Pinguicula vulgaris in Iceland

[teinkes]

Hi everyone

During the month of september I was hiking in southern Iceland. I expected to see glaciers, vulcanoes, barren landscapes but didn't know at all Pinguiculas where abundant there. As I was hiking again hundered of Km's, I coudn't take pictures all the time so here are the main spots where I saw them.

Skaftafell NP:





Hiberntation buds can be seen in the plants center








And some with seed pods











And further on in the Lakigigar area, I found a population whom the leave margins had a nice pinky coloration.





Last flower of the season





And growing pretty well near the jeep tracks





More pictures of the landscpaes and the hiking trip cn be seen on:


www.flickr.com/photos/norway_summer_2009/sets/72157638422771873/


Enjoy the pictures

Christophe

[sflynn]

That's a nice find! That must of been surprising to find pings when they were the last thing you were thinking about!

[Apoplast]

Hi Chirstophe - Very cool, thanks for sharing! I was there a couple years back in June and it seemed like every we area with vegetation had little P. vulgaris around. I've never seen a carnivorous plant so abundant over such a wide area. You have a keen eye though finding that one with the pinkish undersides to it's leaves!

Because you didn't get to see many flowers there I've attached a couple of my pictures so you can see what they looked like earlier in the season.

They were tucked under mosses:



Out in the open:



Some of them were quite showy too:



But perhaps my favorites were these little ones:



Not so much for the plants as the location. They were growing on a beach on the Denmark Straight.



I couldn't believe they were so close to the ocean. The plants they were growing with were salt tolerant sea side species. I should have tasted the sand to see if it was salty. Oh well, I guess you never think of tasting soil until after the fact. Still, this was the only beach location I found them growing. I don't know how common it is there but it was a surprise to me.

Thanks again for sharing your pictures from Iceland, Christophe. I hope you don't mind that I added some of mine here for you to see.

[teinkes]

Hi Apoplast ,


No worries for the pictures. it's always nice to learn from one and another!

regards

Christophe

[Dave Evans]

Hmm, while I love the CP's I am wondering about the very low shrub with the blue colored berries... Is that a bilberry shrub growing with the P. vulgaris?

This is an odd habitat, the soil is lime while the black stuff is peat. You have species which like acid or lime in the same place. The ecology might be one where the salt is constantly being removed via rain. Then I think I see a bit of pumice, which seems out of place... Or there is quite a variety of substrates in the area?

[teinkes]

Dave,

The Shrub near P. vulgaris is Vaccinium uliginosum. The black berry is a crowberry, Empetrum nigrum, both eatable.

I didn't see lime in Iceland but a lot of lavarock, pumice and basalt rock. Indeed there's a part of organic matter ( peat) on top of it.

[polbishop25]

Great pictures indeed. This Pinguiculas is surely a curious species. I wonder if there is a chance to raise this plant in a home garden or container. Any ideas?

[teinkes]

not posssible I try to grow some from seed I harvest but seems they have a short growig period like they use to have up north. I have better succes with growig species from the Alps and pyrenees