Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Travel / Places to Visit => Topic started by: David Shaw on July 19, 2009, 07:24:08 PM
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It was the middle of June when we went to Kaprun so I suppose that I had better post some pictures. Kaprun is probably best known as a ski resort and is about three hours south of Saltzburgh in the Hohe Taurn. The village is dominated by the Kitzsteinhorn and surrounded by other mountains. We were last here in the early 1990's and remember it for its good uplift facilities and walking paths.
The pistes were clear of snow and now covered in a mass of flowers. I am assuming that these primula and gentians have colonised the slopes by themselves as I can't imagine the amount of seed that would have to have been sown. The pictures show a magnificent clump of Gentian clusii both on the way up the hill and the same clump on the way back down. The reason for the difference in appearance is given in the final picture.
I welcome anyone, particularly Hans & Karl, correcting my id of the plants
Kitzsteinhorn
Ski slope
Primula halleri
Gentian verna
Paris quadrifolia
Paris quadrifolia
Gentiana clusii
Gentiana clusii
Gentiana clusii
Well fed cows
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Anyone visiting this are just has to go to the Mooserboden lakes. This is a hydro electricity dam just about visible in the top centre of the first picture.
Dams
Mooserboden lake
Anemone narcissiflora
Anemone narcissiflora
Doronicum clusii
Cirsium spinosissimum
Pulsatilla alpina
Pulsatilla alpina
Saxifraga oppositifolia alba
Soldanella alpina
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Still at Mooserboden
The lousewort took some puzzling over as we had never seen such a strongly coloured one before that we did not even recognise the genus! Gentiana punctata was a beauty. It was the only one we saw and located so that the photographer was clinging to a blade of grass with his left hand, his feet on vertical soft mud and the camera waving around in his right hand :o. Anyone know if this is available commercially, I would love to try it in the garden.
Cerastium uniflorum
Cerastium uniflorum
Crocus vernus albiflorus
Gentiana punctata
Gentiana punctata
Gentiana verna
Pedicularis recutita
Pedicularis recutita
Gentiana clusii
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The scenery around Kitzsteinhorn s spectacular David - what a wonderful place to find the gems you photographed. The shots are perfect seeing the plant in situ and then in close up and I really like the Gentiana punctata; so unusual and imposing and well worth the tenuous hold to take a shot for us all to admire ;)
All of the plants (that were missed by the cows) are interesting and varied but for me Pedicularis recutita is particularly fascinating as I love the flower head, colour and leaf :)
Thanks so much for showing your trip there in June
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Lovely pictures David, I do mean to go to the Austrian alps but Switzerland keeps getting in the way!
The Saxifraga oppositifolia alba is not oppositifolia, I first thought of Saxifraga androsacea and then mused over Androsace pubescens but your plant does not look hairy so I remain unsure. Hopefully one of the locals will take a look and give us an answer.
My first Gentiana punctata demanded a picture ... think I had to cross a stream to get close enough. Next day I saw loads of them!
Good ID with Pedicularis recutita, I saw it in the Engadine, Eastern Switzerland. Robin, there are outlying populations in your area too :) but perhaps you already knew this ;)
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The day we went up to the snow line was not the best in terms of the weather. All plants shown here were growing in the outcrops shown in pic1 and in ground such as in pic2.
Location
soil conditions
Primula minima
Primula minima
Primula minima and Primula glutinosa
This is probably the same as the Saxifraga oppositifolia alba that Tony has already queried
same, any suggestions please?
Saxifraga oppositifolia
classic Soldanella pusilla in the snow
Soldanella pusilla
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The advantage of uplift facilities is that you can ride up the mountain and walk down ;D. Here we walked down from the snow line to the valley. I am finishing with three orchids that I don't know the id of, anyone help?
gondola
Valley view, Kaprun is just at the bottom of the hill
Rhododendron ferrugineum
Rhododendron ferrugineum
Veratrum album
Phyteuma spicatum
Orchid 1
Orchid 2
Orchid 3
That's all folks, thanks for looking at our picture.
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Good ID with Pedicularis recutita, I saw it in the Engadine, Eastern Switzerland. Robin, there are outlying populations in your area too but perhaps you already knew this
No, never seen them here Tony but would like to find out where.....do give me a clue ::)
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Don't forget to click on the thumbnail pictures to enlarge them, Folks!
That Pedicularis is gorgeous!! And the Rhododendron ferrugineum, of course :D :)
..... but how about the huge number of bugs on the white Phyteuma spicatum..... yuck!
