Some Dolomite goodies

Moving on from the report three days ago, here is an account of some of the typical Dolomites flowers, plants which are not easy to find elsewhere but which can be common on the Dolomite above 2000 m or so (roughly the tree-line in that area).

Many accounts bemoan the late flowering of Potentilla nitida, that wonderful silver-foliaged mat with striking pink flowers, typical particularly of the tops of limestone boulders. In fact, some years it scarcely flowers at all, and it also tends to be shy-flowering in the garden. We had the benefit of a full fortnight, so that although we saw no flowers until the last few days, when we visited the Falzarego and Giao Passes on the way back to Venice it was in excellent form.

Here is a very pale, almost white-flowered form of Potentilla nitida.

I am fond of Paederota bonarota which so often accompanies Potentilla nitida on limestone cliffs and boulders. It is rarely seen in gardens and I suspect would make a very worthwhile addition to a semi-vertical site.

No account of Dolomite flowers would be complete without mention of the wonderful Rhodothamus chamaecistus. This Ericaceous shrub is extremely scarce around Selva, but from the Falzarego Pass eastwards past Cortina it becomes common, and we also found it on the Dolomite in the Rolle Pass area. It is said that it enjoys an acidic compost in the garden, as befits its Ericaceous allegiance, but in the wild it is always on the limestone, although growing in cool damp, well-drained positions on the north side of boulders in accretions of humus.

It is scarcely possible to mention rhodothamnus without name-checking the limestone rhododendron of the area, R. hirsutum. This rarely produces as sensational a display as the acid-loving alpenrose Rh. ferrugineum, and is more frequently a woodland plant, or occurring in dwarf pine (P.mugo or P. cembra) scrub. However, it can also occur in the limestone boulder habitat and then the best-flowering plants are likely to be found, as here below Tre Cima di Lavaredo.

Anemone baldensis is rather more widespread than some of the Dolomite specials, and occurs in local numbers around the Italian Lake District. Although early-flowering, it was still in good form during what I suspect had proved a rather concertina-ed summer season.

This was a gentian-rich trip. I have already discussed G. clusii and the possibility of G. alpina in the last posting. As well as abundant G. acaulis in acidic areas, we saw no less than seven  'spring' gentians, if you count the local speciality G. bavarica subsp. subacaulis as distinct. Here is is on the Rolle Pass. The yellowish foliage and rather lax habit are typical. It does not occur in wet habitats unlike G. bavarica and is more compact.

Both Gentiana brachyphylla and G. favratii also occur, the former not always just in acidic areas; they are closely related and best told by leaf colour and shape. However, the most characteristic Dolomite gentian is undoubtedly G. terglouensis. Unlike most species, this is a chasmophyte, found in crevices on boulders, and is the nearest thing to a cushion plant amongst our gentians. In the Selva area it is something of a prize, but above the Falzarego Pass and below Tre Cima di Lavaredo it becomes quite common.

Of the characteristic Dolomite dwarf shrubs, I see I have so far omitted the wonderful Daphne striata. In the eastern Dolomites this rarely-grown shrub is revealed in its true colours, echewing the rather washy and squinny forms more characteristic of France and the Italian Lakes. Indeed it becomes as good or better than the best forms of D. cneorum, which is a rare plant in the Dolomites and which we did not see. Unlike D. striata, the latter plant has hairy corolla tubes. In most of the Dolomite sites we visited, D. striata was very common and it also occurred on other rocks, schists and conglomerates.

On the Dolomite, Dryas octopetala was a constant associate of the daphne, and indeed of most of the other plants shown here. It is ubiquitous and very fine, making a better show than, perhaps, anywhere else.

Globularia cordifolia (or possibly G. meridionalis, if you believe this is distinct) is yet another lovely dwarf shrub which combined to make wonderfully coloured rock gardens on Dolomite boulders. Here is is growing with Pedicularis rosea (a limestone counterpart of the ubiquitous P. verticillata, we saw a total of at least six pedicularis) and Anthyllis vulneraria.

One of the great surprises of the area is Pinguicula leptoceras. This speciality of the south-east Alps is very common and occurs on a variety of rocks, although rarely on the Dolomite itself where it is replaced by the white-flowered P. alpina. It can be very fine, by far the most attractive of all the European butterworts, and is very variable, particularly with respect to the white floral blotch.

Yet another characteristic plant of the region is the yellow alpine poppy, which is locally common on Dolomite screes, for instance on the Falzarego Pass and at Tre Cima di Lavaredo. I see from the second edition of volume one of Flora Europea that all the alpine poppies have been lumped into P. alpinum. I think this is a pity. I have long known the Dolomite plant as P. kerneri, and, on the assumption that it is difficult to teach an old dog, P. kerneri it remains as far as I am concerned.

The Edelweiss of myth and legend, is neither as rare and inaccessible, nor as stunning, as accounts would have one believe. Mostly I have seen it in the Dolomites where it is often typical of ledges on Dolomite boulders. We were impressed to see good plants of Leontopodium alpinum right beside a path immediately below a mountain hut on the Falzarego Pass, suggesting that it is no long snatched from ledges to decorate dining tables as it was in Farrer's day.

Talking of Reginald Farrer, who first popularised the Dolomites in his 'Among the Hills' (1908), he rightly celebrated the easy walk around the Lake at Misurina (less than two hours), mostly in very species-rich woodland. This has probably changed very little since his day, and the lovely Anemone trifolia is still a major feature of the walk. This seems to be very late-flowering for a wood anemone. Plants such as Rhododendron hirsutum and Clematis alpina were going over, while the anemone was still at its best.

Down the hill from Misurina, to the north-east, lies a lovely lake, Lago di Larche. At the far end, incoming streams form deltas of finely-ground limestone (masses of Pyrola rotundifolia in the scrub), and here two dwarf campanulas were at their best. Here first is the familiar Campanula cochlearifolia, followed by the local speciality, similar but with darker flowers and narrower basal leaves, C. carnica.

One more lovely plant before leaving the Misurina district. As you start to run down the hill from the Tre Croce Pass towards Cortina, a wonderful dianthus appears beside the road. This is the local dwarf one-flowered relative of D. monspessulanus from the Dolomites, known as D. sternbergii.

Some little saxs

This posting is long enough already, but I want to finish by examining a few of the little saxifrages that colonise the tops of boulders (sometimes calcareous, but more often acidic) in this area. Mostly they are rather uncharismatic and not easy to tell apart, but they are good alpines and I like them.

First, usually on mineral-rich acidic rock is S. exarata. We found this on the acidic side of the Giao Pass. It has three-fid leaves and whitish-cream flowers. This was not a good form, in my experience.

Also with three-fid leaves, but with yellowish flowers, often tinged reddish, and growing on limestone, is S. moschata, sometimes considered a form of S. exarata. We found it below Castellaz, above the Rolle.

Now for two species with entire leaves, narrow and with a blunt end. Saxifraga muscoides, seen here growing with Sempervivum dolomiticum on schistose rocks on the Giao Pass, has whitish flowers.

Finally, S. sedoides, the most compact of all. This has yellowish flowers and is usually found on damp ground on the limestone. Here it is growing by a parking area on the Fazarego Pass; we also saw it below Cimon della Pala on the Rolle.

And, finally.....

Now that I have got the Dolomites off my chest, it will not have escaped your notice if you live in the UK, especially in England, that our gardens are undergoing a holocaust. Goodness knows how much will have survived when it is finally all over, but this is proving a summer in half-a-century, and it is bound to have severe impacts on the range of alpine plants we will have left to grow, when it is finally all over. More next time!