Boxwood: Yesterday's fertiliser

Recognizable by its foliage, evergreen and glossy, it is rich in nitrogen. Used until the beginning of the last century as animal litter, it was then common in the fields as nitrogen fertilizer. Inedible for the flock, the abandonment of this practice and the decline of pastoralism favoured the invasion of open areas by boxwood. It has an exceptional durability because it can live 5 to 6 centuries and reach several metres high.