SRGC Pontresina trip

[Brian Ellis]

I agree with Gerd, that meadow is just stunning

[Ragged Robin]

Wonderful meadow shots that made me gasp with delight too, Peter, and I love the Large Ringlet photo 

[Peter Maguire]

I'm glad to see it's a party of youngsters, hope you managed to keep up with them.

- only just.

The Pulsatilla meadow is just dreamlike - never saw something similar!

- it certainly had our tour leader amazed, and was worth the trip for that meadow alone (almost  )

Thanks for all your kind comments folks, The good news is that day 2 is ready so here goes. For a bit of altitude training we went up the Val Muragl (accessible by mountain railway from just down the valley from Pontresina)

1. This photo was taken a day or so later and shows the route we took: the mountain railway finishes at '1', from there we walked along the visible track to Lej (lake) Muragl at '2', before returing along the valley to '3' then along a high level terrace-like path to '4', where you can descend to Pontresina. I should point out that on most days, the party divided after lunch and I tended to stay with the more active (or perhaps I should say ambitious) group in the afternoon. On this day, over half the party returned to the mountain railway to descend; they were the ones whose knees were able to bend the next day! Those of you who have tried to descend to valley level through steep alpine forests will know exactly what I mean.
2. From Muottas Muragl, the funicular station, this was the view up the Engadine valley with St Moritz by the near lake.
3. A nice little Viola tricolor found just behind the funicular station
4. We're going up there!
5. Just as we set off, there was a good display of Gagea fistulosa (I never thought I'd say that about a Gagea  ) in a boggy patch
6. Close up of Gagea fistulosa

[Peter Maguire]

7. Replaced by a better photo later
8. Gentiana punctata featured heavily along the first part of the path. this was new to me, and I was suprised to see how large the plants were.
9. A 'proper blue gentian' - Gentiana acaulis. These were everwhere, it was just a question of finding the most photgenic group.
10. Here's one for Cliff - Ranunculus kuepferi. It isn't in my edition of the Collins alpine flowers guide, but was very common in this valley. Obtaining a good photograph was tricky, as many clumps and individual plants tended to drop one or two petals, presumably in the slightest breeze.
11. Loiseleuria procumbens was failry common in the first part of the walk (at about 2500m), with noticeably better flowering where the stems overlaid rocks, and presumably the developing flowerbuds were warmed.
12. Myositis alpestris was seen most days - not the intense blue of Eritrichium nanum, we're not high enough for that yet, but still a pretty little thing
13. Viola calcarata occurred sporadically throughout the area, but when found was generally in generous clumps

[Peter Maguire]

14. Another good group of Gentiana acaulis
15. Looking down past Gentiana punctata to St Moritz
16. A dainty plant of Androsace obtusifolia, with what looks like Sempervivum montanum peeping out from underneath.
17. Vaccinium myrtilloides (or bilberry to those who like eating the berries when walking in northern England/Scotland in the autumn).
18. Still alongside the path, at around 2600m, a nice colour form of Loiseleuria procumbens, showing how the branches overlying the rock flower better.
19. Primula latifolia was fairly common at this height; tucked under the edges of boulders was a particularly favoured site, which meant much grovelling on the ground to obtain a photo.

[Peter Maguire]

20. You know you're getting high when you find crocus in late June. These Crocus albiflorus were just past their best, but were the only ones I found this day.
21. Of course if high enough for crocus, then we're high enough for Soldanellas. Soldanella pusilla was the common species around here.
22. The classic soldanella image - Soldanella pusilla again.
23. Primula integrifolia began to appear in wet areas higher up, here at 2700m with a view of Lej Muragl in the background, and which was the limit of our climbing in view of the snow cover.
24. Lej Muragl, looking up to the pass. Not many flowers up there in these conditions.
25. Once we started back down the valley, we came across a few Soldanella alpina, but only one or two, but not in the thousands like S. pusilla Note: the plant is actually Soldanella alpina, as mentioned here.

[Peter Maguire]

26. The weather began to improve as we descended Val Muragl, here is Sempervivum montanum, with some dazzling white quartz in the sunlight.
27. The predominent flower colour in the valley was yellow, much of it from Geum montanum
28. Even down here though, there were still many Gentina acaulis. This plant had a smoky purple cast to the flower colour which was rather attractive, although the purists may feel that it should be blue. Perhaps at sea level the colour would be described as muddy (by a show judge maybe), but at this height it looked good to me.
29. Some of the yellow came from Potentilla crantzii, and like many of the plants we saw, it was in perfect condition. We must have been very lucky with the timing and with the season.
30. Everyone walked past this colour form of Geum montanum without seeing it (well it was one amongst thousands), but it was right by the path and hard to miss. The red colouring does not seem to be the flowers 'going over', as the whole flower turned an orange colour and looked a bit crispy when that happened.
31. Although it was commoner below the treeline, Rhodendron ferrugineum stared to appear - along with the sun - at a fairly high altitude.

