Discover the splendour of flowers on the Jungen - Jungtal hiking trail. This Alpine flower trail is easily accessible from the mountain station on the St. Niklaus-Jungen cable car. The alpine flora is described with photos and text on over 80 panels. You will experience a diversity of species that unfortunately no longer occurs very often. Enjoy the marvellous mountain world in the midst of several four-thousand-metre peaks.
Alpine orchid
The deciduous foliage of the alpine orchid has a dark green colour. The individual leaves are lanceolate. The delicate tongue-shaped petals are pink or purple in colour, rarely white. The plant grows upright and can reach a height of up to 40 cm. Bees, bumblebees and other insects enjoy the flowers, which serve as a valuable source of food for them.
Flowering time: July - August
Alpine Edelweiss
Probably the most famous herb in this country, it prefers steep slopes and grows to a height of 5 - 20 cm. Edelweiss is woolly and white-felting, with the narrow lanceolate, approximately 5 cm long leaves being particularly hairy on the underside. The higher the edelweiss grows, the furrier and whiter it appears. The basal leaves form a rosette. Up to 15 shiny white bracts form a multi-pointed star and surround the actual inflorescence. The female flowers are bright yellow and the male flowers are grey.
Flowering time: July - September
Wormwood | Absinthe
Also known as bitter wormwood or Alsem, wormwood prefers to grow on dry, stony and calcareous soils near watercourses. The sun-loving plant has silver-grey, tomentose hairs, a strong aromatic scent and a spicy, bitter flavour.
Wormwood is said to have a healing effect on headaches, lack of appetite, jaundice, stomach and intestinal weakness, among other things.
Flowering time: July - September
Gold-Pippau
The mostly unbranched and single-headed plant has a leafless stem and flowers orange-red, more rarely red or orange-yellow. The shaggy hairy bracts are lanceolate and pointed, the outer ones are half as long as the inner ones.
The plant prefers to grow at high altitudes in fresh, nutrient-rich soil. It is much favoured by various insects and is particularly popular with butterflies.
Flowering time: June - September
Haller's laser herb
This herbaceous plant with upright flower stalks grows preferably on stony, nutrient-poor, sandy to loamy, fresh to dry soil. It can be found in the larch-pine forest typical of the Valais and in screes.
The above-ground parts of the plant are barely hairy. The upright stem is round, finely grooved and simple or slightly branched in the upper part. The white, bee-friendly flowers appear on double corymbose inflorescences.
Flowering time: June - September
Arnica
The aromatic, fragrant, herbaceous plant grows to a height of around 20 - 60 cm. The branched, glandular stem usually has one or two opposite pairs of leaves. The basal leaves are arranged in rosettes and are ovate to lanceolate with entire margins. The mostly solitary capitate inflorescences have yolk-yellow tubular flowers and many-veined, orange-yellow ray florets. Arnica flowers contain essential oil, flavonoids and sesquiterpene lactones, which have an anti-inflammatory and antiseptic effect.
Flowering time: June - August
Alpine eyebright
Eyebright is an ornamental herbaceous plant that grows rather small. The leaves are arranged opposite each other. The hermaphrodite flowers sit singly in the upper leaf axils. The petals are as long as they are wide, with 2 - 4 blunt or pointed teeth and bloom blue-purple to pink, rarely the lower lip is white.
The plant can be found on nutrient-poor grasslands with calcareous soils, at altitudes up to 3300 metres.
Flowering time: July - September
Stone carnation
It grows on sunny slopes, on stony embankments and in rock crevices on well-drained, base-rich, humus-rich stony or rocky soils at alpine altitudes. The rather small rock carnation forms cushion-like turfs. The flowers are red to red-violet in colour. The calyx scales are broadly ovoid and suddenly short-pointed. The calyx is 20 - 25 mm long and is four times as long as the calyx scales.
Flowering time: June - September
Nodding cinquefoil
The downward-sloping flowers only unfurl in the evening to attract moths. The herbaceous plant grows to a height of 25 - 60 cm. The upper part of the unbranched, upright stem is sticky and hairy. The basal leaves are spatulate to ovate, the stem leaves are more lanceolate. The nodding flowers spread an intense hyacinth scent. The narrow petals are white on the inside and light pink on the outside.
