Smoky Polypore

Smoky Polypore Bjerkandera adusta (Fr. Polypore brûlé) is a grey-brown velvety bracket fungus with a white edge. The white underside has tiny pores, which become grey with age. 

 

Smoky Polypore brackets on a birch trunk that has snapped in the wind, in the Forest of Preuilly, February 2026.

It grows in crowded groups layered above and below one another, and overlapping, on stumps and trunks of dead or living trees, usually deciduous species, but sometimes conifers. 

 

Resupinate Smoky Polypore on a chestnut firewood log, February 2026.

It can be resupinate (with its back stuck to the wood like a scab and the fertile surface uppermost) or as brackets (with the fertile surface facing downwards and the mushrooms only attached by one edge). The resupinate versions can be more difficult to identify as there are a couple of other mushrooms that look similar. The brackets can be mistaken for the somewhat more abundant Turkey Tail Trametes versicolor.

Apero

 Apéro. It's a legendary part of the French lifestyle.

Want to feel embedded in la France Profonde ? Here's what you should be drinking at apéro in the late afternoon/early evening, before dinner...

If you are young it's easy. Beer. Doesn't matter what sort.

If you are, say, 50 or over, and middle class, Suze or Lillet is a good choice. Bitter orange flavour. To read my previous post about Lillet click on this link:   https://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/2023/09/lillet-makes-comeback.html

Pineau des Charentes covers all the bases, especially in the south west where it is made. Favoured by women, and is a bit like sherry. To read my previous post about Pineau des Charentes click on this link:   https://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/2012/01/pineau.html

Pastis is mainly drunk by older blokes. It's aniseed flavoured.

You could also choose half and half white wine and limonade known as a vin limé (note that limonade is not lemonade). Or a kir which is white wine with a dash of the blackcurrant liqueur called cassis. A kir royale is with sparkling wine and a kir cardinal is with red wine.

If like me you opt for alcohol free these days you can try some nice herbal non-alcoholic vermouth with tonic. Or for a more traditional drink, a diabolo. This is sparkling water with a fruit or herb flavoured syrup. The national favourite is mint (menthe). Everyone from old men to small children drink this. I go for strawberry. To read my previous post about Diabolos click on this link:  https://daysontheclaise.blogspot.com/2023/02/diabolo.html

 

I'm a fan of citron pressé too (fresh lemon juice with sugar and water) but I rarely see it offered any more. It disappeared about a decade ago.

Scalewort

 

Scaleworts Frullania spp are a genus of lobed liverworts, also known as hepatics, which are sort of primitive mosses. They grow on rocks and smooth tree bark, feeding off the minerals which are brought by water flowing down their rock or tree trunk. The organism attaches itself to a substrate and forms a lacy disk. The tiny 2 mm square leaves fold back on themselves and look a bit like liver, hence the term hepatic. The presence of scalewort indicates an acid soil or substrate.

Scaleworts can cause allergies and they contain substances that can give dermatitis or contact eczema popularly known as 'maladie des bûcherons' (forester's disease). For the susceptible it results in very itchy patches where bare skin has touched the scalewort.

There are many species, all very difficult to tell apart. The ones in these photos might be Dilated Scalewort Frullania dilitata. 

Broad-headed Bug

The other day I had to evict this beast from the kitchen. Since it feeds on the seeds of members of the pea family I'm not sure how it ended up inside our house.

 

Being given a lift out the door.

Known as a Broad-headed Bug in English, or Camptope des genêts in French, the scientific name is Camptopus lateralis. They are quite abundant and I have encountered them before, on gorse at la Cabane, the Zone d'Interêt Ecologique, Faunistique et Floristique (ZNIEFF) that I monitor.

 

One I photographed a couple of years ago.

The distinguishing characters are a head that is broader than the pronotum, a white line through the head, four segments in the antennae, clear margins on the sides, enlarged and spiny hind femurs, very curved hind tibiae, a tiny white dot at the apex of the pronotum (thorax) and the scutellum (body part next to the thorax and over the base of the abdomen), and an overall reddish brown coloration. They are about 12 mm long.

