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7 Walks with Mark Brown

We follow botanist Mark Brown

in search of native plants

from Aizier on the banks of the Seine

to his home in Sainte-Marguerite-sur-mer.

We accompany Mark on seven walks

along the Pays de Caux coastline,

filming plants,

until we reach his crazy botanical project:

to recreate a primary forest

called The Dawn of Flowers.

21-27 June 2023

the shoot

Many people say
it was starting to eat meat,

so bone marrow and everything,

which led the human brain
to grow so big.

But other people say no,
the starch that caused the brain to expand

came from a mutation of Dioscorea,
which is extremely rich in starch.

So perhaps it was this plant
that allowed us to become intelligent,

to have big brains.

Australopithecines were vegetarian.
We know that for sure.

Many people say it's because
humans started to hunt and eat their prey

that they developed big brains.

And then others say no,
it was because of these plants.

- Yams, because...
- It's from the yam family?

Yes, Dioscorea is a yam.

- Did they eat the leaves?
- No, the tuber.

It's known as the tuber theory.

We've got sound.

- What's it called?
- It's the other woundwort.

I don't know if it's hedge woundwort or...

No, this one is not hedge woundwort,
it's field woundwort.

We've only seen hedge woundwort so far.
This is Arvencis.

Stachys arvencis.

It smells a bit like a figwort.

Absolutely.

You often find them by the sea,
in the dunes, even on the beach.

- As big as that?
- Yes. Dewberries. I love them.

But you mustn't put them in gardens.

Unless you're prepared for them
to self-layer all over the place.

Six subgenera are listed within Rubus.

Rubus genus:

Rubus, Silvatici, Sprengeliani,

Discolores, Appendiculati, Glandulosi.

Groups to study in the region:

Rubus humifolius
in the Discolores subgenus

and Rubus vestitus
in the Appendiculati subgenus

which are probably common.

That's what it says.
There are red dots everywhere.

I don't know
if a study has been published on it.

That would have been great.

I know several monographs
were done in Great Britain

but I'm not sure about France.

Here comes the film camera.

You've decided...

I like it here because
of the depth of the flowers

with inerm brambles
and cleavers and everything.

It's a fine display.

- What do you call them? Inerm?
- Inerm, yes.

Thornless.

- Unarmed.
- Did you know the word "inerm", Vincent?

- No.
- Unarmed.

I got it.

- A plant with no defences.
- But I didn't know it.

It has no sting, no thorns.

And is it rare?
Do you find it on flood plains?

I don't know.
People don't pay attention.

They don't know.

These nettles were here
before humans appeared,

before hunter-gatherers arrived.

There was no disturbance
of the environment

so nettles grew in soils rich in nitrogen,

where there was flooding.

Later there were villages,

places where people kept animals,

so there were areas
that were very rich in nitrogen.

And the other kind of nettle
may have come from elsewhere,

we don't really know.

Or is it a mutation
that came from that one?

We don't know
but it became very prickly

to protect itself from animals
and the assault of humans.

It's hot.

- It's water pepper.
- Oh, that's what it is.

You can use it as a spice.

- It's strong!
- It is.

You can make spicy dishes with that.

Wow.

It's so strong. It's like chili.

It's as hot as chili.

It's crazy.

Yes, fully contre-jour, Antoine.

- Yes.
- Right.

- The light is really fine.
- For the contrast.

Magnificent. It's sparkling.

It's going to be beautiful.
I just need to work it out.

It's really glowing.

It's strange what's happened there.

- Yes, it's not very pretty.
- Do you think it's a gall?

Yes.

Oenanthe crocata.

Hemlock water-dropwort.

Mediterrean Atlantic.

Hemicryptophyte
or geophyte with rhizomes.

So it's a hardy perennial.

Ditches, ponds, megaphorbs, shorelines.

Here the water supply
comes from springs.

And we get a lot of rainwater.

We have groundwaters in the peat

which can even be salty sometimes.

So it's an extremely complex
hydrological system

about which there is
a desperate lack of knowledge.

It's wonderful.

But there are plenty of theories.

We can imagine how it works.

And so this whole area
is currently transitioning

to an acid facies linked
to the main water supply being rain

from an alkaline facies,

which it definitely was
a number of centuries ago.

So the system is evolving,

bearing in mind, as I said,
that we are on a raft,

which means the soil level rises and falls
with the water level.

I see.

- It's extraordinary.
- And can you walk on the raft?

I have a memory of floating peat bogs.
It was great fun.

Is that the fescue in question?

That's mallow.

It's taking over here.

Do you see? The worry is that...

- Yes, the fescue is dominant.
- The fescue is everywhere.

And Elytrigia atherica
is also very widespread here.

- Is that that bluish grass?
- Yes.

As you can see,
there is an abundance of it here.

Here the facies is
of the meadow being overrun

because it is systematically cut too late.

Pity.

Tell me when.
There's a cloud passing over.