Flowering time: June - September
Pyrenean buttercup
The hairless flower stalks of the herbaceous plant stretch up to 15 cm in height. The grass-like leaves, which are up to 9 cm long, are typically lanceolate and glabrous. One to three white-petalled flowers grow on each plant, each with a diameter of up to 30 mm. The petals are obovate or heart-shaped. This plant thrives in moderately moist, nutrient-poor and salt-free soil.
Flowering time: May to July
Star-flowered saxifrage
This perennial plant grows up to 30 cm tall and forms a dense cushion. The upright stems are unleafy and rosettes of leaves form on the stolons. The basal leaves are fleshy, thick, glossy and toothed at the tip. The inflorescence consists of up to 15 white flowers with 5 or 6 petals with yellow dots at the base. The lanceolate petals are about twice as long as the pink to reddish sepals. When the sepals are folded back and close to the flower stalk, the flower is fully open and at the peak of its flowering period.
Flowering time: June - September
Flour primrose
This is a deciduous, perennial, herbaceous plant that grows up to 20 cm tall. The name flour primrose refers to the white floured flower umbels. The glandular hairs secrete tiny crystals which, mixed with plant wax, form the floury coating on the above-ground parts of the plant. The numerous leaves are arranged in a dense rosette and are divided into petiole and leaf blade. The hermaphrodite flower is five-petalled with a double perianth. The pink, light purple to red-purple petals are fused to form a corolla tube. The yellow throat ring is striking, in a multi-flowered, upright umbel. It prefers calcareous and salt-free soil.
Flowering time: May - July
Common cat's paw
If you interpret ‘common’ as ‘ordinary’ and think of a cat's footprint when you see the inflorescences, you know where the name comes from. The common cat's foot grows up to approx. 25 cm. The upper side of the stem leaves is more or less bare and the underside of the leaves is covered in white, woolly, fuzzy hairs.
The common cat's paw is capable of flowering from the second year onwards. The female capitula can be recognised by their pink flowers with pointed upper ends, while the male ‘cat's paw’ flowers are white and their bracts are blunt at the upper end.
The bracts are hygroscopic and only spread apart in dry weather. The irritable stamens bend when touched and pull down the stamen tube so that the pollen is ‘pumped out’ from the fixed pistil. The moths are responsible for pollination. Fruit ripening begins in August.
Flowering time: May – July
Spring kidneys
The stems of this lime-loving plant grow up to 5 cm tall in dry meadows and rocky meadows. The spring kidney vetch usually forms dense cushions on the ground and the lowest branches are woody. The narrow leaves are bright green and somewhat fleshy.
The end of the egg-shaped sepals is pointed and slightly curved inwards. With a length of up to 5 mm, the white petals are usually slightly longer than the sepals.
Flowering time: July - August
Pyramid greenfinch
The pyramidal, herbaceous plant grows to a height of around 20 cm. The ground is covered by a dense, basal rosette of leaves, which are significantly larger than the stem leaves. The stiff, upright stem is square, short-haired and the stem leaves proudly display their flowers. The slowly shrinking, whole-margined or slightly crenate leaves are reddish-purple in colour and at least twice as long as the flowers. Eight to twelve pseudo whorls form the dense inflorescence. The calyx is bell-shaped, shaggy-haired and has a spherically inflated tube at the end. It protects the flower against small, crawling insects. The nectar is additionally protected by a stiff, upward-facing hair ring. Pollination is carried out by persistent bumblebees and butterflies.
Flowering time: June – August
Knotweed
The bare perennial has simple stems. The lower leaves are green, long-stalked and lanceolate. The upper leaves often have rolled edges. The nodding knotweed flowers
white to light pink and the flowers are clustered in a loose-flowered false spike. Directly below the inflorescence are the reddish-brown to purple brood buds, which are starch-filled nodules that develop small leaves. In autumn, they fall to the ground as finished plants or are carried away by the wind.
It is said that in the past this herb was fed to cows that did not want to give milk and that the milk that had dried up flowed again.
Flowering time: June – August
Dwarf juniper
The dwarf juniper spreads slowly over the ground to form a dense carpet. The plant's needles are crested and end in a short spiky tip. The underside of the needles is covered with a waxy substance that protects them from drying out and the cold. The prostrate, densely arranged, triangular twigs measure about 2 mm in diameter. The male flower of the dwarf juniper has stamens that stand together. The female variety is characterised by three adjacent seed buds in which the berries ripen.
With a diameter of 4 to 9 mm, the more or less spherical cones are brownish-black in colour when ripe. They contain hard-shelled seeds that are dispersed during the pollen flight in late spring.
