Thursday 13 May 2010

Flora of northern Spain

Even excluding the orchids, there were some wonderful flowers, especially in the slightly lower meadows. At high altitude there was still a lot of snow, so many flowers were only just coming through.



The photo on the left is a typical flower meadow full of a wide variety of plants, including many orchids.
The photo on the right is Large-flowered Butterwort, an insectivoruous plant, growing at the side of a mountain stream.


We saw three species of wild daffodil. The left hand photo is Narcissus bulbocodium, a delightfully tiny plant growing at over 6000ft, next to the snow at Fuente de.
The right hand photo is Narcissus triandrus, which we found growing at about 3000ft, usually in lightly wooded areas.

Finally, this photo is Narsissus asturiensis, growing at a high altitude pass, at about 3000ft. We also found this species at slight lower levels.


On the left, the small yet spectacluar alpine, Spring Gentian, growing at over 6000ft at Fuente de. We found many of these in bud, but we were a little too early for the full display.
On the right, Tassel Hyacynth, a flower of the lower meadows.

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