Yes. It's going to clear.

I'll tell you when. In a few seconds
you can go for it.

It's Alopecurus bulbosus
that's flowering here.

- You can see the inflorescence.
- Doesn't it open any more than that?

No, it's very delicate.

I've never seen it before.
I didn't even know it existed.

- It's a subhalophilous species.
- Right.

Typical of estuary meadows.

- And it's glaucous like this?
- Absolutely.

It's a bit more caespitose
than the classic Geniculatus.

I'll look for it when I get home.
I don't know if there are any there.

This is the second site
found at Marais Vernier.

- Right.
- Of this species.

- Bravo.
- Alopecurus bulbosus.

What is interesting is
that it is growing at the same time

in the same area as...

- Another rush, no?
- Juncus gerardii.

And it's bringing salt
to the soil's surface.

Those are the two phenomena
which have occurred.

Right.

Has salination occurred
in the area, or not really?

That's the whole point
of the monitoring I've put in place,

and the simple fact
of listing the sub-halophilic species

and in particular the increase
in number of these species

shows that it's going in the direction
of salination, yes.

A basophilic species,

but only in a very restricted area.

And there, in the water,
we'll have Calla like earlier,

Utricularia,
and the Potamogeton I mentioned.

Is it too early
to see Utricularia in bloom?

It might be a bit early.
We'll see if we can see some coming out.

But we'll definitely find some.

They've been visible for a few weeks now.

The structures in the water
are quite distinctive with those pockets.

Yes, with the utricles.
Very distinctive.

- Without roots, which is...
- Absolutely.

So there you have it.

Ah, so we're on the raft here.

- It's shaking.
- I'm not feeling it.

Wow.

Right.

There are lots of flowers!

They're all in bloom.

Ordet, don't go into the water
and disturb the flower.

There's a plant here to film.

A Utricularia in bloom.

These are insect traps.

That stays open
and when the water flea arrives,

there's a sort of trigger
and it sucks it in.

There's a bud there.
It's about to flower.

Do you see?

There are no roots, no leaves, just...

the plant.

Since I've got the Baldellia and all that,
I think it will be happy.

Because I was given another species
but it didn't take.

I don't think
the pH of the water was compatible,

but I can see everything
that is growing around it here

and I reckon it will be better suited.

I've stopped filming.

That's a fine view.

Magnificent.

Shall I stop?

I've stopped.

The sound of the Drosera.

Oh, yes, and it's teeming with life
when you're up close like that.

All those insects.

The light's flickering.
It's a whole world.

It's beautiful
but we've taken the wrong path.

There's even more knotweed here
than on the other side.

We really are in the kingdom
of the invasive plants.

Little bursts of sunlight like stars.

Right.

There's a bit of movement
in the background.

I like it.

There were brambles all over,
but very puny.

It's going to end up disappearing.

It's all going to disappear.

All that will remain will be the elders
emerging out of the knotweed.

Yes, because they're taller.

It shows you
why plants became woody,

so they could climb
higher than others plants.

- There.
- The cruising.

Have you seen my Cyperus Fuscus?

The sound is great here.

Yes.

Shall I start?

It's filming.

It makes me think
of the Robinia forests in Turkey

which were planted on big hills,

mountains which were bare.

For rapid reforestation

they planted lots of Robinia,
which is a tree from North America.

It sterilised the soil.

I found nothing but horsetail underfoot.

And yet there was a stream running down.

The ground was bare.

Are you filming me?

No.

Is that a bumblebee?

- Can you see? What is it?
- It's a fly.

A little bumblebee with long antenna.

- There, look.
- Oh, yes. I've never seen a bee like that.

Never. It's a bee, no?

It's a bee with gigantic antenna.

It must be extremely rare.

- A beauty.
- Incredible!

- Enormous antenna.
- Come and film it, Pierre.

Wait.

It smells of almonds.

You'd think someone was roasting almonds
somewhere nearby, it's true.

Do you think it's worth filming?

I think he's filming the brambles.

Torilis japonica
or Japanese hedge parsley.

I had some in my garden in Varengeville.

I introduced it.

Yes, that's it.
The others have flat siliqua.

It's exactly that.

This is wonderful.

Yes.

You'll think of us
when you're cooking with it.

I will indeed.

You find the greatest diversity
on a chalky soil, in fact.

Because on the Marais Vernier
there wasn't a huge diversity.

There were flagship species
in some spots

but when you go to the chalk hills

you've got 50 species per square metre.

It's staggering.

I love it.

It's quite hard to film so high up.

The carrots up there.

- Those at the top too?
- Perhaps a bit lower.

The way you've got it is great.

Lycium barbarum...

It's not in the plants section,
it's in the addendum.

Pyramidal orchids.

Another garden I'd like to create
is a garden of sea vegetables.

You could have a garden
of wild vegetables.

Poor thing.

It's a real cabbage garden.