If the dwarf juniper receives enough sunlight, it produces a surplus of energy via the needles by absorbing more oxygen and sugar than it actually needs. This surplus energy is then channelled into the growth of the trunk.
The female cones (‘berries’) are used to flavour the spirit gin.
Flowering time: April to May
Shaggy hawkweed
The leaves, stems and flower heads are usually covered in a light-coloured pelt. The upper stem leaves gradually merge into the supporting leaves and bracts. The stem is simple or fork-branched with one to four flower heads. The many yellow, five-lobed ray florets are often ciliated on the outside of the denticles.
The motionless air mantle surrounding the dense hair coat reduces evaporation. This means that strong sunlight and drought cannot harm the plant. It thrives really well on stony grass and bare rock at altitudes between 1300 and 2700 m. The dark brown fruits of the juicy yellow-flowered shaggy hawkweed grow up to 5 mm long.
Flowering time: July to August
Short-leaved gentian
The perennial herbaceous plant usually stretches up to 6 mm in height. Its stem leaves are formed into a rosette to rhombic shape, broadest in the centre with a blunt to pointed upper end and papillose leaf margins that can only be seen with a magnifying glass.
The deep blue flowers are solitary, usually 2 to 10 mm above the uppermost pair of stem leaves. The outspread corolla lobes are at least twice as long as they are wide and are slightly greenish on the outside. The hermaphrodite flower is five-petalled with a double perianth.
The short-leaved gentian thrives at altitudes of up to 4200 m, making it the highest gentian species in the Alps.
Flowering time: June to August
Musk yarrow
The strongly fragrant musk «Bisamschafgarbe», as it is also known in Valais, grows to a height of around 20 cm. The bracts are green with dark brown margins. The ray florets are white and the tubular florets are pale yellow.
The flower heads are arranged in a long stalked, dense umbel. The white umbels consist of many heads, which in turn consist of many individual flowers. If you look very closely, you can see the countless glands on the leaves, which contain the aromatic oil.
The musk yarrow grows excellently at altitudes of up to 3400 metres. The leaves are used in folk medicine for loss of appetite, stomach, intestinal and liver disorders, as well as for nervous weakness and externally as a wound remedy.
Flowering time: July to August
Net willow
The dwarf shrub spreads along the ground. The slow-growing, dark green leaves are roundish and show a pronounced network of veins on their glossy upper side. They are hairy on the underside. The net willow is dioecious. The catkin flowers are quite inconspicuous on both male and female plants. The male inflorescences are long-stalked and flower in red.
Like all willow species, it is associated with fungi, which helps it to survive in its habitat.
Flowering time: June to August
Richly branched gentian
With its flower tips and richly branched growth habit, this gentian is very special and easy to distinguish from other gentian species.
All the leaves are blunt, the light purple corolla is 5-parted, rarely more than 2 cm long and the tips are up to 9 mm long. The calyx lobes are smooth at the edge and the bays between the calyx lobes are rounded. The stalked ovaries in the calyx are up to 6 mm long.
The great speciality is that it is a subendemic species, i.e. it occurs almost exclusively in Switzerland and adorns the ‘List of Priority Species’.
Flowering time: July to September
Rock cinquefoil
This perennial but short-lived alpine herb grows to a height of up to 25 cm. The branched stem is bare or slightly hairy at the base. The green leaves grow opposite, lanceolate and while the lower leaves have blunt ends, the ends of the upper leaves are pointed. The loose inflorescence consists of hermaphrodite, five white to pink-coloured petals
petals, which are inverted heart-shaped with a deep rim. The bell-shaped calyx is usually up to 6 mm deep and three pistils protrude from it. The capsule fruit enclosed in the calyx is elongated-ovoid. The seeds have a grainy-rough surface. A medium-sized plant bears about 40 capsule fruits, each with 30 kidney-shaped seeds.
On nutrient-poor but base-rich soils, the rock campion grows mainly in light-open silicate rock crevices or along paths, in places disturbed by humans.
Flowering time: July to August
Sweet clover
Stone clover is a herbaceous plant that grows to a height of up to 15 cm. It forms loose turfs up to 50 cm wide. The above-ground parts of the plant have greyish downy hairs.
The leaflets are narrow with a wedge-shaped base and silky hairs on both sides. The two stipules are pointed at the upper end and reddish with darker veins. The hermaphrodite flower is rather inconspicuous and the five densely hairy, equal sepals are fused for more than half their length. The five pointed calyx teeth are straight or curved inwards. The inconspicuous corolla has the typical shape of a butterfly flower and is usually pale pink in colour.
Flowering time: June to August
Glacier hawkweed
The green, hairy stems of the bright yellow flowering alpine herb wiggle cheerfully towards the sun. The green leaves are distributed along the stems and have long hairs. The glacier hawkweed has several heads and many pointed ray florets protrude from the flower heads.
Flowering time: June - September
Velvety pointed keel
The velvety pointed keel is very stubborn. This means that it only thrives in a clearly demarcated environment. It is therefore very rare. It prefers western alpine terrain at an altitude of around 2000 metres above sea level.
The densely hairy leaves show their 10-16 pairs of leaflets. The silk hairs on the leaf segments grow at an angle. The lush flowers of the velvety quill are purple in colour, interrupted by a white-yellow veining on the inside.
Flowering time: May - July
Alpine aster
The alpine aster is a perennial, herbaceous plant that grows to a height of up to 20 cm. It also goes by illustrious names such as alpine starflower, blue chamois flower or blue mountain aster.
The upright stem and the elongated leaves have downy hairs. There is only one large basket-shaped inflorescence per stem. The flower head proudly displays its yellow tubular flowers with radiant, purple ray florets. The latter only serve as an attraction, while the yellow, nectar-rich tubular flowers are readily pollinated by insects, especially butterflies. The fruits (achenes) are about 3 mm long, have protruding hairs and the rough yellowish pappus consists of bristles about 6 mm long.
Flowering time: July - September
Heather | Heather
The nodding flowers form a dense, racemose inflorescence. With its pink, red, purple or white flowers, it provides a striking splash of colour. The four petals and sepals are the same colour; the sepals are twice as long as the rather inconspicuous corolla. The open bud of the stamens makes the nectar easily accessible, and insects, especially bees and butterflies, are frequent visitors.
In the degeneration phase, this alpine herb dies back from the centre, but at the same time re-roots itself on the branches. This creates the typical ring-shaped structure with a central gap.
Flowering time: August - October
Wallis Kidney Vetch
The Walliser Wundklee feels very much at home on stony ground and is rather undemanding. The few leaves grow in the lower stem area. The shape of the upper stem leaves differs from the lateral ones in their pronounced length and width. The flowers, which nestle close together, delight with their light yellow to sometimes pink colour. The calyx conceals reddish tips on the inside. The bracts are deeply divided with pointed tips.
Flowering time: May – September
Bearded bellflower
The upright stem is rough-haired and can stretch up to about 40 cm in height. The basal leaves are arranged in a rosette. There are only a few small, narrow leaves on the stem. Up to twelve blue to violet flowers form a beautiful racemose inflorescence. The calyx lobes are half as long as the corolla and have a downturned, heart-shaped appendage in the calyx bays. The long, disorganised hairs of the bell-shaped flowers serve as a protective barrier against nectar-stealing insects. In contrast, powerful pollinators such as bumblebees have no problem reaching the sweet juice. The flower also serves as a harbour for small insects, as the difference to the outside temperature can be several degrees.
Flowering time: July - August
Cute eyebright
The leaves are opposite. The small white petals with a bluish veined centre and the characteristic yellow spot on the lower lip are striking. The cute eyebright probably owes the derivation of its botanical genus name to the Greek. Here it stands for ‘joy, cheerfulness, well-being’. Eyebright can have a healing effect on various disorders and inflammations around the eyes.
Flowering time: July - October
Large-flowered cinquefoil
It is a real eye-catcher with its golden yellow, cupped flowers. The large-flowered cinquefoil reaches a height of up to 30 cm and grows branched and multi-flowered. With its deciduous foliage of grey-green, feathery leaves, it is also a beautiful sight outside the flowering season. The obovate to roundish partial leaves reach a diameter of around 3 cm and form the yellow flower. Large, blunt ‘teeth’ protrude from the centre.
Flowering time: July - August
Alpine silver coat
Alchemilla alpina is a cushion-forming perennial. Its stems are prostrate to ascending and the shoots end in a rosette. The leaves are usually 5 to 7-parted, dark green and glabrous on the upper side, but with silvery hairs on the underside.
