Sommet Bucher

This variety of cornflower grows in cool and sparse forests and meadows. It lives in more or less important colonies and grows through underground stolons. Loving the freshness especially, this plant can survive up to -15 °C / 5 °F. It houses and serves as food for caterpillars and aphids. If pollination is done through different insects, bumblebees predominate this flower.

From February to August, the male has a particular behaviour. He rubs his antlers on young tree shoots which he bares completely. In winter, this action aims to remove the velvet-like fur covering the new antlers. But at the time of the rut, this action is to place a secretion coming from the glands located at the base of the antlers, a very fragrant substance that helps in marking his territory. It's called rubbing. The other marking technique involves scraping the ground to prepare the den. This is called scraping. When both behaviours occur, it's called fraying.

Often confused with wasps, hoverflies are diptera (a single pair of wings). They have the distinction of having sharp changes in direction, and to practice hovering. They are harmless and very useful. The larvae feed on aphids and protect gardens. As for adults, they feed on pollen and nectar. They play an important role in pollination. Their presence is evidence of biological and ecological wealth. These are very fine quality and environmental diversity indicators. Inventories help to guide management, especially forestry, as it was developed in the National Nature Reserve of Lake Remoray in the Doubs and Jura.

From the top looking towards the valley of Aigue Blanche. In the foreground, the Pic de Château Renard serves as the junction with Aigue Agnelle. At the back, the Tête de Toillies, the Pic de la Farneiréta, the Tête de Longet, the Roche Noire, the Peouvouand and others mark the border with the Ubaye. The Sommet Bûcher offers views on the lower Guil, the upper Guil, the Ecrins massifs and the Arvieux valley.

This fungus is gelatinous, funnel-shaped, translucent and smooth. Gradually, its top rolls and turns into a gutter-shaped foot. It grows in the mountains, between resinous trees and enjoys wetlands. Although it is edible, it is a bland fungus.

The church is composed of a single nave and 4 rows with a vault in tuff. Its bell tower of 10m high was imagined as a defensive tower. In 1575, it served as a shelter during the religious wars. Protestants turned it into a prison and trapped and tortured community leaders saidto be devouts Catholic. Between 1628 and 1637, the church was rebuilt and an additional row was added to accommodate the growing number of Catholics in the Queyras following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes.