia sepium;
  • Nottingham catchfly, Silene nutans;
  • peach-leaved bellflower Campanula persicifolia;
  • rampion bellflower, Campanula rapunculus;  etc..

Rupicolous flora (cracks and ledges of shaded rocks)

  • Maidenhair spleenwort, Asplenium trichomanes ;
  • Wall hawkweed, Hieracium murorum s. l. ;
  • Wall lettuce, Lactuca muralis ;
  • Navelwort, Umbilicus rupestris ;
  • Common polypody, Polypodium australe ;
  • etc...
Photo


The vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the Loulié spring

This was formerly a place of passage and water supply with a basin and old wash-houses, as much for the inhabitants of the hamlet of Loulié as for the families of farmers who lived on the plateau of Puy-d'Issolud (there were 12 homes in 1900). When the water in the cisterns and ponds was exhausted, the environment was affected by trampling, the presence of men and domestic animals, and was deeply reworked by successive excavations. The vegetation bears witness to this: it associates some sylvatic species listed above with a ruderal flora. A ruderal species is a plant species that is first to colonise disturbed lands, and is propagated by human activities that favour the intrusion of some weeds, as well as a flora of humid environments.
The ruderal flora and weeds

  • common nettle Urtica dioica ;
  • scarlet pimpernel or red chickweed, Anagallis arvensis ;
  • red-root amaranth, Amarantus retroflexus ;
  • chickweed, Stellaria media ;
  • shepherd’s purse Capsella bursa-pastoris ;
  • stonecrop, Sedum cepaea ;
  • common purslane, Portulaca oleracea ;
  • sticky weed, goose grass or bedstraw, Galium aparine ; common verbena, Verbena officinalis ;
  • bitter-sweet nightshade, Solanum dulcamara ;
  • black nightshade, Solanum nigrum ;
  • common nipplewort, Lapsana communis ;
  • spreading hedge parsley, Torilis arvensis ;
  • St Benedict's herb or wood avens, Geum urbanum ;
  • perforate St John’s wort, Hypericum perforatum ;
  • black medick or hop clover, Medicago lupulina ;
  • Canadian horseweed, Conyza canadensis ;
  • bulbous buttercup, Ranunculus bulbosus ;



  • bird’s-eye speedwell, Veronica persica;
  • hairy bittercress, Cardamine hirsuta;
  • broad-leaved plantain, Plantago major;
  • smooth hawksbeard, Crépis virens;
  • rough hawksbeard, Crepis biennis;
  • prickly lettuce or milk thistle, Lactuca scariola;
  • prickly sowthistle, Sonchus asper;
  • common sowthistle or milky tassel, Sonchus oleraceus;
  • ragwort, Senecio jacobea;
  • ox-eye daisy, Leucanthemum vulgare;
  • English daisy, Bellis perennis;
  • annual mercury, Mercurialis annua;
  • European heliotrope, Heliotropium europaeum;
  • rough bluegrass, Poa trivialis;
  • orchard grass or cock’s-foot, Dactylis glomerata;
  • barren brome, Bromus sterilis;
  • soft brome, Bromus mollis;
  • cockspur grass or barnyard grass, Oplismenus crus-galli;
  • European meadow sedge, Carex divulsa; etc...

The flora of humid environments :
  • hemp agrimony or holy rope, Eupatorium cannabinum;
  • hoary or hairy willowherb, Epilobium parviflorum;
  • great willowherb, Epilobium hirsutum;
  • Egyptian mint, Mentha rotundifolia;
  • grey willow , Salix cinerea ;
  • watercress or yellowcress, Nasturtium officinalis;
  • European speedwell or brooklime, Verica beccabunga; etc...
On irrigated tufs :
  • hart’s-tongue fern, Asplenium scolopendrium

Plants immerged or floating :
  • yellow water-lily or brandy-bottle, Nuphar lutea;
  • water purslane or marsh seedbox, Isnardia palustris;
  • water speedwell, Veronica anagallis-aquatica.



CONCLUSION

The erosion of the high reliefs and peripheral depressions, the resulting contrasting outcrops and the uneven distribution of soils, have led to an appreciable wealth of flora on Puy-d'Issolud, dominated by the pubescent oak.

The steepest and most thankless ground has played the role of conservatory for spontaneous flora, which have regained  abandoned land where many remnants of ancient cultures can be found.

Excellent firewood and timber from hornbeams and oaks, an abundance of wild fruits, simple and aromatic plants, plants for dyeing and fodder production - all these have long provided men with a significant share of indispensable resources for their daily lives.


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