The flowers are clustered in a panicle and usually consist of 4 inner sepals. There are no petals and the outer sepals are usually also missing. The flowers, which are arranged in corymbs, are an attractive greenish-yellow colour and reach a diameter of 3 to 4 mm.
Flowering time: June - August
Evergreen bearberry
The evergreen bearberry forms extensive mats. The leaves are arranged alternately on the branches and are divided into petiole and leaf blade. Three to ten delicate flowers can be seen on the overhanging, racemose inflorescence. The bare, non-adherent supporting leaves are longer than the buds and become narrow-triangular and pointed towards the end. The bare flower stalk is short and harbours five free, durable sepals. The five graceful pink to reddish-coloured petals are fused over almost their entire length. The corolla is pitcher-shaped with five recurved petals. The anthers have recurved, thread-like appendages.
Flowering time: April – July
Black crowberry
The evergreen root creeper grows well as a prostrate, carpet-forming small shrub on nutrient-poor soils and likes to cling to rocks. The short-stalked, needle-shaped, evergreen leaves sit around the stem. The small, sessile flowers appear individually on short shoots in the axils of the leaves. These three-celled reddish flowers have a double perianth. The male flowers have three short stamens, while the female flowers have a multi-chambered ovary. The green sepals are obovate and half as long as the petals. The 2 to 3 stamens are dark purple and protrude above the calyx and corolla. By mid-July, numerous black, bare, smooth berry-like drupes with stigma and calyx remnants grow from the small pink-coloured flowers. Bees and hoverflies are useful pollinators, but wind pollination is also possible.
Flowering time: May - July
Alpine goldenrod
The leaves of this small medicinal plant are lanceolate-ovate and have a special feature. This is because they are 4-6 times as long as they are wide. The little sister of the common goldenrod has much larger flower heads, which are denser and more top-heavy. Its inflorescence consists of several flower heads with golden-yellow tubular and ray florets. After the flowers have faded, the so-called pappus remains, a calyx of hairs that serves as a flying apparatus for the seeds and enables them to be dispersed by the wind.
Flowering time: July - August
Troll flower
This perennial herbaceous plant grows to a height of up to 60 cm. Several bare and mostly unbranched stems grow from the root. The green basal leaves sit directly on the stems and are deeply palmately divided. They have five serrated to pinnately dissected sections. The bright yellow flower is terminal on the unbranched stem. The petals of the hermaphrodite flower grow spherically together and form a dome. The flower envelope consists of up to 15 perigone and several nectar petals. The numerous free carpels in the centre of the flower are striking.
It is slightly poisonous and is avoided by livestock.
Flowering time: May – July
Alpine mass love
Upright, sometimes slightly arching stems, which are only leafy at the base, grow from the thin, obliquely descending on the ground. The stems, which grow up to 30 cm tall, are single-headed. The yellow tubular flowers and the narrow ray florets form the basket-shaped flower head. While the upper side of the single-row ray florets is white, the underside is sometimes reddish in colour. Each head has about 40-50 narrow ray florets. The base of the flower head is domed, not hollow and contains hairy fruits about 3 mm long.
Flowering time: June - July
Thin-spurred butterwort
The weakly developed root system is white and fine. The thin-spurred butterwort prefers a light location on moist silicate soil at altitudes of up to 3000 metres. The fleshy, light green, elongated elliptical leaves are curved at the edges and have a greasy sheen. On the surface, these leaves of the carnivorous plant are sticky from the trapping secretion with which they catch small insects as well as pollen. At the end of an up to 10 cm high stem growing from the centre of the rosette, a single bright blue-violet flower with a white throat spot forms. The egg-shaped fruit capsules that form bear plenty of fine, black seeds.
Flowering time: June – August
Blueberry
The dwarf shrub grows strongly branched with upright, hairless, green-coloured branches. The green leaves are ovate to elliptical, glandular serrated to finely toothed. The small, hermaphrodite, thick-stalked flowers grow individually from the leaf axils. The nodding flowers are greenish to red in colour. The enclosed stamens are short. Black-blue, single berries about 1 cm in size ripen. The colour-giving anthocyanins are located in the skin as well as in the flesh, thanks to which the berry is coloured blue throughout.
The autumn colouring of the shrub begins in late summer - the foliage turns a deep red and the leaves fall off in winter.
Flowering time: May – August
Small-leaved bog bilberry
Broad oval, green leaves are attached to the roundish branches. Short stalks extend from the leaf angles, on which the individual flowers then grow. The flowers gradually ripen into plump blue berries that are light in colour on the inside.