Sophie eats them in spring.

Plantain leaves like this,
for the minerals.

It was used to combat scurvy.

It's rich in vitamin C.

There are some in flower there.

Perhaps it was further over there.

Vincent looks as if he's in a valley
of flowers in the Himalaya.

Or in Switzerland.

Yes, it's as if he's in the heart of nature
in a sublime setting,

somewhere remote,

not simply on a beach in Normandy.

It's great, you can hear the gulls.

This is the sailors' herb.

Go. "Do you know the sailors' herb"?

Do you know the sailors' herb?

In fact,

it was used to treat scurvy.

People decided they could make mustard
with the seeds.

Quite a mild mustard, I expect.

Yes, it's very good.

I really like the second mound,
the repetition with the two mounds.

Have a look.
Tell me if you agree with the change.

Yes, you're right.

It's very composed
but it's just so beautiful.

Yes.

It's beautiful.

Yes, really beautiful.

Oh, yes.

The water level must have been
at least 30 centimetres higher.

Perhaps it was the sea
that forced the water back up.

We saw muddy beaches
all along the Seine.

It was quite something.

We saw lots of Oenanthe crocata.

It was beautiful.

Is that a Callitriche?

There's another plant there.
That one's not the same.

The companion plant is Silene dioica.

- Yes.
- Silene dioica.

It's so beautiful. It looks like
a Victorian neo-Gothic thing.

That drawing looks like it's done
for the parliament at Westminster,

that neo-Gothic stuff.

It really does,
with acanthus everywhere.

You see that style of drawing
in illuminations.

There are drawings like that
in ancient manuscripts.

- Oleracea means vegetable garden?
- Yes.

Yes, and Allium oleraceum
is cultivated onion.

- Brassica oleracea.
- I'm learning Latin here.

Yes. It might come in handy.

Yes, wild cabbage is Brassica oleracea.

- The leaf is extraordinary.
- The leaf is really...

- Yes, there's a nice light on it.
- Is the flower as beautiful as that?

It's even more beautiful!

Mark, is this meadowsweet distinctive?

It's the meadowsweet
you use for maceration.

Aspirin came from this plant.

Willows and meadowsweet grow together
in places where there is malaria.

Where there is illness,
you find the remedy in the same spot.

Can you say that again?

Marie loves meadowsweet.

- You need to start again.
- It's one of her favourite flowers.

What other properties
does meadowsweet have?

Apart from being analgesic.

It's good for the skin
but what can you make with it?

I don't know.

Meadowsweet is one of the classics
of pharmacopoeia.

Have you seen all that comfrey?

From here on it's all comfrey.

There's enough to make fritters.

- I like this low angle. It's surprising.
- Really low might look good.

There. A light sprinkling.

With some gardener's-garters.

- Gardener's what?
- Gardener's-garters.

Those tall grasses.

Sophie likes that name.

Yes, but I need to remember it.

There are so many names to remember.

It's my favourite plant.

- All three at once.
- That's the important thing.

- The viewpoint.
- It's beautiful, with the sky behind it.

Perfect. Well done.

Shall we do a close-up on the valerian?

- From the other side.
- Valerian. That's it.

We'll have to raise it again.

Look...

There are insects settling on it.
Hoverflies.

It's another insect.
What is it called?

Are they hoverflies?
There are lots of hoverflies.

Yes, that's a hoverfly.

- No, it's a beetle.
- I don't think it is.

- It's gone.
- Those are hoverflies.

That would be extraordinary.

It's coming back.

Those are the sorts of insects
you find on parsnips and umbellifers.

Do you prefer it here
where the light is more varied?

I love that scent.

What species did you film
close up like that yesterday?

In the woods
we filmed a lot of orchids.

Blackstonia.

They filmed the cabbage
with runners' calves in front of it

and bryony climbing up the clifftops
among the bracken.

It was a beautiful picture
with the sea behind it.

The water was so blue yesterday.

What's that beetle called?

I have no idea.
I'm not an entomologist.

I'm sorry.

Those are hoverflies.

- That's a hoverfly?
- Yes.

It has just two wings.

Yes, and big eyes. It has no antenna.

It has big eyes, like a housefly.

- It's foraging.
- Yes.

And those are dark bees.

Really?

I don't know if that's one of them
but there is a bee called a dark bee.

Really? Where?

Back there.

Ah, hiding.

There.

That's a type of hoverfly.

I'm not so sure.

It's a hoverfly.
It's got a proboscis and big eyes.

It has a proboscis and big eyes,
but I'm not sure.

- I digress.
- No, it's a bee.

No, it's a hoverfly.

With those eyes.

I really feel as if I'm on the set
of a Derek Jarman film.

All that's missing is the music
from "The Garden".

Oh, yes. Wow.
That's "L'arc d'Iris" right here.

That's why it's important to film them
and not take photos.

You get the soul of the plant.

It's in the other direction.

There's a small site here, but that's all.

