Svalbard 2013

Unfortunately we didn't see any polar bears but a lot of birds and reindeer.

Svalbard reindeer                                     Arctic skua

Some plants: Arenaria pseudofrigida      Braya glabella purpurascens

Cochlearia groenlandica                           Draba oxycarpa

Erigeron humilis x2

Villa Fredheim in Sassendalen, one of the places where a trapper lived with his family for 38 years. He was more than 70 when he left.

Old and "new" cabin.                                 Sassendalen

Mertensia maritima tenella x2

Papaver dahlianum is very variable. Here are two forms.

Pedicularis dasyantha                                Ranunculus nivalis

More later . . . .

Polemonium boreale                                 Salix polaris

Some Saxifraga cespitosa. This is a very variable species.

Kapp Thordsen                                        Diabasodden

Sassendalen x2

Sveabreen. The boat is about 500m from the front, which is about 50-60m high.

Saxifraga oppositifolia, usually finished at this time. The colour lies in the last picture, it is actually almost white.

Cassiope tetragona ssp tetragona makes huge mats.

The 12 or so species of Draba on Svalbard look rather similar except for some details but are genetically very different. This is Draba subcapitata (left) and D arctica ssp arctica (right).

Potentilla arenosa ssp chamissonis         Potentilla pulchella ssp pulchella

Unknown Potentilla

We rented boats 3 days. Usually the sea was calm early in the morning. Fortunately we didn't experience bad weather at all.

Tempelfjellet.

One of the showiest Saxes was Saxifraga hirculus

Another yellow-flowered one: Saxifraga platysepala

Stellaria humifusa

Longyearbyen seen from Longyeardalen. We had to cross a meltwater river.

Silene acaulis - flowers firstly on the southern side. Silene involucrata ssp furcata

Silene uralensis ssp arctica x2

Taraxacum arcticum x2

Absolutely wonderful sights and plants you are showing us, Trond!  I have to mention the quality of your photos - they are really excellent, so crisp and sharp.  There are so many fantastic plants, it's hard to single any one out for comment!

Wow, Trond!  Every pic is so interesting!  Ya know, we are benefiting from your good weather there as well, or perhaps even more so:  really excellent quality photos.

The mountains, the ice flow "sculpture", the black draba pods, the silenes, the teraxacum, the saxes, Oh my!

[quote=Lori S.]

Absolutely wonderful sights and plants you are showing us, Trond!  I have to mention the quality of your photos - they are really excellent, so crisp and sharp.  There are so many fantastic plants, it's hard to single any one out for comment!

[/quote]

Thank you Lori!

I have to take a lot of pictures to get some useful - the camera and I don't cooperate always! Especially the autofocus don't see what I do!

[quote=RickR]

Wow, Trond!  Every pic is so interesting!  Ya know, we are benefiting from your good weather there as well, or perhaps even more so:  really excellent quality photos.

The mountains, the ice flow "sculpture", the black draba pods, the silenes, the teraxacum, the saxes, Oh my!

[/quote]

Thanks Rick!

We were really lucky with the weather. Although it doesn't rain much there it is often overcast or foggy. We hit the peak flowering time too ;-)

Magical place! Every shot is great, love those landscapes as well as the plants, lucky that you got some sun. Like Lori I love too many to single them out easily, but like Rick, I did love the Drabas, the inflated Silenes- of course the dandelion! the poppies are great too.

Did you have a botanist/local expert along for id's and locations? Are accomodations and food expensive there? I guess everything has to be brought in from the mainland, which is a long trip?

Thank you, Cohan ;-)

Yes we had experts with us and the two who organised the trip had done very good research.  Where we could go depended very much on weather conditions but the weather was very good so we could visit the preferred places. The flora of Svalbard isn't very rich so except Drabas and Potentillas I recognised almost all showy flowering plants. Some of us were very interested in grasses and sedges and that is a different matter - not for me!

The food and accommodations are as expensive as or maybe a little cheaper than elsewhere in Norway as the taxes and fees are lower than on the mainland. The town of Longyearbyen has about 2000 inhabitants and a lot of tourists all year and regular flights to the mainland every day. A lot of ships frequent the harbour - both cruise ships and freighters.

The town also has all the necessary stores - you can even by a car if you want.

The flight from Oslo to Tromsø takes about 1h50min depending on weather, and then about the same time from Tromsø to Longyearbyen.

It seems to me in this kind of place, although there are not a huge number of species, there is a disproportionate number of appealing species- at least if you like small, low plants, which is exactly what I like! And there are no trees or other big common plants to get in the way ;) So 200 seems pretty good :) though I imagine that includes a lot of grasses and sedges? I do like grasses and sedges a lot too, though I haven't made much progress naming the many that occur here; really small ones- that stay small- suitable for the rock garden would be very welcome!

Yes, 200 species including grasses etc (all vascular plants).

Here are some of the non-flowering plants:

A lichen (possibly a Xanthoria EDIT: Xanthoria elegans)

Two unknown mosses EDIT: Not unknown anymore: 1) Splachnum vasculosum 2) Bryum cryophilum

A horsetail (Equisetum arvense ssp alpestre) and black cottongrass (Eriophorum triste)

Erosion of the coast                                 River delta (Sassendalen)

Some not so showy flowering plants:

Koenigia islandica                                    Micranthes hieracifolia

A little more showy:

Oxyria digyna                                            Saxifraga hirculus

And some geology: taluses on Tempelfjellet

Belated thanks for posting these wonderful photos, Trond. ( I was speechless with envy.  )   So interesting to see the unique plants as well as the circumpolar species that we see in Canada's north.

Was the trip organized for professional botanists or was it open to amateurs?  Apart from our club meetings it's hard to get 30 plant enthusiasts together, let alone for an extensive trip.

Linda

Thanks, Linda!

The trip was for everyone interested and all members of some of the chapters of the Norwegian Botanical Society were invited. The aim was to get at least 10 participants (to fill one boat). We needed 3 boats!

Summer trips are arranged every year, both inland and to Sweden.

Trond, really nice and interesting pictures. I brought a flora, " La flora de la tundra de Sierra Nevada",  to Sierra Nevada. It tells a lot about all the species that are growing both in Svalbard and southern Spain. I don´t recognize have seeing any of the species you are showing, though.