Flowering time: May – August
Cranberry
The upright to creeping shrub from the blueberry genus roots up to one metre deep. The evergreen, rough leaves with thickened, downward-curving edges are shiny dark green on top and light green underneath. Several flowers are clustered together in terminal, downy-haired and drooping racemose inflorescences. The downy, hairy bracts are about 1 mm long and quickly fade. The initially dark red flower buds open first. The calyx is glabrous. The hermaphrodite, stalked flowers have a double perianth. The pale pink petals are fused in a bell shape. There are 8-10 short stamens. The downy, hairy stamens are about 0.5 mm long and the horned anthers are about 1.5 mm long. The initially white, later bright red berries ripen a few weeks after fertilisation.
Flowering time: June - August
Small asterisk
This delicate, perennial plant grows up to 40 cm tall. It likes alpine meadows and rocky slopes, but prefers to avoid calcareous soils. The simple stem is bare and branched in the centre.
The basal leaves are long-stalked and finger-shaped, five to nine-lobed. The leaf segments are narrow-lanceolate and deeply serrated in the upper part. The stem leaves are altogether smaller and simpler and their segments are very narrow, with entire margins or weakly serrated. The terminal umbel in the inflorescence is about 10 mm wide. The 10 to 20 short bracts are pointed and very narrow. They are about the same length as the white flowers and are free at the base. Each umbel contains up to 35 flowers and has a decorative, star-shaped appearance. The flower stalks are hair-thin and only about 6 mm long. The short calyx teeth are ovoid, blunt and spiky. The style is twice as long as the calyx teeth.
Flowering time: July - August
Koch's gentian
The stemless gentian, as it is also known, is a low perennial rosette plant. The upright leaves are two to three times as long as they are wide and are characterised by their inward sloping grooves. There is a single flower on a short inflorescence stem. The five azure-blue petals are fused in a bell shape. The corolla tube is olive-green veined on the inside. The petal tips are constricted at the base and shorter than half the corolla tube. They can be irritated by touch so that the whole flower can close. Stamens grow inside the bumblebee flower, closely surrounding the pistil. The stigma lobes pressed against the anther enable self-pollination, independent of the diligence of bumblebees and butterflies.
Flowering time: June - August
Alpine clover
The leaf stalks grow about 5 cm upwards from the tough taproot, which is up to 1 cm thick. The hairless leaves are three-part pinnate, linear-lanceolate and have almost entire margins. The fragrant Alpen-Klee stretches up to 20 cm in height. Native animals love its flavour and marmots in particular enjoy the delicious Alpen-Klee. The mostly purple head-shaped inflorescence has a diameter of up to 5 cm and contains three to twelve stalked flowers. The hermaphrodite flowers, which have a balsamic scent, especially in the sunshine, are five-petalled with a double perianth. The glabrous and ten-nerved calyx tube is longer than the flower stalks. The bright corolla petals exceed the calyx tube eightfold.
Flowering time: June - August
Nordic striped fern
In a preferably dry, rocky environment, the northern striped fern grows up to 15 cm tall. It is only found on lime-poor or lime-free soil. At the lower end, you can see black-brown, bristle-like pointed chaff scales on the stalk and the higher you look, the greener the stalk. The leaf stalk is much longer than the leaf blade. The winter-green, irregularly forked leaves rarely grow up to 17 cm long. Young leaves are two-lobed and obovate-triangular. The glabrous and glossy leaf blade is two to five-toothed. The stalked leaflets are slightly widened at the top and end in up to six teeth.
Flowering time: July - October
Vandelli's man shield
This alpine herb grows in the crevices and cracks of silicate rocks at altitudes up to over 3000 metres. Vandellis Mannsschild is characterised by its firm, dense cushion of densely nestled, white-felt, many-rayed, short stellate hairs.
The stems are columnar below the terminal, spreading leaves and densely covered with tiny, stiff dead leaves. The small leaf blade grows lanceolate and ends bluntly. The vivid flowers are solitary terminal at the top of the stems and are almost stalkless. The hermaphrodite flowers are five-petalled with a double perianth. The corolla throat in the small white corolla is a bright yellow colour.
Flowering time: July - August
Rock cinquefoil
The proud Felsen-Fingerkraut (rock cinquefoil) stretches up to 60 cm in height and thrives in various plant communities. Despite its name, it never grows on rocks but prefers sandy to loamy soil.
