Maritime Alps

[David Sellars]

We are staying at St Dalmas about 8 km west of St Martin Vesubie.  On our first day we hiked up Tete du Barn (2529 m) above Col du Barn.  The access was excellent as we could drive to 2000 m on a paved road above St Dalmas.

There was lots to see a few hundred metres from the parking lot, particularly orchids.  But the outstanding plant was a Maritimes Alps endemic Viola valderia growing from a tight mat of narrow leaves, unlike typical violas.  The Viola lutea had huge yellow flowers some nearly white.

[David Sellars]

There were huge fields of an old friend Ranunculus pyrenaeus on the climb up to the col and the occasional plant of Primula latifolia.  A species we found that we had not seen before in the Alps was Saxifraga retusa which is similar to Saxifraga oppositifolia except it is very compact.  Some of the buns were rock hard particularly the one on the cliff face with the flowers just starting to open.  The Saxifraga retusa on the summit were in full flower.  The flowers are very interesting hence the close-ups below.

[Booker]

Wonderful pictures David ... many thanks for posting.

[Lori S.]

Wow, stunning scenes and flowers, David!  Thank you for posting!
Gee, European orchids by-and-large seem to put ours to shame... we have so many non-showy ones, while there seem to be so many spectacular ones there.  The ranunculus, especially, are just breath-taking. 

[RickR]

i am equally impressed!

[Hoy]

Needless to say, I second the opinion expressed here

However, I am sorry to say that these beautiful European plants don't reach Norway so I too have to go abroad to view such sights.

[David Sellars]

On the second day we completed a classic hike in the area starting from Madone de Fenestre at about 2000 m to Col Fenestre at 2474 m.  We were hoping to find Saxifraga florulenta on the cliffs above Lac Fenestre but no luck.  We did see some very lovely Saxifraga pedemontana and Primula marginata on the cliffs at the pass.  The photos below show some of the plants we saw together with the spectacular scenery.

(Edited to add names of species photographed, to allow for search capability. 
Rhododendron ferrugineum, Gagea fistulosa, Gentiana acaulis )

[cohan]

We are staying at St Dalmas about 8 km west of St Martin Vesubie.  On our first day we hiked up Tete du Barn (2529 m) above Col du Barn.  The access was excellent as we could drive to 2000 m on a paved road above St Dalmas.

There was lots to see a few hundred metres from the parking lot, particularly orchids.  But the outstanding plant was a Maritimes Alps endemic Viola valderia growing from a tight mat of narrow leaves, unlike typical violas.  The Viola lutea had huge yellow flowers some nearly white.

Great stuff, David! I love the Violas besides obviously the orchids--sharing Lori's sense that many of ours are just not so exciting! We have tons of Platanthera which are mostly off green, and next most common would be yellowish Corallorrhiza!
That little Sax retusa is great, too--colour and up close texture...

[David Sellars]

In the next few days we concentrated on seeking out some of the endemic saxes of the Maritime Alps.  We found Saxifraga florulenta, Farrer's Ancient King in the Gordolasque Valley and Saxifraga cochlearis near the village of La Brigue.  High up on the Col de Tende is the site of Saxifraga callosa 'Bellardii'.

Later we found S. florulenta in the Valmasque and I stuck a Euro coin above it for a scale so the size of the rosette can be appreciated.

[Lori S.]

Gorgeous rosettes there!  It's wonderful how those plants all seem to be defying gravity.  How did you manage those photos?  Was it a cliff face next to the trail or did you have to perform some acrobatics to capture them?

[Hoy]

Eia var jeg der! 
What a place to botanize! (I mean studying not picking )

[David Sellars]

Lori:

The "Ancient King" as Farrer called Saxifraga florulenta likes to occupy sheer cliff faces where no other plants will grow.  It is a very "look at me plant".  Nevertheless we were fortunate that some seedlings had lodged closer to ground level.  Some of the photos were taken with a telephoto zoom but most were a few feet up the cliff (as with the Euro) or even below eye level right by the path.  Here is a nice specimen that was easy to photograph.  Although Farrer likened the rosettes to "spiny sea urchins"  the leaves are remarkably soft.

[David Sellars]

I made a short video of Saxifraga callosa subsp. callosa var callosa at Col de Tende to convey the beauty of the flowers, foliage and habitat.

It can be seen at:

http://www.mountainflora.ca/Site/Mountainflora_Videos.html

Click anywhere on the picture except the arrow!!

[McDonough]

Beautiful, thanks for making that and posting here; and as before, your music selection is perfect accompaniment to the scenery.

[RickR]

Thanks so much, David.

  It kinda takes my whole being away to another world.  Wonderful!