Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Travel / Places to Visit => Topic started by: ashley on September 21, 2010, 10:31:49 PM
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Better late than never perhaps :-\ so here are some pictures taken in late June and early July this year in the Cantabrian mountains.
The Cordillera Cantábrica runs parallel to the north coast of Spain for about 250 km. Toward the eastern end of the range the Picos de Europa is a predominantly limestone area with a rich flora and fauna as well as magnificent scenery. In particular the little town of Fuente Dé attracts visitors of a botanical bent because its cable car offers fast and effortless access to an alpine wonderland on the plateau above 8)
IDs or corrections are very welcome.
Near the cable car station above Fuente Dé, view southward along the edge of the plateau
Androsace villosa
Anemone pavoniana (x2)
A natural crevice garden with Globularia, Androsace & Helianthemum
Cerastium & Helianthemum
Erodium daucoides ?
Gentiana angustifolia (x2)
Limestone peak rising from the plateau
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More from the Picos de Europa:
Erysimum duriaei ?
Genista & Thymus
Gentiana verna (x2)
Globularia repens (x2)
Helianthemum sp.
Cares gorge (x3)
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Picos de Europa:
Iris latifolia (x2)
Lithodora diffusum
Merendera montana
Myosotis alpestris ?
Nigritella nigra
Ranunculus amplexicaulis
Natural rockgardens (x2)
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Lovely pictures I liked the Nigritella nigra 8).
Thanks for sharing
Angie :)
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Ashley:
In the last picture it looks like an eryngium.
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Ashley,
Great set of shots, great light and you must have taken your better camera this time. The blues are brilliant.
Paddy
P.S. Hope to see you in Cork tomorrow evening. Planning to go to Kinsale first for lunch, onto Hosford's Garden Centre, back to Cork to collect some electrical thing which is in for repair for my son, something to eat and on to the meeting. Making a day out of it.
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Ashley's last picture of a Saxifraga sp. did not load properly..... I'm trying it again to see if it will be okay now.......though I think there is still a strange red line across it..... :-\
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Wonderful pictures Ashley !
Indeed a paradise for alpine lovers ! :o
You seem to have been a busy lad this Summer travelling from North to South - or was it the other way around ??? :D
Thanks for showing us !
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I agree Arnold, maybe E. campestre ?
Yes it's a lovely little thing isn't it Angie, and an unusual colour for a European orchid. However my blurry picture does it little justice.
Thanks Paddy; realistically the problem is not so much the camera as the eejit behind it ;)
I hope you have a good day tomorrow & will see you later at Ian's talk.
South with the family then north alone Luc ;D
This year I was lucky to get two very different mountain trips.
A last few from the Picos de Europa (IDs or suggestions appreciated):
Saxifraga felineri (x2)
Scilla sp.
Sedum sp.
Silene acaulis & Viola biflora
Sorbus sp.
Teucrium pyrenaicum (confirmed by Luit)
Viola sp.
… and a couple I probably should know but don’t recognise :-\
Chaenorhinum origanifolium
Erinus alpinus both kindly identified by Tony :D
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Fabulous pictures Ashley - especially like the Globularia repens, reminds me of trips to the Pyrenees over a decade ago. The sorbus is nice too .... was it a long way down? :P
The couple you do know but did not name might be Chaenorhinum origanifolium and Erinus alpinus perhaps.
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Thanks very much Tony. This Sorbus grows here and there on the limestone slopes above Fuente Dé. Actually the photograph was taken near the upper teleférico station, down through the open grid floor :o of a viewing platform cantilevered out over the edge of the cliff 8)
These following pictures are from various places along the southern side of the Cantabrian range, in Palencia and León provinces, and westward into Asturias. Here there is much less forest cover than on the wetter, seaward side and agriculture remains fairly extensive so the natural vegetation is rich and diverse. But quite apart from the wonderful plants the expansive scenery, picturesque villages linked by quiet country roads, excellent food and welcoming people make this an idyllic place to visit.
A few general landscapes
Aquilegia vulgaris & Erica lusitanica
Digitalis parviflora
Echium vulgare (x2)
Eryngium bourgatii
Gentiana luteum
Helianthemum sp.
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Some more plants:
Helianthemum sp.
Himantoglossum hircinum (x2) lizard orchid
Linum sp.
Phyteuma orbiculare
Ranunculus parnassifolius (x2), an exquisite plant on south-facing screen slopes near 2,000 m
Rosa pendulina ?
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Thanks for sharing the trip, it does look an idyllic place to visit.
The Ranunculus parnassifolius looks stunning.
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Thanks Rob. It's a magnificent plant alright, and one I'd never seen before. One of the highlights of the trip 8)
Finally:
Saxifraga sp. ?
Sempervivum cantabricum
Viola cornuta & Anthyllis montana
Cerastium or Arenaria sp. ? (Luit's & Mark's suggestions, respectively) a stiff, hard plant with sharply pointed leaves in 4-fold arrangement: Arenaria aggregata ?
... and some of the friendly locals ;D
Aphyllanthes monspeliensis (identified by Luit and Diane)
Apologies for the incomplete identifications; any help much appreciated.
