The green lizard
This lizard, very common in the south of the Loire, can reach up to 40 cm. If the male has a uniformly green coloration, the female is more contrasted and may be white or black. The young ones are brown with a green throat. On the whole, it appreciates the low and pungent vegetation where it can find abundant food and many places where it can hide in case of danger.
The green lizard feeds on various invertebrates: beetles, grasshoppers, butterflies, spiders. It sometimes eats the fruit pulp fallen to the ground.
The broom (Genista)
The St-Jean-St-Maurice-sur-Loire sector is geographically located at the confluence of several climatic zones: the Atlantic zone, the continental zone and the Mediterranean zone 2, which corresponds to the vine growing area.
That’s why, the wild flora is very rich and varied and more than 300 species have been identified. We can see different plants commonly called “brooms”: the hairy broom, the broom of the dyers, the winged broom, the broom broom, the purgative broom, as well as the Spanish broom and gorse.
boxwood
The boxwood, particularly persistent and robust plant, with a characteristic smell is an evergreen shrub of the Buxaceae family, which can reach a height of 5 to 6 meters. In the spring it produces small axillary flowers, without any decorative interest, but appreciated by the bees. It is a plant with sometimes very slow growth, which can live for several centuries. Its wood is particularly hard, that’s why it was used as a material to make tools during prehistory before metal was mastered. In our village, many paths are bordered with boxwood.
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