The summer pheasant's-eye

The history of plants is fascinating. A large number of messicole plants (those associated with crops), like the poppy and the cornflower, arrived from the Mediterranean basin or the Middle East as seeds, mixed with cereal seeds, as far back as the very first trading activity in prehistory. Unfortunately, herbicides have led to their virtual disappearance and mountain farming has become their last refuge. And so the summer pheasant's-eye, with its splendid but discreet flowers, still grows here.