And one here.

There are just a few plants here.

There's one here, one there,
and several small ones over there,

and that's it.

There's one there and one there.

Oh, my darling.
You're beautiful. I love you.

This is Ophioglossum.

Magnificent!

Pierre, adder's-tongue.

Over here.

Someone's trodden
on a second plant, unfortunately.

It's here, and it's sporulating.

- A boar.
- Yes.

Human pigs.

It's here.

Do you see?

Oh, yes.

Are all the spores out?

No, they're coming out.

If you touch it,
a little cloud of them will escape.

I've tried not to touch them
to preserve them.

You can see the tongue.

Yes, it's a beautiful image.

Do you realise how lucky we are
to see this?

Can you explain symbiosis again?

Yes, the spores fall onto the ground

and if they land
on the right sort of mushroom,

they grow on top of it.

Mushrooms can live
without Ophioglossum

but Ophioglossum need mushrooms
in order to grow.

The small prothallus develops
in contact with the mushroom.

It can survive underground
for I don't know how many years,

but it's a long time.

And suddenly,
when it's got enough reserves,

when the rhizome is fully formed,

it rises up

and forms a photosynthetic frond.

And when it's strong enough,
it starts forming sporophores like that.

And this one is even older?

From what I've read,
I think they're contemporaries.

Meaning?

Over 300 million years old.

They're ferns
from the Carboniferous period.

Are you crying too?

Yes.

An achlorophyllous prothallus
is an incredible sight.

That means it lives like seaweed.

Not even seaweed,
almost like a mushroom.

For years, underground, without any light.

Have you taken two shots?

We're going to take a third.

This is good.

We're on the right path.

On the chalk hill.

Oh, that's sublime!

- What is it called?
- Anthericum ramosum.

The meadow over there is white with it.

I can see it from here. It's white!

We'd better go up there.

Even here it's sublime.

You'll see, the meadow is white.

We're slap bang in the middle of it.

It's an extremely rare plant.

- Yes, I've never seen it before.
- It's not often that you get to see it.

- Anthericum?
- A-n-t-h-e-r-i...

- Anthericum.
- Antheri...

Anthericum. Yes, that's right.

When I was a boy,
I was fascinated by this plant.

There was this place where it grew,
a former marl pit.

I don't know why
but I was hypnotised by those plants.

When you're small, you see the details,
and I saw the pattern on it.

I was hypnotised by those little dots.

Oh, my God!

No need to go to the Alps, Pierre.

It's magical.

People aren't going to believe
the images in this film.

Bringing someone here to make love...

It's the dream place for that.

It's so poetic.

He brought me here,
not the other way round.

Can you imagine?

It's a place he loved.

He used to come here
when he was young.

He brought me here
to a place he loved.

Remind me what that grass is called, Mark.

Carex nigra.

When he left me, it was awful.

Do you have a new notebook?

Yes, it's my book of dreams.

I brought it to take to Mark's house.

I've never seen them
looking as beautiful as this.

The Dawn of Flowers

You find them in hollows like that.

There are some on both sides.

It's the same horsetail
as at L'Aube des Fleurs,

only it's small, like this.

This is well over 300 million years old.
400 million years even.

These were the first plants on Earth.

The Ophioglossum wasn't born yet.

I think there's one at the end.

If global warming continues,
they'll disappear.

Everyone says horsetail is invasive,

but that's not true.

It has survived for hundreds
of millions of years

only to find itself

at a dead end
thanks to human beings.

They used to be classified
according to the number of cotyledons

but now they're classified
according to the form of the pollen.

One opening, three openings, or more.

It's the score.

All early flowering plants,
including monocotyledons,

are classified by the form of their pollen
which has just one opening.

Then you've got eudicots which have...

...three openings or even more.

That's why I'm always talking
about eudicots.

We'll see them in situ,
because all these plants

are part of the project.

Let's go and see the horsetail
and the Selaginella.

That's not Isoetes, it's Marsilea.

It has no leaflets, just the stalk.

It's a really primitive fern.

You've got a lovely blanket of Marsilea

which I planted here
because of the spring water.

It likes to live like an amphibian.

Fish used to slither
through this landscape,

coming out of the water.

This was before
frogs and salamanders existed.

The only living creatures
were invertebrates.

Do you see the spores
coming out of the tip there?

In every little axil
there are what we call microphylls,

because they're not real leaves yet.

It's just a patch of green
which performs the photosynthesis.

There were no leaves back then.

You can see a little yellow ball
behind each layer.

Those are the spores. It's the same system
as for the Ophioglossum.

That's Saratoga.

And that's Assignata.

The leaves aren't as jagged

as the ginkgos used to be,
but they don't exist anymore.

There might be way to bring them back
one day with genetics.

Francis Hallé puts it so well

in "Éloge de la plante".

He explains that in trees,

there is a whole...

pool of...

What do they call it?

A gene pool.

