Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum

General Subjects => Travel / Places to Visit => Topic started by: wooden shoe on August 13, 2011, 09:28:48 PM

Title: Picos de Europa
Post by: wooden shoe on August 13, 2011, 09:28:48 PM

The July issue of the International Rock gardener contained an article about the Picos the Europa. An isolated mountain range west of the Pyrenees in Asturias, Spain. And I can't agree more, it's definitely worth a visit. We stayed there a couple of days and made several walks based from 2 mountain villages, Arenas de Cabrales and Sotres.
On our first walk we had a roundtrip from Arenas de Cabrales to the meadows in Nava.
Please correct me on the names, I will have to wait for my birthday before I get a proper book about mountain flora.

Title: Re: Picos de Europa
Post by: Maggi Young on August 13, 2011, 09:30:00 PM

Rob......thanks for sharing your trip with us. I'll make a link to here from the IRG section.  :)

Title: Re: Picos de Europa
Post by: wooden shoe on August 13, 2011, 09:30:57 PM

and some more

Title: Re: Picos de Europa
Post by: Lesley Cox on August 14, 2011, 02:20:38 AM

Is it possible the unknown yellow is a Dianthus of some kind. I realize the flower seems the wrong shape. More I'm looking at the stem foliage and the shape of the head, something like D. carthusianorum?

Title: Re: Picos de Europa
Post by: Lori S. on August 14, 2011, 03:19:37 AM

I think the "unknown yellow" is a Sideritis - it resembles what I grow as Sideritis glacialis.

EDIT:  Not that species, though.... perhaps Sideritis hyssopifolius?

Title: Re: Picos de Europa
Post by: Richard Green on August 14, 2011, 08:53:45 AM

Lovely dark Dianthus superbus !

Title: Re: Picos de Europa
Post by: Miriam on August 14, 2011, 11:46:53 AM

Thanks for the nice pictures  :)
I was there at the same time few years ago...

Title: Re: Picos de Europa
Post by: wooden shoe on August 17, 2011, 09:54:10 PM

Thank you all, I think it's indeed Sideritis hyssopifolia.

The next day we walked from a small mountain village Tielve to an even smaller village Sotres. A beautiful walk but when we started a little rain. It's not for nothing that the Picos de Europa are green. I saw the first Merendera montana, later we saw thousands of these.

Tielve to Sotres.JPG
Merendera montana 2.JPG
Ulex europaeus.JPG
unknown pink.JPG
Ichthyosaura alpestris.JPG
Prunella grandiflora.JPG
unknown white.JPG
unknown white detail.JPG
Viola.JPG
Tielve to Sotres 2.JPG

Title: Re: Picos de Europa
Post by: Maggi Young on August 17, 2011, 10:04:48 PM

 Really nice to see the Ichthyosaura alpestris.. the Alpine Newt. Super little creatures.

The unknown pink in the last post is a Pedicularis and the white an Astrantia, sorry, not sure of the species.