Early Spring Forest Walk

On 9 March Simon, Dotty and I did a 2 kilometre circuit in the Forêt de Preuilly. The Wild Cherries Prunus avium (Fr. Merisier)  had just come into flower but I didn't get a decent photo. And the wild garlic, known as Ramsons in English, was covering a huge swath of understorey around the damp confluence of the Sauvaget and another small stream that both rise in the forest.

 

 Blackthorn Prunus spinosa (Fr. Prunellier) blossom.

There were lots of these White Asphodel Asphodelus albus (Fr. Asphodèle blanc) leaf rosettes which had simply punched their way through the dead leaves from autumn.

A White Asphodel just coming into flower.

Ramsons Allium ursinum (Fr. Ail des ours) as far as the eye can see. I foraged a dozen leaves to have with soft fresh local goats cheese.

Ramsons growing on the stump of a fallen tree.

Wood Anemones Anemonoides nemorosa (Fr. Anemone sylvie), a sign of a stable, biodiverse, long established woodland habitat.

Wood Anemone.

Spanish Slug Arion vulgaris (Fr. Loche méridionale), a species with an undeserved bad reputation, due to several misunderstandings of its behaviour and origins.

Les Loches

Loches is the name of our nearest town of any size (population 7000). Although the etymology of the town name is the same as the Gallic 'loch' or 'lough', in French the word unfortunately can also mean 'slug' (and various somewhat rude body parts if you are being vulgar...). But I take the view that Loches can be proud of its slugs. It's got some doozies, presented here in descending size order. All are over 10 cm.

Ash Black Slug Limax cinereoniger (Fr. Grande Limace). They live in the forests and can be all black like this one...

...or stripey like this one.

Leopard Slug Limax maximus (Fr. Limace léopard). They live outdoors in urban areas.

Red Slug Arion rufus (Fr. Grande loche). They live in the forests.

They are our most abundant large slug.

Spanish Slug Arion vulgaris (Fr. loche méridionale), a species that varies a lot in colour, from dark brown to bright orange. Its English name is a result of confusion over the origin and identity of this species. Genetic studies show that the 'Spanish' Slug is very rare in Spain, but is native to north-west Europe (primarily France, Germany, Benelux).

Spanish Slug.

Dusky Slugs Arion subfuscus (Fr. loche roussâtre), a fairly abundant species throughout France. This photo shows how the juveniles are more strongly marked. Apparently the slime this species produces was the inspiration a few years ago for a new biomedical glue that adheres to both wet and dry surfaces.

Dusky Slug.

Cellar Slug Limacus flavus (Fr. Limace des caves). They live indoors in urban environments.

Unlike other slugs they are gregarious, so where you have one you are likely to have a whole family of them.

None of these slugs will be found in your veggie garden eating your seedlings. All of them are detritovores, eating decaying plants, fungi and the occasional bit of dead animal.

Ramsons and Cheese

It's the season for foraging the wild garlic known as Ramsons in English. In French it is called 'ail des ours' (bear's garlic) and the scientific name, Allium ursinum reflects a similar idea. The plant is found in large colonies, in damp shady places such as alongside streams flowing through woods. It is one of the few wild plants that I have no qualms about people harvesting, as many locals use the same site I do, and there is clearly no damage to the numbers of plants or their environment being done. It is abundant and occurs in many places.

This year I took a dozen leaves and on the suggestion of a friend, chopped the Ramsons finely and combined with soft fresh locally produced goats cheese. This makes a good dip or spread. If you don't have access to good fresh goats cheese, well drained cottage cheese would do.

Be Careful 2

There's yet another new stop sign in Preuilly sur Claise, and this one is also very sensible (see Be Careful, from December last year).

It's at the bottom of the marketplace, near l'Image. For as long as I can remember people have found the intersection confusing, with half the population insisting on their right of way, whilst the other half doesn't recognise it as a road and therefore having priority. Luckily no-one is moving at any great speed at that point.

The new stop sign is marked with a red dot.

Walking Around Abilly

Simon and I did a 2 kilometre circuit walk around Abilly on 14 March, after checking on the Snakeshead Fritillary colony just out of town. It was 10°C, no wind and starting to cloud over. The fritillaries appeared to be thriving.