Each part is slightly different
genetically,

even on regular trees, on angiosperms.

There is a whole range of genomes,
that's the word I was looking for,

on a tree.

They all act slightly differently.

He discovered in the Amazonian rainforest

that tree sap is tidal
and fluctuates according to the moon.

The sap rises and falls
with the phases of the moon.

When the moon passes,

the sap rises and falls once a day,

just like the water in the oceans.

The forests are so vast
that the sap is governed by the moon.

It's beautiful to think
that sap is tidal, like the sea.

Right, how are we going to do this?

It would make more sense
if we did them in evolutionary order.

When this appeared,
there were no bay trees or magnolias.

All that was here
was the Illicium and Calycanthus.

It's a strange wood.

This is Illicium Henryi.

Little red flowers.

This is the last Illicium in flower.

It's like a shrub version of a water lily.

I'll put my glasses on
so I can see it more clearly.

It's a shame the Illicium floridanum
has just finished flowering.

This is the last one to flower.

As you can see, there is no difference
between the sepals and the petals.

They spiral around one another.

There is an indeterminate number
of floral elements.

It's red, like the first flowers,

like Calycanthus,

or green.

There are lots of little beetles in it.

That's the pollination.

You can probably see it better
on tulip trees,

but this is even more primitive
than a tulip tree.

You need to come towards me a bit, Mark.

- There.
- Let's see.

There are no filaments,
just lamellae with pollen on the side.

Look at all those beetles coming out.

And it's a spiral. It's always a spiral.

The light...

It's moving all the time.

That's exactly the same thing.
It's in a spiral. It's red.

There are no filaments.

It's the same structure.

Yes, yes, very good.

Mark's voice is very soothing to listen to.

There's a little beetle inside.

- Where is it from?
- China.

Lots of very primitive plants
come from China or the United States.

Quite a few come from Chile too.

It's because of the configuration
of the mountains.

Yes, it's really over.

It's really over.

There is just one reel left.

It would be good to do a Berberis

and then I think that will be all.

Berberis, barberry family.

There must be a Berberis
in bloom somewhere.

There is always one flowering somewhere.

Let me think, there must be
a Mahonia in bloom or something.

Oh, look here.
The Mexican Mahonia is in flower.

Splendid.

What's that Mahonia called?
Russeliana. I've just planted it.

It's the only Mahonia with white flowers.

There.

- Which one? That one?
- The cream-coloured one.

You can take it wherever you like.

I just planted it this winter.

- Is this the last shot?
- Yes.

We'll have the low wall round the edges.

Does it need to be a close-up
so we can see the leaf?

If you don't want
to see the wall behind it.

All the other Mahonia are yellow.

There are some red ones too, or orange.

But this is the only one I know
which has creamy white flowers like this.

There may be others.

There's one over there
but it has never flowered.

This one flowered
as soon as I planted it out.

I've looked, but I've never seen it flower.

It's here.

It's growing well,
but it hasn't flowered.

They produce pale white flowers too.

It's really shot up.

It's exploded.

I've been worried about it for ages,
thinking, "Why aren't you growing?"

I'm going to put the fern back there
because it seems to like that.

People don't really like Mahonia
because they are prickly.

They smell lovely.

They're melliferous too.

Absolutely.

Anything from the barberry family.

That's lovely.

You can see the wall behind it
but it's still beautiful.

- Too much?
- Not too much. I like it.

- What can you see?
- I like it.

It's blurred.
You're focussing on the Mahonia.

It's beautiful so it doesn't matter.

There's a bee.

Really?

Oh, yes. So you're filming over there?

Right. Very good.

- Are you happy with that, Mark ?
- Yes.

My eyes are starting to get tired.

I'm struggling to focus.

With this sun too.

Do you think this one comes from Asia?

No, only Mexico,

from the sierras of central Mexico.

It's James Russell who went
to collect plants from there.

This was in the 1970s,
or around that time.

He realised that in those mountains
there were lots of hardy perennials.

It's a really interesting place
to collect plants at a high altitude,

such as Mahonia and oak trees,
all sorts of plants

which are perfectly hardy over here.

Did you say the 1970s?

Yes, something like that.
He went to Mexico on his own.

Are you ready?

- For the last shot. Ready?
- Are you ready?

Yes.

Go on. Let's pray.

It's filming.

It's emotional.

These seven days of happiness are over.

Yes.

Before we see what comes next.

Yes.

We could do more.

Yes, we could do more.

There's always an ending.

There. No more film left.

Very good. Well done.

I didn't hear it go.

There. No more film.

- So good. Well done.
- There.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Thank you, Sophie.

Arnaud.

What an adventure!
We'll remember it for a long time.

herbarium

Can you tell us
the names of the flowers, Mark?

Yes.

Dioscorea communis.

Tamus comnunis.

Black bryony.

From the Dioscoreaceae family.

Epipactis helleborine.

And the popular name?