[Peter Maguire]

32. Scrambling back up to the path, I passed this attractive little Composite. I'm calling it Leontodon hispidus, but if that's correct then I'll be pleasantly surprised.
33. Very easy walking with views up the Engadine valley, this could almost qualify as the perfect path  
34. A new range of flowers was starting to appear, and Leocanthemopsis alpina looked good in the developing sunshine.
35. This was probably the large flowering patch of Daphne striata that we saw during the week, and was growing through a low juniper.
36. Silene acaulis clothing some rocks alongside the path. Does it ever put on anything other than a patchy display of flowering?
37. Lots more Rhododendron ferrugineum around here. The path was following the treeline above Pontresina by now and Rhododendron was common in the slightly damper hollows.

[Peter Maguire]

38. Once back at the treeline, orchids started to put in an appearance. There were Small White orchids (Pseudorchis albida) here and also several possible Orchis mascula hybrids. We called this one Orchis mascula, and perhaps that might be correct even with unspotted leaves, but close examination of the flowers shows a very divided lip which is not typical of this species.
39. As mentioned earlier, the path was delightful, and this is a typical view up Val Bernina to Piz Palü.
40. Polygala chamebuxus - this is the only plant I saw on the trip, but the plant list shows that it was seen on the previous and next days also.
41. Saxifraga paniculuata was not common, but appeared in small numbers on most days
42. Another orchid that is something like Orchis mascula, but not quite
43. Here's a close up of the flowers showing the deeply divided lip.

[Peter Maguire]

44. Still on this high level terrace (there were a lot of good plants, and I probably missed some as I was having to hurry now as it was getting late and food was calling to me from the valley below), here is Phyteuma hedraianthifolium.
45. No, it's not an orchid, but Hedysarum hedysaroides puts on a similarly spectacular display.
46. Pedicularis can be challanging, both to grow, and identify, but this one is definitely Pedicularis tuberosa, probably one of the less spectacular species of what can be a showy genus.
47. Another viola, Vila biflora, was common in the woods, but not often flowering as well as this.
48. As we descended through the woods, I was shown (because I would have missed it!) this Frog orchid (Coeloglossum viride). There had been one seen the previous day (we saw lots more later), but I was well behind the main party at the time and didn't even see the large arrow scratched in the path that pointed to it  
49. Close up of the flower spike, backlit in the sunshine.
50. To finish this day, a Fragrant orchid (Gymnadenia conopsea) that was nearby.

Assuming no-one's had enough yet, I'll press on with preparing day 3's pictures. We were there for eight days in total, so this thread may continue for some time!

[Ragged Robin]

Wonderful views and a great trip along your path on the mountainside seeing such lovely plants and enjoying your comments, Peter 
The orchids look very special in the late afternoon light, 49 and 50 are my favourites but the Polygala chamebuxus is enchanting too

[shelagh]

I just drooled over the Loiseleuria, has anyone had any success growing it from seed?  I've had it a couple of times from seed exchanges but it never germinates.

[Maggi Young]

I just drooled over the Loiseleuria, has anyone had any success growing it from seed?  I've had it a couple of times from seed exchanges but it never germinates.

We grow it, Shelagh, but we only get occasional flowers.... just not getting warm enough down too near the sea, I reckon. To see larger mats with floers like this is fantastic......  I've seen bigger expanses of Loiseleuria flowers in this forum than in the wild in Scotland........    see this post by Philip McDougall to see the plant at it's best...... http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=1973.msg49130#msg49130    .... I was amazed by these photos.
Sorry for going off topic here, but this is one of my MOST favourites plants of all..... had to take the chance to share those pix again!

[Armin]

Peter,
thanks for showing us such marvelous pictures.
Many species I still like to have in my garden... (but have no space )

[tonyg]

Peter, take as long as you like over the next 6 days!  It will be worth the wait.  In 2006 I was in Pontresina late June/early July.  After the exceptionally hot summer of 2005 some plants were 'recovering', you have seen some great plants and recorded them very well.  Here are a few pics of Lej Muragl and the walk on up to the Fuorcla without the snow!  You did not miss much, a very rocky path, steep too with few plants.  One I did see was Geum reptans in classic boulder strewn habitat.  Looks quite like Geum montanum no27 in your series.