It grows unpaired pinnate basal leaves, which become increasingly large the further they are from the stem base. The foliage is broadly ovate as well as deep and sometimes double-notched and serrated.
The inflorescence stem is erect, steeply branched at the top and ends in a loose, sometimes almost sham-like inflorescence. Several hermaphrodite flowers form on the long flower stalk, each consisting of five free, egg-shaped, white sepals. At around 7 mm, these are significantly larger than the light green to yellowish lanceolate outer sepals.
Flowering time: June - July
Mountain houseleek
This sap-rich, evergreen alpine herb forms stolons up to 10 cm long and grows to a height of around 20 cm. The rosettes, which are initially spherical and later spread out in a star shape, reach a width of up to 45 mm. They give off a resinous odour. The lanceolate rosette leaves are densely covered with short glandular hairs on both sides. The inflorescence can produce up to 13 violet-red flowers per stem at best. The hermaphrodite flowers are radially symmetrical with a double perianth. The sepals are lanceolate, pointed and glandular-shaggy and much shorter than the petals. The ovary is glandular-hairy.
Flowering time: July – September
Grape saxifrage
The name varies from Rispen-Steinbrech to Immergrüner Steinbrech. Thanks to its many small roots, the Trauben Steinbrech finds a foothold in thin humus layers above the rocks. This drought-resistant and frost-hardy alpine herb can reach a height of 45 cm. The evergreen, fleshy leaves form a hemispherical rosette up to 6 cm wide. The leaves actively excrete lime at the edges, leaving behind small flakes of lime, so the leaves are often covered with a light grey layer of lime. The hermaphrodite flowers are usually in a loose, panicle-like racemose inflorescence. The 5 white petals are often spotted red. The yellow at the base of the petals enhances the signalling effect of the stamens. The pistils only develop after the stamens have been dusted.
Flowering time: June – August
Upright willow
The green parts of the plant are densely rough or somewhat glandular with hairs. The lower leaves are short-stalked and the upper leaves are stalkless. The leaf margin of the lower leaves is serrated to distantly crenate and that of the upper leaves is more or less smooth. The characteristic pseudo whorls are found in a pseudo-annual inflorescence. There are up to ten flowers in the pseudo whorls.
The tubular, bell-shaped calyx is rough-haired with bare, spiky, protruding teeth and bare, piercing awn tips. The corolla tube has an inner hair ring. The full-lipped upper lip is upright and has turned-back edges. The three-lobed lower lip is downturned, more or less brown in colour and folded backwards. The four stamens curve strongly outwards with spreading pollen sacs.
The yellowish-white corolla has a purple-coloured sap mark. The flowers are first male, later female, with no overlapping of the sexes.
Flowering time: June – October
Sticky ragwort
The underground taproot gives the Klebriges Greiskraut a secure hold. The leaves are arranged alternately on the stem and are divided into petiole and leaf blade. The uppermost leaves are smaller and more or less encircle the stem. Apart from the flowers and fruits, the above-ground parts of the plant are covered with short, sticky glandular hairs. The Klebriges Greiskraut is a strikingly unpleasant-smelling, deciduous alpine herb. Several basket-shaped partial flowers stand together in irregular inflorescences. The flower heads contain bright yellow ray and tubular flowers. The approximately 13 bright yellow ray florets are short and their tongue is usually only spread out before fertilisation and in sunshine. They are curled back early so that they are easily overlooked. Creeping insects are presumably held back by the sticky stalk. The Klebriges Greiskraut was originally native to Atlantic, sub-Mediterranean climates, from where it also spread to the Valais Alps.
Flowering time: July – September
Sweet tragacanth
The botanical name refers to the sweet-tasting leaflets, which grow up to four centimetres long. Root nodules mixed with nitrogen-fixing bacteria form under the soil. The sweet tragacanth is a deep-rooting plant with a taproot. The stem, which often lies down and rises at the ends, can stretch up to 80 cm in length. The stems are covered with opposite leaves and at the end of each stem is a multi-flowered racemose inflorescence with up to 30 individual small flowers. The unusual-looking flowers of the bear's pod are light yellow-green in colour and have reddish, fused bracts with short tips. The upwardly curved, almost sessile pod has a beak-like appendage. There are 10 stamens inside the flower. Of these, 9 stamens are fused together. The tenth stamen is free-standing. The pistil is also contained inside the flower.
Flowering time: June - August