I don't know.

You mean common name.

Sorry, the common name.

Is it related to the hellebore
if it's called helleborine

or is it unrelated?

That's why I rarely use the vernacular

because it can be misleading.

What family is it in?

Orchids.

Is it in full bloom there?

No, in bud.

Look at that beautiful bramble.

We'll never know
the name of the species.

There are hundreds of them.

Give us its Latin name, Mark.

Rubus, but since it's an apomictic family,

which reproduces on its own,

every time a new plant is born,

it's almost as if it was a new species.

It self-pollinates.

Rubus ulmifolius.

Elmleaf blackberry.

Rosaceae family.

There are lots of beetles on it.

And the pollen is yellow,

a colour which attracts
that tiny species of beetle.

Pollen beetles in English.

Impatiens.

We thought it was a native balsam,

but it's actually a balsam from the Cape.

Impatiens capensis,

which is invasive
but very similar to Impatiens noli-tangere,

touch-me-not balsam.

Urtica dioica,

subspecies galeopsifolia.

Stingless nettle.

Urticaceae family.

Lythrum salicaria. Purple loosestrife.

The same family as the pomegranate tree.

Lythraceae family.

I've forgotten the name of that one.

It's an Oenanthe.

I've forgotten which species.

We found it in the Atlas
during the shoot.

- Yes, I remember.
- Say its name.

It's Oenanthe.

- That's all I know.
- Oenanthe.

O-e-n-a-n-t-h-e.

A highly toxic plant.

Oenanthe crocata.

Hemlock water-dropwort.

Apiaceae family.

It's lovely seeing
all those beetles beavering away.

Is that Torelis japonica?
I can't quite remember.

Was that in Aizier?

Yes.

I don't remember seeing that there.

- Purple loosestrife again.
- Yes.

On the banks of the Seine.

We were looking for orchids there

but unfortunately
they'd been eaten by pigs.

What's that grass? I've forgotten.

There was one particular one, remember?

- No, I don't remember.
- No?

Alopecurus bulbosus.

Bulbous foxtail, Poaceae family.

A bluish grass.

Oh, yes, it was that one.

It is quite a rare grass.
I think it's a type of...

I might say something stupid.
I can't remember.

Hordeum secalinum.

Meadow barley.

Poaceae family.

That's marshmallow.

You can see we're in the marshes.

It's a plant that needs a lot of water.

Althea officinalis.

All those different greens.
It's magnificent

Althea officinalis.

Marshmallow.

Malvaceae family.

Bladderwort.

A carnivorous plant.

With only the flower above the water level.

Utricularia vulgaris.

Common bladderwort.

Lentibulariaceae family.

Here's the Baldellia.

Baldellia ranunculoides.

That's it in its vegetative state.

It's aquatic. In winter
it can be mistaken for quillwort.

It's the only site in Normandy
where you find this plant.

Baldellia ranunculoides.

Lesser water-plantain.

Alismataceae family.

That's the tall sedge, Carex.

I can't remember the name of the species.

Possibly Carex paniculata.

Carex paniculata.

Greater tussock-sedge.

Cyperaceae family.

Rootless duckweed,

which is from the arum family, curiously.

The smallest flower in the world.
Wolffia arrhiza.

Rootless duckweed, Araceae family.

That's the royal fern, Osmonde Regalis.

A protected species in France.

The fertile parts are red in that picture.

A fern from the Carboniferous era,

so it's about 400 million years old.

The spores are only viable for 24 hours.

You can see the fertile part
which is green there.

That's chlorophyll.

We should see the spores coming out.

They only have 24 hours to germinate.

Drosera.

Drosera rotundifolia.
Another carnivorous plant.

Since there is no nitrogen in the soil,

they make their own nitrogen
from dead insects.

What a trap!

Those are the leaves.

It's also known as sundew,

as in dew.

It looks like there is dew
condensed onto the leaves

but in fact it's the plant's gastric juices

which trap the flies and eat them.

The flower is much taller
than the leaves

so pollinating insects don't get trapped.

This is what happens when an invasive plant
overtakes the native flora.

It stifles everything.

Reynoutria japonica.

Japanese knotweed.

Polygonaceae family.

That's the singers' herb.

To clear the throat.

Sisymbrium officinale,

mentioned in Charlemagne's
"Capitulaire De Villis".

Sisymbrium officinale.

Hedge mustard, Brassicaceae family.

With Torilis japonica.

Erect hedge parsley.

Or Japanese hedge parsley.
Apiaceae family.

Chrithium maritimum or rock samphire.

A delicious plant.

It has a slightly salty taste.

A plant that people used to pick and eat.

Now that's forbidden.

A protected species.

It always grows on the coast

in rocky places like this.

Crithium maritimum.

Rock samphire or sea fennel.

Apiaceae family.

Bristly horned poppy,

Glaucium corniculatum.

A plant that is gradually disappearing
from our coastlines, unfortunately.