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nice!
i was expecting the sempervivum as soon as i saw the title ;D
the first stunner for me was the glubularia dripping down the cliff, but the sax felineri on pure stone is lovely, and the sorbus! wow! is it a tree or a shrub?
of course that Ranunculus is like no other i have seen.....
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Wonderful images as usual, Ashley.
Ranunculus parnassifolius usually occurs in it's white form (see below) with less hairy, more shiny leaves.
Henry and Margaret Taylor introduced the superb pinkish-red Nuria form some years back, but even though I grow both, I don't consider the foliage on my plants to be as exquisitely shaped or hairy as the the example you have portrayed. We are hoping to visit this area next May or June and would love to photograph this form but fear we may be far too early?
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Lovely pictures Ashley.
Maybe I can help with some naming, your Teucrium = T. pyrenaicum and the small white plant with prickly looking leaves might be some Cerastium?
And your Sisyrinchium is definitely Aphyllanthes monspeliensis.
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Sisyrinchium sp.
There's no Sisyrinchium this side of the Atlantic. I think your picture is of Aphyllanthes monspeliensis (was it a bit more blue than the picture shows?)
Thanks for these, Ashley, super pix of an interesting area and one that I would like to visit, if I ever get time off for good behaviour in June ;D
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Thanks for sharing the trip, it does look an idyllic place to visit.
The Ranunculus parnassifolius looks stunning.
Indeed,
another than the Nuria - collection. Most interesting report - thank you Ashley.
(Sorry, can't help with the identification of the violet).
Gerd
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Many thanks all for your comments and help with IDs.
Glad you weren't disappointed Cohan ;D I know very little about sempervivums so hope it's right.
Yes it's hard to see from my 'top down' pic but the Sorbus was actually a tree, about 3-4 m tall, and the only vegetation in the landscape anything like that size. By growing on steep slopes and in gullies they tend to gain some protection from winds etc..
Cliff, yes I'd seen only white forms on the Forum so thought that maybe R. parnassifolius flowers 'went pink' like R. glacialis only as they matured and were perhaps considered less show-worthy. I saw these plants in early July but at near 2,000 m, so populations at lower altitude might be earlier. Anyway, PM me if you want the location.
Luit, many thanks. I've corrected the text accordingly but unfortunately can't change the file names without help from above ::) ;D
There's no Sisyrinchium this side of the Atlantic. I think your picture is of Aphyllanthes monspeliensis (was it a bit more blue than the picture shows?)
Or only the odd one ;) ;D Thanks Diane. Yes it was sky blue but unfortunately came out this washed-out colour when photographed in strong sunshine.
Somehow I had this one (http://www.wildflowersofireland.net/plant_detail.php?id_flower=3&wildflower=Blue-eyed%20Grass) at the back of my mind and forgot to investigate further :-[
Thanks Gerd. Sorry to hear that you don't recognise the violet because I was depending on you ;)
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There's no Sisyrinchium this side of the Atlantic. I think your picture is of Aphyllanthes monspeliensis (was it a bit more blue than the picture shows?)
Or only the odd one ;) ;D Thanks Diane. Yes it was sky blue but unfortunately came out this washed-out colour when photographed in strong sunshine.
Somehow I had this one (http://www.wildflowersofireland.net/plant_detail.php?id_flower=3&wildflower=Blue-eyed%20Grass) at the back of my mind and forgot to investigate further :-[
Interesting, I didn't realise there was a naturalised population in Ireland. It must have escaped from someone's garden originally. I guess that's fairly unlikely in Spain. The leaves are quite different from the Aphyllanthes, in which they are almost rush-like (which looks likely from your picture)
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Yes I agree that the similarity is slight. However there has been long debate as to whether S. bermudiana in SW Ireland is introduced or indigenous, details of which I don't have to hand at present. As I recall, there are several predominantly North American taxa which also occur as natural populations on the Atlantic fringe of Europe.
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interesting about the sorbus, will have to keep it in mind when looking at seedlists..usually i just thought of sorbus in terms of berries, but the foliage of this is really nice..
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Ashley,
thanks for a wonderful trip ;D
I'm always happy to see the Aphyllanthes which I managed to germinate but have yet to flower. Maybe one day soon!
cheers
fermi
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I'm sure you'll succeed Fermi. Most of these plants should love your conditions.
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Ashley, wonderful photos and plants.
The prickley mat with white flowers down at the bottom of Page 1 -
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=6049.msg166997#msg166997
-reply 13, picture file labelled "x white.jpg" -
looks like an Arenaria to me, not a Cerastium. Typically Cerastium has 2-lobed apex to the petals (rarely entire). But, this is just a hunch.
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Interesting suggestion Mark. Below are a couple of enlargements to show more detail. The 4-fold leaf arrangement, most evident on the left of the second picture, somewhat resembles Arenaria tetraquetra (e.g. here (http://www.floresdealmeria.com/smf/index.php?topic=1134.msg6726#msg6726)). However that species has blunt leaf-tips rather than lance-shaped and pointed as in this plant. According to the description in Flowers of South-West Europe by Oleg Polunin & BE Smythies this makes it more likely to be Arenaria aggregata.
Here too is the picture of the crustose white saxifrage that I had problems loading before (see Maggi’s reply 6), with a detail, in case anyone recognises it.
S. paniculata perhaps.
Thanks for your help.