Post by andreasfleischmann on Aug 21, 2008 16:36:17 GMT
Hello all,
Here are some old photographs of an alpine tour which I made on the last week of august in 2004. (I hope you excuse me recycling some old threads of mine from CP UK forum
) My main aim was to botanise in the central European Alps, where the soil is neutral to acidic, because of the underlying intrusive rocks. This results in many endemic plants of high montane meadows in the main Alpine divide, which don't grow outside this range, on the calcareous soils of the northern and southern Alps. One of these central Alpine endemics is Pinguicula leptoceras (with only a few remote populations in the southern Alps on slightly calcareous soils, which escaped from the usual range).
The following photographs were made in Obergurgl, Tyrol, Austria, mainly in the Rotmoosache valley below the glacier “Gurgler Ferner”. It is in the Ötztal Alps (Ötztaler Alpen) on the Italian/Austrian border (where they found that old mummified Ötzi the Iceman).
You can well see the U-shaped glacial valley of Gurgler Ferner (which is the snow and ice-covered area in visible the 2nd photo) in these 2 views. The area on the bottom of this valley is an acidic seepage swamp, and entirely covered by a dense population of thousands of Pinguicula leptoceras!
P. leptoceras growing in the Rotmoosache valley, at about 2700 m a.s.l.
You can even spot the glacier in the background.
The flowers of P. leptoceras are reminescent of P. vulgaris. However they are larger in size, and the 3 big white spots on the lower lip are characteristic in P. leptoceras as well:
Last but not least, P. leptoceras has a long narrow spur (origin of the species’ name!), whereas the spur of P. vulgaris is shorter and more wide. And both species are well separated by their ecological needs, too: P. leptoceras is a plant of the main Alpine divide, where it grows on neutral to acidic soils (except those few Italian populations further South, which break the rule), where as P. vulgaris is usally confined to alkaline calcareous soils.
The rosette leaves of P. leptoceras are identical to those of P. vulgaris, but usually turn maroon red in full sun.
Some plants of P. leptoceras grew on the mountain sides of the valley, where snow water was seeping through. On these sites, they grew among taller grasses, accompanied with many orchids:
The orchids in the foreground (out of focus) are frog-orchids, Coeloglossum viride (“grüne Hohlzunge” in German).
Another plant which usually grews along with P. leptoceras is the Snow Bell, Soldanella pusilla (primrose family, Primulaceae), which is confined to the silicate soils of the central Alpine crest, too:
Another primrose endemic to the silicate Alps of Austria and Italy, which often accompanies P. leptoceras, is Primula glutinosa:
In the rubble at the base of the glacier, a few plants which are perfectly adapted to the rough conditions thrive well. Usually they are growing as small rosetted perennials or low cushions, to give less contact to wind, cold and snow. Many of them have huge flowers compared to the overall size of the plant. They bloom as soon as the snow cover melts, to increase the size that they get pollinated by the few insects living at these high altitudes. Almost all high alpine plants are pollinated by flies (in Europe as well as in Asia, America, Australia and New Zealand, interesting, isn’t it?)
Androsace alpina, another member of the Primulaceae. (pygmy Drosera lovers will recognise the similarity of those flowers with flowers of Drosera androsacea)
Here are some old photographs of an alpine tour which I made on the last week of august in 2004. (I hope you excuse me recycling some old threads of mine from CP UK forum
) My main aim was to botanise in the central European Alps, where the soil is neutral to acidic, because of the underlying intrusive rocks. This results in many endemic plants of high montane meadows in the main Alpine divide, which don't grow outside this range, on the calcareous soils of the northern and southern Alps. One of these central Alpine endemics is Pinguicula leptoceras (with only a few remote populations in the southern Alps on slightly calcareous soils, which escaped from the usual range).The following photographs were made in Obergurgl, Tyrol, Austria, mainly in the Rotmoosache valley below the glacier “Gurgler Ferner”. It is in the Ötztal Alps (Ötztaler Alpen) on the Italian/Austrian border (where they found that old mummified Ötzi the Iceman).
You can well see the U-shaped glacial valley of Gurgler Ferner (which is the snow and ice-covered area in visible the 2nd photo) in these 2 views. The area on the bottom of this valley is an acidic seepage swamp, and entirely covered by a dense population of thousands of Pinguicula leptoceras!
P. leptoceras growing in the Rotmoosache valley, at about 2700 m a.s.l.
You can even spot the glacier in the background.
The flowers of P. leptoceras are reminescent of P. vulgaris. However they are larger in size, and the 3 big white spots on the lower lip are characteristic in P. leptoceras as well:
Last but not least, P. leptoceras has a long narrow spur (origin of the species’ name!), whereas the spur of P. vulgaris is shorter and more wide. And both species are well separated by their ecological needs, too: P. leptoceras is a plant of the main Alpine divide, where it grows on neutral to acidic soils (except those few Italian populations further South, which break the rule
), where as P. vulgaris is usally confined to alkaline calcareous soils.The rosette leaves of P. leptoceras are identical to those of P. vulgaris, but usually turn maroon red in full sun.
Some plants of P. leptoceras grew on the mountain sides of the valley, where snow water was seeping through. On these sites, they grew among taller grasses, accompanied with many orchids:
The orchids in the foreground (out of focus
) are frog-orchids, Coeloglossum viride (“grüne Hohlzunge” in German).Another plant which usually grews along with P. leptoceras is the Snow Bell, Soldanella pusilla (primrose family, Primulaceae), which is confined to the silicate soils of the central Alpine crest, too:
Another primrose endemic to the silicate Alps of Austria and Italy, which often accompanies P. leptoceras, is Primula glutinosa:
In the rubble at the base of the glacier, a few plants which are perfectly adapted to the rough conditions thrive well. Usually they are growing as small rosetted perennials or low cushions, to give less contact to wind, cold and snow. Many of them have huge flowers compared to the overall size of the plant. They bloom as soon as the snow cover melts, to increase the size that they get pollinated by the few insects living at these high altitudes. Almost all high alpine plants are pollinated by flies (in Europe as well as in Asia, America, Australia and New Zealand, interesting, isn’t it?
)Androsace alpina, another member of the Primulaceae. (pygmy Drosera lovers will recognise the similarity of those flowers with flowers of Drosera androsacea
)