Poppy family with extraordinary seeds.

They're very, very long.

A beautiful yellow.

A sea carrot in the blue fescue.

A little grassy corner,

exposed to sea spray.

The only two plants there
which can withstand it.

A plant that is endemic to our coastline.

Rock fescue. Festuca rubra,
subspecies pruinosa.

Poaceae family.

And Daucus carota,
subspecies gummifer.

Sea carrot.

Apiaceae family.

A Galega officinalis station.

A plant you don't expect
to see in that location.

Galega officinalis.

Goat's-rue.

Galega. Fabaceae family.

That's Glebionis.

Corn marigold.

A plant that is not liked by farmers.

But it does absolutely no harm to crops.

Our fields should be covered
in corn marigolds,

poppies and cornflowers.

The farmers don't like that
so we have sterilised fields.

Ophrys apifera, bee orchid.

The labellum in the shape of a bee

which emits the pheromones
of female bees

to attract the males
to ensure pollination.

Ophrys apifera.

Bee orchid.

Orchidaceae family.

It was sublime.

Dactylorhiza maculata.

Thousands of them.

On poor soil.

They multiply thanks to the symbiosis
they have with a mushroom.

You can clearly see the leaves
that give it its name.

Heath spotted orchids
are definitely spotted.

Normally the spots are much smaller.

Dactylorhiza maculata.

Heath spotted orchid
or moorland spotted orchid.

Orchid family.

Orchidaceae.

Bryonia doica.

White bryony, or just bryony.

Cucurbitaceae family.

That's probably a male plant with pollen.

An example of preglacial tropical flora.

The last surviving cucurbit in France.

That's Anthyllis.

Anthyllis vulneraria.

A plant that heals wounds.

Also known as woundwort.

Vulneraria as in vulnerable.
It has the same root.

Orobranche.

Probably Orobranche minor.

A plant which grows on clover.

Blackstonia perfoliata,
from the Gentianaceae family.

Found in chalky areas.
It only grows on limestone.

The foliage is glaucous
to withstand the sea spray.

A protective layer of wax.

The flower never opens
much more than that, curiously.

Sea beet.

A very fleshy plant.

A plump plant which can withstand
the osmotic pressure of the sea spray.

It has very fleshy leaves.

Beta vulgaris subspecies maritima.

Sea beetroot. Chenopodiaceae family.

That's the Sâane river.

A dark red plant
which is pollinated by wasps,

attracted by the rather strange scent
and the very dark red colour.

It's a shame
we didn't see any wasps fly past.

Scrophularia auriculata.

Water figwort.

Scrophulariaceae family.

Valerian.

A plant that promotes sleep.

Very effective.

Valeriana repens.

Vandal root or cat's valerian.

Valerianaceae family.

Phalaris arundinacea.

Gardener's-garters
or reed canary grass.

Poaceae family.

That's rough chervil.
Chareophyllum depressum, I think.

Chareophyllum temulum.

Rough chervil.

Apiaceae family.

Crambe maritime.

Sea kale.

Brassicaceae family.

They transplanted it here from Paluel

when they built the sea wall
for the nuclear power station.

They were obliged to salvage these plants

since they are
a protected species in France.

They brought them to Sainte-Marguerite.

The fruits have a cork-like quality.

They get carried away by the currents

and deposited further along the beach
to germinate.

The leaves are always blue-green,

with a waxy layer
to withstand the sea spray.

A sturdy leaf
which doesn't move much.

It is wind-resistant.

Nice and thick.

Still in Sainte-Marguerite.
That's greater knapweed.

Centaurea scabiosa.

It's a very melliferous plant
but it is loved by butterflies.

There are always lots of butterflies on it.

Centaurea scabiosa.

Or greater knapweed.

Asteraceae family.

Here are the lizard orchids.

Himantoglossum hircinum.

It's a plant that indicates
that the soil is chalky.

It's not a very common orchid in Normandy.

It's normally found
on chalk hills in hot climates

that get a lot of sunshine.

It smells of goats.

What pollinates it?
I don't know with that smell.

That's Epipactis palustris.

An orchid that thrives on humid grasslands.

Here it's on acid soil.

A small site at Sainte-Marguerite
near to the lighthouse.

On moorland.

It was very beautiful this year.

The rainfall was good for it.

Epipactis palustris.

Marsh helleborine.

Orchidaceae family again.

There's the Ophioglossum.

One of the most primitive ferns
in the world.

We had the surprise
of seeing three fertile parts.

There's normally only one tongue
sticking out, but here there were three.

That hardly ever happens here.

It's one of the plants that has led
to there being a nature reserve there,

on the Ailly plateau.

There are little yellow spores coming out.

Through the slits.

An even more primitive family of ferns
than the Osmunda.

Ophioglossum vulgatum.

Common Ophioglossum.

Southern adder's-tongue fern.

Ophioglaceae family.