 

 Eurasian Red Squirrel Sciurus vulgaris (Fr. Ecureuil roux) in a weeping willow. 'Squirrel' is one of the hardest English words for a French speaker, and conversely, 'écureuil' is one of the hardest words in French for an English speaker to say.

Look how close it came to me! This photo has been cropped, but it was taken with my mobile phone!!

Le Relais de Touraine, an old hotel recently renovated with help from local government grants, and next door the small grocery store.

This side of the water mill has been in this ruinous state ever since we've lived in the area.

This side of the water mill has been restored and is lived in.

A gate made from two old wooden cart wheels.

I wish I had taken the time to take a better photo of this Art Nouveau leaning house. This is just a phone shot taken in passing from the corner of the street.

Cowslips Primula veris (Fr. Coucou) on the side of the voie verte (greenway), with Simon striding out into the distance.

Snakeshead Fritillaries Fritillaria meleagris (Fr. Fritillaire pintade), a species that can be found in the wild in a band across Central Europe from France to Siberia. The species is threatened and is protected wherever it occurs in France, but it has gone extinct in Belgium and parts of France, and is critically endangered in the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Snakeshead Fritillaries grow in damp habitat and are one of the earliest spring wild flowers.

Snakeshead Fritillaries are pollinated by Buff-tailed Bumble Bees Bombus terrestris and other early emerging bees.

Glass-winged Drone Fly

Glass-winged Drone Fly Eristalis similis is an abundant hover fly usually encountered in damp woodland habitat. The trick naturalists have to learn is how to distinguish from its lookalike Eristalis spp cousins, especially the even more abundant (ubiquitous even) Tapered Drone Fly E. pertinax and Common Drone Fly E. tenax.

 

Male Glass-winged Drone Fly, photographed by me in early March this year on vegetation alongside the voie verte (greenway) at Chaumussay.

 

The key differences require taking careful note of the colour (light or dark) of each leg, and certain details of the wing markings. 

• E. similis has dark front and middle feet. So does E. tenax, but E. pertinax has pale front and middle feet.
• E. similis has bicoloured hind tibiae. E. tenax has dark hind tibiae but E. pertinax has bicoloured hind tibae. This feature is surprisingly easy to spot, so worth bearing in mind.
• E. similis has a long lightish brown pterostigma (a rectangular mark near the middle of the leading edge of the wing). E. tenax and E. pertinax have small squarish dark brown pterostigma.
• E. similis never has a wing shade (a dark smudge on the transparent wings). E. tenax and E. pertinax often have wing shades.
• E. similis has black hind femora, bands of hairs on the eyes, a dark abdomen with triangular orange marks on the second segment, plumose (feathery) arista (a bristle that projects off the antenna) and a black stripe down the middle of the face. Other Eristalis spp have some or other of these characters too, but not all of them together in combination. 
• E. similis and its lookalikes are about 15 mm long. The species is on the wing from March to September, whilst the lookalikes can be seen in any month. Apart from these three there are a number of other Eristalis spp present in France, and they do all look rather alike. To know if you have a fly in the Eristalini tribe (Drone flies and their relatives) look for the loop in the median vein on the wing. Other flies do not have this.
  

Drone flies are all mimicking honey bees, and they are frequently mistaken for bees by the public. The news media will often publish a stock image of a drone fly to illustrate an article about bees, much to the exasperation of entomologists. Drone flies are terrific and very active pollinators. They spend much of their time as adults visiting flowers, but their life cycle is very different to bees. Drone fly larvae develop in wet pockets that form in rot holes in mature tree trunks, and sometimes they can be found in gardens in containers which have accumulated a mixture of water and rotting vegetation. The larvae are known as rat-tailed maggots, on account of their long thin breathing tubes, which they use like a snorkel while under water and consuming decaying plant material in a bucket, a ditch or a rot hole.

 

For comparison, a male Common Drone Fly photographed by me in early May 2023 at la Cabane, a Zone d'Interêt Ecologique, Floristique et Faunistique (ZNIEFF) that I monitor.

 

For comparison, a male Tapered Drone Fly that I photographed in April 2004 in London, England.

This is how a biodiversity surveyor spends their time -- making sure they can accurately identify creatures that others overlook and disregard.