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Hello,
I think Tony is right, when he suggests the white little plant is Saxifraga androsacea. It is common in the Hohen Tauern.
The saxifraga from posting 5 is rudolphiana; now an independent species close to oppositifolia!
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Herbert and Tony
I am grateful to you both for your help with the id of the two saxifrages. I was not aware of S. rudolphiana so that is very interesting.
Grateful as I am I not sure about the white Saxifrage. I ahve looked at S. androsacea on the web and in Malcolm McGregors book and I think the leaves are very different. The help (confuse) matters I enclose a second picture of the Mooserboden sax (posting 2), not as good a picture but showing the leaves slightly more clearly and then a a new picture from the snowline on Kitzsteinhorn showing both the pink and the white plants growing together - I think that both white saxes are the same species.
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Maggie, don't worry, this was not a showbench plant ;D
If you want bugs or insects how about this swarm of bees. They were swarming round a tree alongside a gate that we had to pass through. Round or through - we made our way cross country and managed to squeeze between the swarm and the fence to escape unharmed!
I have been told that before swarming bees pack themselves with pollen and are unable to sting - this is a scientific 'fact' that I was not prepared to put to the test.
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Thanks David !
Great scenery - beautiful plants - excellent photographs !!
Marvelous show !
I guess the liquid reward at the Salzburgerhütte was quite appreciated... ;)
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Wasn't it nice of Carol to be there with a "pint" for you after that climb? ;D
If you want bugs or insects how about this swarm of bees. They were swarming round a tree alongside a gate that we had to pass through. Round or through - we made our way cross country and managed to squeeze between the swarm and the fence to escape unharmed!
I have been told that before swarming bees pack themselves with pollen and are unable to sting - this is a scientific 'fact' that I was not prepared to put to the test.
David,
my dad was an amateur apiarist and would often "harvest" bee swarms; when they first abandon the old hive the bees gorge themselves on honey for the journey and aren't able to curl around enough to sting. However after awhile when they've used up reserves they should be able to defend the hive quite adequately! We came through childhood with hardly any stings despite having over a dozen hives in our backyard - and the best honey!
Thanks for the pics of your trip. Despite the bugs that Phyteuma is lovely.
cheers
fermi
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David,
I like to second Luc.
Thanks for showing us Kaprun in summer!
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another great place with wonderful plants to see :) cant even pick faves from that bunch.
handy to only have to walk down ;)
maggie--as you know, i love my close shots of flowers, and i never cease to be amazed and amused that almost every flower has at least one bug showing in the photo, and many have numerous! tiny flowers that you can only see in macro just have even tinier bugs you can barely see wih the naked eye!
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And we're going back in 39 days... who me counting ;D
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And we're going back in 39 days... who me counting ;D
AGAIN???? You Gadabouts!! ;D
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David,
No one seems to have taken up your challenge of the orchid i-ds, so I'll have a guess (based on some recent experience).
1. Dactylorhiza definitely, possibly fuschii.
2. Frog orchid (Coeloglossum viride) - this is the only one I'm really confident of.
3. Dactylorhiza probably, but there's something about the flowers that makes me think that it could be a hybrid. Do you have a close up of the flowers? - beautifully spotted leaves by the way.
Peter
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Hi Peter, thanks for the Coeloglossum viride id - this is a new one for me and I see that it is just the same as yours from Pontresina.
Sorry, but I do not have a close ou of the Dactylorhizas. They were taken as snaps late in the afternoon as we were hurrying to catch the a beer before the last gondola went down!
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we were hurrying to catch the a beer before the last gondola went down!
It's nice to know you have your priorities right! ;D
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Lovely pictures David, I do mean the
Saxifraga oppositifolia is S. androsacea
Gentiana clusii = G. acaulis
classic Soldanella pusilla in the snow is ok, but the close-up-view is S. alpina
Primula halleri = P. farinosa
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Franz
Thank you so much for your observations.
We had a lot of debate about the gentian. We went for G. clusii because the flowers had a lot of green within the cup and the guides pointed this way.
None of the primulas that we saw had any farinose on the leaves and that was our main reason for going with 'halleri'.
We saw both Soldanella pusilla and alpina, maybe I made a mistake with the postings.
Franz, we are still so sorry that we did not make our appointment to see you in June. Maybe another time, I hope.
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David,
Thank you for your wonderful postings in here. This afternoon I've been catching up on the Travel/Plaecs to visit topic and the postings in the last fortnight here have been amazing. Thanks to all for their contributions. So many new things to see and learn about. ;D