Flowerpower: Alpine Flowers from A-Z

When I plan a hike, I look for the nearest peak, check the weather beforehand and familiarise myself with the conditions of the tour. Since I moved here, I don't yet know the names of all the mountain peaks in Kleinwalsertal. That's why I try to memorise the name and appearance of my destination before every tour. Of course, also to impress friends and acquaintances a little when they visit me in Kleinwalsertal. ?

With the project "Experience nature consciously", however, I have noticed that I have not yet actively engaged with the animal and plant world that surrounds me here. Sure, I follow the rules for a conscious and respectful interaction with nature in order to protect animals and plants. But which animals and plants are these anyway? In the future, I want to be more attentive to my surroundings on hikes & am already diligently trying to learn. Do you feel the same way? Below we have compiled some basics of the Walser flora for you.

The Alpine Flower Trail on the Walmendingerhorn is also highly recommended for your first insights into the alpine flora. Or how about going on a walk with our experts? Finally, it is important to emphasise that many of the plant species in Walser nature are protected - please do not simply pick them off. With suitable apps or a plant diary in which you stick pictures, you can admire the colourful blossoms long after your holiday is over. ?

Plant diversity in Kleinwalsertal

Alpine Kitchenbell (Pulsatilla alpine)

Family: Cocksfoot
Flowering time: May - July
Characteristics: Perennial, herbaceous plant; leaves appear only after flowering; six oval, white corolla bracts.
Habitat: Lean pastures, stony lawns with calcareous subsoil; altitudes 1200 - 2700 m
Special features: In the fruiting stage, pistils elongate to 5 cm and give a hair-like appearance ("Wilds Männle" in Kleinwalsertal)
Endangerment:

Spiked Devil's Claw (Phyteuma spicatum)

Family:Bellflower family
Flowering time: June - September
Characteristics: Five-segmented hermaphrodite flowers in 6-20 cm long cylindrical spikes; petals fused; corolla greenish to yellowish-white.
Habitat: Fresh, loamy deciduous woodland and high shrubland; up to altitudes of 2000 m.
Special features: The young leaves used to be eaten as a wild vegetable ("forest spinach"); the root beets are also edible; hence the name Rapunzel.
Threats:

Ciliated Alpine Rose (Rhododendron hirsutum)

Family: Heather
Flowering time: June - August
Characteristics: Shrub & leaves evergreen; flowers at twig ends in clustered head-like racemes; corolla bell-shaped funnel, bright bright red; hairy inside.
Habitat: calcareous scrub and dwarf shrub heaths, calcareous rubble, scree and stony slopes and sparse pine and mountain pine forests; altitudes 600 -2000 m
Distinguishing features: the leaf margin is clearly "pimpled" (bristly hairs).
Threat: Protected, poisonous

great starthistle (Astrantia major)

Family: Umbelliferae
Flowering time: June - August
Characteristics: Upright perennial; forms pinkish-white, star-shaped flowers arranged in umbels
Habitat: Mountain meadows, high shrublands, montane-subalpine,
Special features: grows between 50 and 70 cm tall
Threats:

Clusius-Enzian (Gentiana clusii)

Family: Gentian family
Flowering time: April - August
Characteristics: Flowers solitary, terminal, hermaphroditic, bell-shaped, inside whitish striped or clearly dark blue dotted, without olive-green longitudinal stripes.
Habitat: Lean and calcareous dry grassland or gravelly ground; montane valleys to altitudes of 2800 m
Special features:
Threat:

Rusty-leaved alpine rose (Rhododendron ferrugineum)

Family: Heather family
Flowering time: June-August
Characteristics: Shrub evergreen, very bushy growth; flowers in several terminal racemes; crown hairy inside, broadly funnel-shaped, deep pink to strong red.
Habitat: Fresh, mostly acidic coniferous forests, sparse scrub, dwarf shrub heaths and scrubland; up to altitudes of about 2100 m
Special features: The underside of older leaves is covered with rusty-brown glandular scales.
Threat: Regionally endangered (-r)

Snake's knotweed (Polygonum bistorta)

Family: Knotweed
Flowering time: May - July
Characteristics: serpentine; inflorescence dense cylindrical pseudo spike; flowers pink; 8 stamens, 3 styles
Habitat: moist humus soils rich in nitrogen and mineral compounds, moist mountain meadows; up to altitudes of about 2000 m
Special features:
Threat:

Black cabbage (Nigritella nigra)

Family: Orchid family
Flowering time: June - August
Characteristics: Dense, spherical inflorescence with small black-purple, funnel-shaped flowers with upward pointing lip.
Habitat: Lean, dry mountain and alpine meadows, alpine pastures
Special features: has a pleasant vanilla or chocolate scent
Threat: widespread in the Alps, nevertheless endangered

Silver thistle (Carlina acaulis)

Family: Compositae
Flowering time: July - September
Characteristics: Flower heads ∅ 5-11 cm, with several hundred whitish to reddish tubular flowers, bracts silvery-white above.
Habitat: summer-warm, mostly grazed rough grasslands on base-rich soils with a low humus layer, especially in limestone areas with low rainfall; up to altitudes of 2800 m
Special features: An angel is said to have shown Charlemagne the silver thistle in a dream as a cure for the plague, hence the supposed name Charlemagne's flower
Threat:

Dove's Head Cress (Silene vulgaris)

Family: Clove family
Flowering time: May-September
Characteristics: White, light pink sepals with 5 petals; calyx tube inflated.
Habitat: Dry, moist, non-acidic and nitrogen-poor, calcareous soils; rarely on cultivated land; up to altitudes above 2000
Special features: Young shoots can be picked before flowering and used like vegetables or added raw to a salad; in former times, soap suds were boiled from the roots
Threats:

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