Look at that structure.

You can clearly see
the three fertile parts.

Exceptional.

You normally only see one spike
but here there were three at once.

All that rain led to so much plant growth.

The rain we had in 2023 was wonderful.

That was the Varenne valley.

A sublime field of Anthericum ramosum,

Branched St Bernard's-lily
if I'm not mistaken.

I've never seen so many flowers.
When we arrived it was in full bloom.

The whole hillside was white, white, white.

With a few black sedges swaying

in the foreground.

Anthericum ramosum.

Branched St Bernard's Lily.

Liliaceae family.

So delicate.

Echium vulgare. Viper's buglosse.

With all those little spikes.

They prick you,
hence the viper in the name.

With a yellow Reseda in the background.

What did you say
was in the background?

- Reseda.
- Oh, that's a Reseda.

With the grasses in front,
swaying in the breeze.

All you see is plants.

I can see Rhinanthus.
I can see lots of plants.

I think I listed at least 50 plants

on this tiny plot

on the chalk hill.

Ah, yes. We ended there.

That's Equisetum hyemale.

I think it's the last surviving station
in Normandy,

in the woods at Varengeville.

It's a boreal mountain-dwelling horsetail.

It only survives
in these damp, cool ditches,

cold spots

where there are springs
continually flowing.

It's evergreen.

It's like that all year round.
Hyemale means winter.

So it's present all year round.

There is just a stem
performing photosynthesis,

no verticils.

Selaginella douglasii.

It's a lycophyte,

lycophytes being
the first lignified plants,

vascular plants,

after moss.

In the beginning there were liverworts,
mosses and seaweeds,

and then there were vascular plants,
which are the Selaginella.

They grow among the dwarf horsetail.

Equisetum scirpoides. There it is.

That's evergreen too, but it's tiny.

It's one of the last remaining horsetails
from ancient times.

Equisetum scirpoides
and the horsetail from Bogotá,

Equisetum Bogotense,

are the two which have survived.

That's the giant form of Equisetum hyemale
which comes from Kamchatka.

Equisetum hyemale subspecies affine.

It has no verticils but it does have...

...ramifications all along the main stem.

The undergrowth is royal ferns

and in the background
there are tree ferns.

Dicksonia antartica.

With Equisetum hyemale in the foreground.

Chloranthus.

The ancestors of Laurales and Magnoliales.

They came after Schisandra and Illicium.

Chloranthus fortunei.

Chlorantaceae family.

A Californian spice bush,
Calycanthus occidentalis.

The first flowering plants
were water lilies.

Then came Illicium and Schisandra

and then Calycanthus and Magnolia.

It's red because it attracts beetles.

It emits the smell of fermenting fruit

to get them to come.

They think they're going to be feasting

on overripe fruit,

but no,

there is no nectar, just a bit of pollen.

Always that red

which is very visible to beetles.

Bees can't see red.

These are flowers that existed
before the appearance of bees.

A Chinese spice bush,

Calycanthus chinensis.

It's quite exceptional to see
such big flowers on primitive plants.

The are shaped a bit like magnolia flowers.

In the close-up we'll see
that the stamens are lamelliform.

There is a gradual transition
from sepals to petals and stamens.

There are no...

Like on water lilies, there are no...

Most flowering plants
have filiform stamens.

These have only lamellae
and you can see the little beetles

pollinating it.

Tulip tree.

Liriodendron tulipifera.

The colour of its flowers
is always subtle.

Greenish with a bit of orange at the base

to attract beetles.

If you look inside, you'll see
there are no filaments on the anthers,

just lamellae.

Liriodendron tulipifera.

Tulip tree.

Magnoliaceae family.

The petals originate
from leaves in transformation.

You always see that green
and the veins.

It's from the Magnoliaceae family.

That's a camphor tree

from the Lauraceae family

which came after the Calycanthus.

Plants rich in essential oils
to repel herbivores.

Triceratops and Iguanodons
had to go and find something else to eat.

The camphor tree has a distinctive smell.

It has tiny flowers.

In six parts.

Six sepals, six petals,

and 12 stamens if I remember correctly.

That's an Aristolochia,

Aristolochia pistolochia,

from the Piperales order.

Very aromatic plants.

Black flowers pollinated by flies

which enter at the top and go down
into the little bulging part at the base.

There are some spikes of flowers there.

That's an inflorescence.
Those look like petals but they're bracts.

Each element that looks like a stamen
is a flower.

There must be about, I don't know,
60 or 70 flowers on the scape.

It is thought that monocotyledons
evolved from Saururaceae.

These are the earliest monocotyledons.
They are arums.

That's Arisaema.

Arisaema ciliatum.

Corydalis claviculata,
now Certaocapnos claviculata.

It's very small.

A member of the Papaveraceae family.

This was the start
of modern flowering plants.

Mahonia russeliana,

a Mexican Berberis
whose flowers are almost white.

That was the last image